Hamilton ~ the one in NZ

OK. Here we go with the NZ stuff again. It's now many months since I took these pics & trained in Hamilton, so it'll be a bit more woolly than if I'd done it in 2011 when I got home.
After arriving at Hamilton bus station from Rotorua, I found my way to J's hostel, checked in & got ready to go training. I didn't have a gi, but my Budokan track pants & a Wado T sufficed.
It was about a 20 minute walk to the dojo from J's. If you recall, I'd made a flying visit back in Dec 9 on my 1st trip to NZ, so I knew where it was.
The session was a basic mixed karate one with a few kihon/renrakuwaza & then partner work. I stuck myself in the back corner out of the way as I was well out of practice. However, Robbie said something like "I can see you've been well taught" so it mustn't have looked too bad.

After, I was given a lift back to J's & I joined a few other UK nationals of various colours by the telly. One, Stuart, was at pains to explain he was supporting the Welsh, English & Irish.
I had plans to go & look at the Botanical Gardens next day, Friday, so I made my way upstairs where my fellow hostellers were also getting ready for bed.
Next morning, having noticed the brick BBQ looked like a face, I took a pic (no.1), & shortly after made my way across the road to the gardens. Pic 2 is a map of the layout.

The next pic is a tree (you don't say, Shirl!) Well you know me & trees?
Following that is one of the lake near the cafe, & the little waterfall.
You can tell it was still quite early ~ before 10, as the sun was still quite low: it being the NZ spring - September.

I had a quick brew stop ( & a choc goodie), & while I was sitting in the sun heard the unmistakable sound of a Maori chant.

So I followed my ears & discovered there was a Maori culture exhibition, & the chants had apparently been the sound of some punters on the river in a Maori canoe ~ a Waka.

There were quite a few marquees, & in one I found this guy carving allsorts of awesome stuff out of wood. Some of the staves had a great feel, although they were shorter than Bo. Some were rigid & some more whippy, but all would have left a nasty bruise!

The next tent had loads of info-boards, so (as I'd done previously) I took pics of them to explain things about the Maori culture & artifacts.

I recently had a discussion with a friend about the Haka, & like most peeps he was under the impression that the one performed by the ABs was 'it'. Having been to this exhibition, I tried to explain that a Haka could be performed for many reasons, not just a "I'm gonna mash you" war cry. He reckoned it shouldn't be allowed before a rugby match!
I didn't agree. I love Haka & would love to be taught one, one day. Maybe I'll put that on my Bucket List? ? ?

Here's what Wiki says:
Although the use of haka by the All Blacks rugby union team and the Kiwis rugby league team has made one type of haka familiar, it has led to misconceptions.[2] Haka are not exclusively war dances or performed only by men.[3] Some are performed by women, others by mixed groups, and some simple haka are performed by children. Haka are performed for various reasons: for amusement, as a hearty welcome to distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions or funerals.
War haka (peruperu) were originally performed by warriors before a battle, proclaiming their strength and prowess in order to intimidate the opposition. Today, haka constitute an integral part of formal or official welcome ceremonies for distinguished visitors or foreign dignitaries, serving to impart a sense of the importance of the occasion.
Various actions are employed in the course of a performance, including facial contortions such as showing the whites of the eyes and the poking out of the tongue, and a wide variety of vigorous body actions such as slapping the hands against the body and stamping of the feet. As well as chanted words, a variety of cries and grunts are used. Haka may be understood as a kind of symphony in which the different parts of the body represent many instruments. The hands, arms, legs, feet, voice, eyes, tongue and the body as a whole combine to express courage, annoyance, joy or other feelings relevant to the purpose of the occasion.

You can see from the info-boards, the Haka is classed as a dance. So I should defo get my act together next time I visit and learn at least one.

Reading through the pics now makes me realise how much I've forgotten from wandering through the exhibition for about an hr and a 1/2
What a good idea it was to take them :-)

Though I would feel pretty naff doing the whetero (remember the rules about 'wh'?) or pukana, I guess if it's part of a dance I could shove my embarrasment aside for the duration.
Here's hoping I get the chance to try, one day.

After I'd been into all the marquees it was time for some scran, & my nose told me there was some good stuff getting cooked nearby ;-p

I found this bloke making 'pancakes'.
Basically it was a cockle omelette & although it looked like a vomit sandwich, it Was totally yummy.
It was washed down with the ubiquitous plastic cup of tea!

