Traveling Ninja Notes: 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!