Taitua Arboretum

On Wednesday, John came over and took us to the Taitua Arboretum.  It's located in the Dinsdale are of Hamilton.  We parked in a residential area, near a lovely footpath that took us to the Arboretum.  It was a great walk - we figured that we must have walked 4 or 5 kilometers by the time we finished!

The day started out cloudy and overcast, and looked like it might rain, but it didn't!

The Arboretum has lots of native trees and plantings.  Additionally, there were lots of free-range roosters, chickens and chicks, as well as ducks and black swans.  The bird life was very disappointed that we had nothing to feed them, as they were clearly used to humans bringing bread and other treats for them.  Next time we'll be prepared.

There were lots of ponds and meadows as well.  And, by the time we finished our walk, the clouds had moved on and there was lots of blue sky and the Hamilton sunshine that we love so well!


We followed up our walk with a quick stop at a supermarket, and lunch at a local cafe.

Thanks, John, for a wonderful afternoon!!

This sign tells all about the Arboretum

One of the ponds and some of the trees and ferns surrounding it

Hopeful roosters, chickens and a chick  - sadly, they were very disappointed with us humans!

We thought this guy was especially pretty - for a rooster!

Beautiful black swans.  They carried on quite a conversation as we watched - making sounds and bobbing their heads up and down.

A Lancewood tree - a native New Zealand tree.  This is a young one - when they mature they look NOTHING like this - it's pretty amazing.

Some of the surrounding countryside along the way.