June 3, 2021
On our way back from Cambridge to Auckland we stopped in Hamilton to visit the very impressive Hamilton Gardens. On the banks of the Waikato River, the gardens cover 54 hectares (133 acres) and includes many different types of garden. It is the Waikato region’s most popular attraction, attracting over a million people a year pre-Covid. Picture it as sort of a Disneyland for gardens, depicting an amazing variety of themed gardens. Here are some examples.
Indian Char Bagh Garden
Italian Renaissance Garden
Japanese Garden
Maori Garden
Tropical Garden
Surrealist Garden
Tudor Garden
There is even a garden created to depict the early 20th century New Zealand lawn party featured in Katherine Mansfield’s short story The Garden Party.
Here are some more of the beautiful scenes we saw during our visit.
This blog is in honor of Mal’s Mum who was born in Hamilton in 1925 and died yesterday at 95 years old after a long and eventful life. She travelled the world and was an avid gardener and talented artist. She also had an eye for beauty and style. We think she would have particularly loved this blog entry.
Mal and Lauren 