Auckland to Hawke Bay and back.

[drron]

So views of the surrounding countryside.A lot of NZ hasn't had their normal rainfall for a while so a lot of the country is a bit dry.Also in this area the problem is compounded by feral goats.

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In that last shot you can see the track that leads to the beach.
The feral goats.

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But things were about to change.

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[drron]

And boy did they change.

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And it just kept raining.But I was determined to get to the beach.The weather bureau predicted the rain would clear for an hour at 4pm the next day.They were pretty accurate as this was the scene just after 3pm.I am already on my way.

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You can see there is now a steam across the track but worse was to come.

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The uphill section was pure clay and as slippery as.Nearly fell a few times so retreated back to the stream thinking my walk was over.
But never,never,never give up.

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At the edge of the track was a little water course,lots of water coming down and many obstacles and a few deep holes.but i made it.

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And through the gate-heaven.

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[love_the_life]

You seem to have the knack of bringing rain wherever you go. You could probably make a business out of it.

 

[drron]

Yes we often have that knack.Need a good agent.
But back to the beach.The track runs beside a small stream.

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And on to the beach.This is one area where the Kiwi product is clearly inferior to home.

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But it doesn't look good for a long beach walk.

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So I hightailed it back to the cottage and walked onto the verandah just as the first drops of rain started.It then poured for the rest of the day and night.I earnt my keep cracking the macadamias.

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The early night was spent cleaning my shoes thoroughly knowing they would be inspected when arriving home having spent time on a farm.

 

[drron]

Now mrsdrron loves fires and I mean really loves them.For most of the time here we had a log fire going.mrsdrron took many photos of it.these are just a few.

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You did notice my thoroughly clean shoes drying in front of the fire.
So this ended our stay here.Not nearly as nice as Chambourcin cottage and not that much cheaper.However for a family with 2 young children this might make a very nice stop.
both of these properties are on Airbnb and both hosts are superhosts.However it reinforced in us that we would not use Airbnb as both were cheaper booked direct.We may though use Airbnb as a search tool though.

 

[drron]

Fortunately the rain stopped the next morning so a pleasant,relaxed drive to Hamilton.

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Most probably recognise this with a few qick views of the lake.

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[drron]

We had lunch at Tokaroa,a timber town,hence the large timberworker statue.

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We had lunch at that red building in the background.
Then on to Hamilton where we stayed 2 nights with the black caps and Bangladesh cricket teams.

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That night we had dinner her.

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Review here posts 3,4.
Regional NZ Restaurants

 

[drron]

For our day in Hamilton we started off at the Botanical Gardens.Always worth a visit.

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And as this is a Frequent Flyer site you get to see planes coming into HLZ.

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There are several themed gardens which you access from a central courtyard.

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[drron]

A Maori garden.

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[drron]

Chinese garden.

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[drron]

Then the Italian garden.

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Good views of the Waikato from here.

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[drron]

My favorite garden is the Japanese.

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[drron]

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[drron]

And an English cottage garden.but first the peace is disturbed again.

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[drron]

And the real Chinese garden.

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No I am not exhausted just waiting for the right time to take this photo.

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[drron]

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[drron]

Next the Modernist garden.

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Time now to walk back to the cafe for lunch.

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I had corn fritters which were much nicer than the QF Flounge ones.

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Of course i shared it with 50 friends!.

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[drron]

An impressive mural in the office building.

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Now did you notice the piece of Australiana in there?
The whole thing is behind glass so hard to get the whole thing.this is the best i could do.

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[drron]

Then a walk to the other side of the gardens which is more of a big park but does have a rose garden as well as a rhododendron and azalea park-wrong time of year for that though.

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It was a hot day and this little fellow looked quite distressed.I was approaching with some water but just after this pic he flew off.

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[drron]

Now some of mrsdrron's flowers.

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