It was raining hard this morning but gave up just as I set out for the Intercity bus station to reach Hamilton. Quite a comfortable bus which was destined to go all the way to Wellington! We were late into Hamilton and so Jon Scott (who met me there) had to take us via 2 different buses to Hamilton Gardens. An oriental woman almost caused us to miss the bus connection by asking questions of the driver. She also went to the gardens.
Jon and I had lunch at the cafe then spent a very enjoyable couple of hours seeing the different groves. Hamilton Gardens is a large collection of independent gardens, each walled off from each other. Each garden is nicely designed, well the white blobs in the modernist garden didn't do anything for me, and mostly pleasing to the eye. In some ways there was a classical feel to the gardens, very European. There was a steampunk airship at one point - the Egyptian garden had plenty of colourful hieroglyphics but authentic? The Chinese scholar's garden was a good feeling.
Jon took me on a tour of paths outside the gardens you pay to enter - round the lake and up a path to a Russian bell log tower. We caught a cab back as the bus times would have meant not enough time in the gardens. The cab seemed to take a while to come but it did come, and I was in plenty of time to squeeze onto a cramped and full bus home (which made it back before the advertised time!)