Weekend Adventuring

This year has undoubtedly seen some change to how things "normally" work. One (minor) impact on my life was the submission process for my Masters thesis.
Normal process is to submit an electronic copy for digital storage, with a second hard-copy submitted in-person to be published in the University library. Once my examination was complete, including final revisions and sign-off from my advisor, I was able to submit the electronic version in May. This meant that I was technically officially finished with the degree program. However, since campus was closed until further notice due to COVID-19 at the time, I was not able to submit the hard copy.

Campus re-opened at the end of June so I was advised I could submit my hard copy in July. So this past weekend I drove up to the city so I could make a fun weekend away out of it.

I drove up Friday morning since I had to be on campus during business hours to submit the thesis. The submission event itself was really a non-event. I walked into the correct office, handed it over and walked out. But hey, officially officially done now! Plus I have a cool book on my shelf with my name on it, so worth it, right? :)

The rest of Friday was spent catching up with a couple of PhD students I became friends with, and exploring the Japan Mart to stock up on groceries. I also managed to fit in a lovely walk along the Long Bay beach reserve Saturday morning before getting back in the car to head as far South as Hamilton.

A Chinese restaurant I passed :)

Saturday's highlight was exploring part of Hamilton's botanical gardens with a friend who happily acted as my tour guide. I had heard good things about the gardens but was unaware of how much they have to offer. Due to the size, and the amount of time allocated for garden exploration, we only went through the themed gardens, but that was enough to keep us busy for quite awhile! A section of the gardens is dedicated to several theme gardens, which change over time to keep things fresh. We saw a Chinese garden, Japanese contemplation garden, English cottage garden and English Tudor garden, Italian Renaissance (my personal favorite). There were also some fascinating "Fantasy Gardens:" the Katherine Mansfield garden, Concept garden and Surrealist garden were the ones we had time to explore.

Admittedly, visiting a botanical garden in the winter means that you miss most of the beautiful flowers, but at the same time it afforded the opportunity to appreciate other aspects of the garden. AND, it reminded me how lucky I am to live on an island, that I can go walk around a botanical garden in the winter and it won't just be covered in snow!

Entrance to Chinese Scholars garden

English Cottage Garden entry

Japanese garden

Let the contemplation begin

Italian Renaissance

English Tudor garden (unsure why I took it at a weird angle...)

Kate Mansfield garden (not a real house unfortunately)

Entry to the Concept garden, based around the Magic Flute

Papageno, the birdcatcher in the Magic Flute

Tea anyone?

Surrealist garden...the arms on the "trees" moved, kind of creepily

In other news, I got to watch the tugboats bring a ship in to Port the other night :) Stay safe and well.

Winter in Taradise

Over the weekend we were blessed with some lovely sunny days so a friend and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity for some fresh air.

We started low-key with an extended version of the lake circuit at Lake Mangamahoe, which meant we stayed plenty warm due to walking but got to enjoy lovely views of our snow-covered maunga (mountain). I say "extended version" because we somehow managed to double-back on a section of the trail and walk in a big circle a couple of times. We certainly did not mind the extra walking, but were extra hungry when we followed the kiwi tradition of replenishing at a coffee shop post-adventuring.

The following day we decided to head towards the mountain, with the intention of enjoying hiking the Dawson Falls track. We expected it to be colder at the mountain, but were pleasantly surprised to find that it has snowed enough that by the time we were at the right location we were in the snow. We enjoyed the Kapuni Loop Track that goes past the falls, as well as the Wilkies Pools loop track that offers lovely mountain views and some excellent stream crossings. I have done both of these tracks numerous times, but never before in the snow! It is also the first time I have played in the snow in July, first time for everything I guess, ha!

There were some brave souls out sledding, and a few snowman attempts. My hiking buddy was safe from snowballs, as it was very crystal-ey powdery snow, a bit different from what we usually see in Missouri. I realized it has been 7 years since I have been in real snow (I have done a few hikes in the winter where there was a bit of dusting here and there but I do not think that really counts) so it felt like quite a treat.

All this adventuring successfully confused my young nieces, who could not quite grasp how auntie had been able to go play in the snow when they had just got back from swimming in the lake. :)