Sights in Hamilton
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Hamilton Gardens
Stretching over 50 hectares of riverbank southeast of the centre, Hamilton Gardens incorporates a large park, cafe, restaurant and extravagantly themed enclosed gardens. The Paradise Garden Collection has separate Italian Renaissance, Chinese, Japanese, English, American and Indian gardens complete with colonnades, pagodas, dovecotes, raked sand and a mini Taj Mahal. Equally interesting is the Productive Garden Collection with its model family-sized sustainable garden, a fragrant herb garden and the precolonisation Maori Te Parapara garden. Look out for the impressive Nga Uri O Hinetuparimaunga (Earth Blanket) sculpture at the main roadside gates.
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B
Riff Raff
One of Hamilton’s more unusual public artworks is a life-size statue of Rocky Horror Picture Show writer Richard O’Brien in the guise of Riff Raff, the time-warping alien from the planet Transsexual. It looks over a small park on the site of the former Embassy Theatre where O’Brien worked as a hairdresser. The Embassy’s ‘late-night double-feature picture shows’ found a place in the ultimate cult classic – although it’s hard to imagine 1960s Hamilton inspired the tale of bisexual alien decadence.
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C
Waikato Museum
The excellent Waikato Museum has five main areas: an art gallery; interactive science galleries; Tainui galleries housing Maori treasures, including the magnificently carved waka taua (war canoe) Te Winika; a Hamilton history exhibition entitled ‘Never a Dull Moment’; and a Waikato River exhibition. The museum also runs a rigorous program of public events.
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Hamilton Zoo
Hamilton Zoo houses 500-plus species and takes part in conservation breeding projects. The rotating ‘Meet the Keeper’ program provides interesting information from the critters’ caregivers…and it has NZ’s only tapir! The zoo is 8km from the city centre: take Norton Rd off Tristram St, then SH23 west towards Raglan, turn right at Newcastle Rd and then left onto Brymer Rd.
reviewed
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D
ArtsPost
ArtsPost, near the Waikato Museum, is a contemporary gallery and gift shop housed in the grand former post office. It focuses on the best of local art: paintings, glass, prints, textiles and photography. Check out the awesome floorboards.
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