I have absolutely no idea where this week has gone – I just can’t believe it is Friday evening already. Well, I guess the fact that I have been away this week has kind of compressed home time into a couple of days. Not that my trip was for pleasure, it being a work related couple of days away to Hamilton.
Hamilton is situated in the Waikato, and is also known as “The Tron”. This nickname was coined in the 1990s by two radio DJs who were running a competition to create a new slogan for the town. They came up with “Hamiltron: city of the future”, a humourous dig at the not so futuristic town centre. It is also known for its gardens, that are supposed to be well worth visiting. I, however, only saw my hotel room, the place I was working and a tiny glimpse of the river.
View from the hotel
My journey there on the other hand turned into quite an adventure, involving a cancelled plane due to mechanical problems, a flight to Auckland (luckily one with cheese and wine), a minibus ride to Hamilton airport (which included a 15 minute diversion) followed by another shuttle bus which dropped off people all around the town, with me being second last. Instead of arriving about 5pm, I arrived well after 9pm. Not ideal when the next day’s meeting started at 8am.
Unfortunately there was no time to walk along the river which I had hoped to do, partly due to time and partly as the steps down were extremely slippy, and I did not fancy turning up to an all day meeting limping. Still, I did see a glimpse of water and breathed in a little fresh air.
Bridge over the river
Looking down at the river
Early morning
The journey home, however, was quite different, with a smooth flight, bright blue skies and Mount Ruapehu poking its summit over the clouds. We flew in to Wellington over the Kapiti coast, and could see the South Island in the distance. It was lovely to enjoy the moment, and I hope that when I go up again on Monday, the weather will be as good.
The plane home
Thistles and Kiwis 
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