Having gone on a whirlwind tour of the country, I’ve tried to highlight the important cities across the North and South Island in this post.
HamiltonHamilton is 2 hours drive from Auckland by car and I decided to visit its Botanical gardens, famous for its occidental and oriental gardens. Carrying a bottle of water was a good idea since the gardens can be vast and tiring. I immersed myself in the very English garden with a pool in the middle and hordes of tulips, bluebells dancing in the heat not knowing that they are a hemisphere away from home. The Chinese Pagoda architecture and the Japanese Tea Garden were breathtaking. I suddenly yearned for tea but that had to wait till I saw the Taj styled Indian Garden greeting me with roses in all hues. The Waikato river flowing serenely behind the marble structure reminded me of the Yamuna. By the time I finished walking through the rest I was famished and tired. So the Waikato river cruise with soothing music and warm food was ideal to end the day.
