Our week in Hamilton

After all of our activities and experiences on the south island, we were ready to head back to Hamilton for a little R&R with friends there!


We spent a couple of days with laundry, haircuts and getting my toes done!


John graciously ferried us around for our various activities, and we took the bus to the local mall one day, where John met us for lunch.


On Friday, John, Lee and I visited the Operatic Society, where they rent costumes, to get all outfitted for the upcoming Art Deco weekend in Napier. It was great fun, and I decided that you never outgrow your desire to play "dress up"! We all found great 20's/30's wear, so we were all set for Napier.


We hung out with Bryan and Peter on Sunday. We went to the dahlia show at Hamilton Gardens, dropped in for a visit with Peter's Mum, Verna, and since we were driving right past Dianne and Adrian's, we popped in there for a short visit, too. Then to the grocery store, where Bryan and Lee got a kilo of green-lipped mussels! They both love them! Peter and I - not so much, so we got something else. It was a lovely warm, summer evening and we were able to sit outside after dinner with a glass of wine. Life is good!


Sunday was Valentines Day, and we celebrated by meeting Dianne and Adrian at the Italian garden for a picnic dinner! It was fabulous, and great fun!


While we were in the south island, Bryan's Mum's house sold, so we went to Matamata with Bryan on Monday to help move some household goods. He hooked up the trailer and away we went. Zoe was all organized, with everything ready for the garage sale, and we helped move things to the garage. Her friend Joan was taking Zoe's dining set and two living room chairs, so we loaded those in the trailer to deliver to Joan in Cambridge. It was great to be able to help, since we were going to miss the main moving event while we were in Napier.


Tuesday and Wednesday were relaxing days - we organized for Napier, and just generally took it easy.


Thursday morning, Jo came to collect us for our next adventure! Napier, here we come!

This little lake is located in Hamilton Gardens. There were a bunch of radio-controlled boat enthusiasts sailing!

More sailing boats! There was a huge battleship, but he was parked at the edge of the lake.

Great shot of dahlia with butterfly that Lee took at Bryan and Peters!

At the Dahlia show at Hamilton Gardens

Dahlia pictures from the competition.

The Italian garden at Hamilton Gardens, on Valentines day.

Here's our table, all nicely set for dinner!

Cheers! Happy Valentines Day!

Joan, with the two chairs from Zoe. An interesting tidbit of information on Joan - she was a Hobbit in the filming of "Lord of the Rings"! She has great albums of information and memorabilia of the experience!