Hamilton Lake and Zoo

It’s the day before Nomad Fest and there is lots to do to get the festival site ready. However, I’ve volunteered to take Nick and the kids to the Zoo! Let’s face it, we would only have got in the way otherwise.

With Mich, Ems, Dad and Jo heading over to the field to get set up, I set about making sandwiches while Nick got the kids packed up and ready to go (easier said than done as we’re quite settled now so stuff is widely distributed).

We managed to get out of the house and on the road before 11am and decided to stop off back at Hamilton Lake on the way to the zoo. I’m getting used to driving in New Zealand now and have just about got the hang of Jo’s car - although I do keep forgetting how good the brakes are.

It was another lovely warm and dry day and the kids had fun playing on the swings and with the water runs. We spent a good hour playing in the park before deciding to move on to the Zoo so we could have some lunch in their picnic area.

Hamilton Zoo is on the outskirts of the city and easily accessible. When we arrived there was plenty of parking and no queue to get in. There are lots of places in the zoo that you can stop to eat, but as it was lunch time we decided to have our food before we began to explore.

The picnic area had lots of free benches, thankfully mostly under cover. You do have to be careful though as there are lots of wild birds (including peacocks) wandering around with their eyes on unattended sandwiches and bags of crisps.

There is also a play area by the gift shop and the kids insisted on running around for a bit after eating - despite the warm weather… this may not have been such a good idea as their energy levels started to wain as we walked around the actual zoo.

The zoo isn’t huge, but the grounds are quite expansive and the animal enclosures are nice and large. There is plenty of cover, but there are also some areas that are not very sheltered so as we explored the zoo we made sure to stop regularly and take water breaks.

It was good to see lots of indiginous animals as well as the more exotic imported animals that you might see in zoos around the world.

As we neared the end of the mostly circular walk the kids were getting a bit tired so decided to head straight back towards the exit (and of course the gift shop). I took the opporunity to take some photos of the larger animals in the big game enclosures using the zoom lens on my “big camera”.

I actually ended up pretty much catching up with the others and got back to the entrance just in time for a cooling icecream, before shopping around for a bit in the giftshop.

Before heading home climbed up a tower just outside the zoo to take in the views over the countryside and towards the city. I’m trying to make a point of taking selfies on this trip as I’ve often been told “you’re not in any of the photos” when I share them. It’s not something I find very natural but hopefully I’ll get better at taking them by the end of the holiday.

After a brief rest it was time to pick Ems and Mich up from the festival site. I drove out there (the first time in the car by myself - I got a bit lost as the directions on the GPS weren’t very clear) and parked up at Jenny’s after nearly crashing into her on the driveway… I walked down to the field where the festival was going to be held, and was really surprised to see how much it had been transformed.

A number of gazebos and large tents had been set up and gave the festival site more structure. The guys had obviously been working really hard and all looked a bit exhausted by their efforts. There was more to do, but it really felt like it was all coming together.

We drove back together via the supermarket to pick up some food, and headed back home. I had my eye on a pizza in New World from the first trip there, so we picked up one of those and some bits that we could easily cook in the oven. We also picked up some festival food and drinks, although due to a miscommunication we ended up getting a load of potato chips and so did Jo so we had way too many… Nevermind; we had a week on the road coming up so would surely get through them in no time.

As well as the festival tomorrow, it was also our last night in the accomodation (we had booked until Sunday, but would be camping on Saturday night) so we had to pack up our bits in the evening. We all decided to try to minimise the clothes and equipment that we would be taking on the road, so I repacked a weeks worth of clothes and essentials into a borrowed racksack, and put the rest of the things that I wouldn’t need into my suitcase.

I was really looking forward to the festival, but repacking my stuff was making me a bit anxious about all of the upcoming travelling. Up until now I had everything I needed nearby and knew that I had good access to power (for the gadgets) and hot water (I prefer to shower daily). For the next week we were staying at a campsite (3 nights) and a place owned by one of Jo’s friends (2 nights), so we’re not exactly offgrid but I just wasn’t quite sure what to expect.