A Kiwi Hamilton

From Auckland we made our way to Hamilton, NZ. Not Hamilton, ON, thank god, because that would've been a very long way to go for a very short stay.

I did not take very many pictures in Hamilton of Hamilton, so here's a bee having a blast at the Hamilton Gardens. Photo credit: E. D. Meilutis 2020.

The reason why we ended up in Hamilton is a combination of poor planning and luck.

These are our first days in New Zealand, which means these are the days we planned first. Also the days we planned the least well.

When we initially started looking at New Zealand, we knew it would be easier to fly in and out of Auckland as international flights go through Auckland before connecting to other locations in New Zealand. This is why our first stay in Auckland was so short (4 days for Alex, 1 full day for me) as we knew we'd be coming back.

We also knew there were a few things we definitely wanted to do in the Auckland region, visit Hobbiton and see the glow worm caves. There are plenty of other things to do in and around Auckland, these are just the two that got stuck in our head. They're both weather-dependant and a decent distance from Auckland. To us it made sense at the time to also stay in another city outside Auckland where we could do these activities from.

This is where poor planning comes into play, because we chose Hamilton.

Don't get me wrong, Hamilton is lovely, but there are no active train stations and the better choice would've been Rotorua, which has better transport links and a bigger variety of things to do.

But we booked Hamilton, so we stayed in Hamilton. There again we stayed in an AirBnB, this one was really lovely and we could've easily stayed in that space for a week or two. It was also well-located.

Hamilton is an old and new city. Maori tribes have been living there for centuries, but the last century has brought a lot of change to the town, as modern life required the sort of city planning that lead to the removal of an entire hill, creating a well thought-out city centre (1 & 2).

Statue of Riff Raff. Hamilton New Zealand claims to be the birthplace of the Rocky Horror Picture Show due to it's link to co-writer Richard O'Brien. The nature of said link and contribution to the Rocky Horror Picture Show is woefully vague on both the plaque and the internet. Photo credit: E. D. Meilutis 2020.

We took an Intercity bus from Auckland to Hamilton, it was a two-hour ride with free wifi and comfy seats. The bus pulled into Hamilton's Transport Centre. This is where the train used to come in and out of Hamilton, it's also where all of the city buses start/end their journeys and is also a block over from downtown Hamilton. Our AirBnB was a 10-minute bus ride from Hamilton's Transport Centre, which was perfect and why luck had a hand in our planning.

We needed a to grab a bite to eat? It was 10 minutes away. Needed to catch a bus to a nearby town? 10 minutes away. Needed to do anything? 10 minutes away.

After arriving in Hamilton, we had a couple hours before being able to check-in, so we stopped for brunch. Being in the centre of Hamilton means that we didn't have far to go. Walking through Hamilton though made me notice something that as I write this a couple weeks later, has since become a pattern in New Zealand.

These are pretty! Photo credit: E. D. Meiluits 2020.

Canada has a population of under 38 million people (3), which is laughable given that we're the second largest country in the world (4), but it's also really cold so it makes sense. Montreal, my hometown, has a population of just under 2 million people(6) whereas the greater Montreal area has a population of 4 million people (5).

New Zealand has a population of just under 5 million people (7) and Hamilton has a population of 169,500 people (8).

The sidewalks seem empty.

Hamilton is well laid out, there is plenty of room for crowds of people. The streets are lined with shops and restaurants and there are people in them. Just not a lot of people. It's too urban for there to be a tumbleweed going by, but the tumbleweed wouldn't feel out of place.

We did arrive early Monday afternoon. In hindsight, everyone was at work. At the time it seemed that in comparison to Montreal or even bustling Auckland, Hamilton was empty.

Later on that week I was in Hamilton on my own running some errands, my adapter broke, so I stopped in the Kiwi equivalent of Best Buy, called Noel Leeming, for a new one and grabbed some lunch. As people were on their lunch breaks, downtown Hamilton was bustling with people. It was a relief to see.

Hamilton was big enough that we did not get tired of it, but small enough that had we stayed longer we would've known it like the back of our hand. As it stands, we barely scratched the surface, but it was a lovely place for a stopover.

Events described took place on February 24 through to February 28, 2020.

Sources:

1. Shaping Hamilton Huringa Kirikiriroa. Permanent exhibition consulted on February 27, 2020 at the Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga O Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. 

2. NZ Herald. (2016). Garden Place's history on show. Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hamilton-news/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503366&objectid=11697206

3. Statistics Canada (2019). Population estimates, quarterly. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1710000901

4. Central Intelligence Agency (2020). The World Factbook, Country comparison: Area. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/fields/279rank.html

5. Statistics Canada (2016). Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/fogs-spg/Facts-cma-eng.cfm?GC=462&GK=CMA&LANG=Eng

6. Statistics Canada (2016). Census Profile, 2016 Census. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CD&Code1=2466&Geo2=PR&Code2=24&Data=Count&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All

7. Stats NZ Tatauranga Aotearoa (2019). Population. Retrieved from https://www.stats.govt.nz/topics/population

8. Hamilton New Zealand (2019). About Hamilton. Retrieved from https://www.visithamilton.co.nz/welcome/about-hamilton