I'd noted there were various themed gardens from the plan/map, so I made my way to the Japanese one 1st - no surprise there, then.

The first pic is in the 'natural' style showing the various aspects of nature ~ trees, rocks, water etc.
There're probably Koi in there too, somewhere. It's not Japanese without gloriously coloured carp.

The next 2 are the Zen garden type. That's the kind I tried to create back home, but I never rake nice lines into it like this one (& like you should :-/ ), & my gravel is looking decidedly dreary at the mo. I shall have to bleach it white again soon.

The next couple were actually taken after I'd done the other gardens - see below, but (as usual), technology got the better of me.
Anyway, it's a super-sundial, (apparently an anelemmatic one ?) and you can tell the time all over the world on it.
I E'd Hamilton Garderns about it, & they sent me this:

A Short Guide to the Time Court

The Time Court is a combination of a sundial (which tells the time of day) and a solar calendar or ‘Pelekinon’ (which tells the time of year). Using the Time Court you can determine both the date and the time.
The metal needle that casts a shadow on the tiles is called a gnomon. As the position of the sun in the sky changes, the position of the shadow of the point of the gnomon moves across the ground in a particular and predictable pattern.
The thick blue curved lines trace the path of the shadow on particular days of the year. There is one curve for the first of each month. There are also curves for the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice: these are the lines that are closest to and furthest from the gnomon, since on the Summer Solstice the sun is highest in the sky and casts the shortest shadow, whereas on the Winter Solstice the sun is lowest in the sky and casts the longest shadow.
When the shadow falls between two of the curved lines then the exact date must be inferred. It is possible to draw a line for every day of the year, however for simplicity’s sake when building a pelekinon it is preferable to select a small number of evenly spaced days.
The thin light blue figure-8 shapes are called analemmas. Their shape is a result of two features of the Earth’s path around the sun:
1. The Earth is tilted relative to the plane of its orbit. In other words, the line between the North and South poles is not at right angles to the direction of the Earth’s travel.
2. The Earth does not travel in a circle around the sun. Instead its path is an ellipse.
If you marked the sun’s position in the sky at the same time every day for a whole year, the result would be a figure-8 shape. Thus, the shadow that is cast by the sun describes the same shape on the ground. Each analemma shows where the shadow of the point of the gnomon will lie on each hour (the small bronze inlays show how it is corrected for daylight saving time).
When the shadow of the point of the gnomon lies on the intersection of an analemma with a thick blue curved line, the current date and time will be ‘on the hour’ on the first of the month.
I don't know about you, but I think that's really interesting.
IRO the other themed gardens, sadly there's something wrong with my SD card & apart from the Indian ones ~ outside & inside,  the pictures won't upload :-/

I wandered all over the rest of the place, then I set off along the river into town. A lovely walk in the NZ spring sunshine :-)
It was a lovely walk along a path by the river ~ the Waikato, & as per usual for yours truly, as water was nearby, when I got a chance, off came the shoes & in went the feet.

There were a group of lads all messing about in the river, jumping in etc., so I persuaded a couple of them to dive/jump in for me while I got a pic

This is one up a tree just prior to him jumping in!

And this is him on the way down

Town was Still quite a walk off, but it was a really nice day, & the walk was lovely. Soon after I got onto the main street, I came across this statue of Rik Rak from the Rocky Horror Show. I think that's how you spell his name?




These tackle targets were outside a rugby pub ~ only in NZ, eh! ;-)

After a brew & a bite I walked back a slightly different way & picked up some food to cook for tea.
Back at the hostel I made tea & ate in a kind of Yurty thing they have in the front garden ! !
Most atmospheric.

Then, as there was a game on, I walked down to the nearest pub & bagged a seat & a cider.
On the way there I noticed the moon, & here's a picture. It's orientation quite surprised me as I thought it only came up like that in lattitudes nearer the equator?

A couple of Welsh girls from the hostel joined me just after the game started & we walked home after a good game - NZ won again!


The next morning I got a lift to the Dojo & we did some Shindo Yoshin Ryu Ju Jitsu for a couple of hours. As with the Wado on Thursday, I was very out of practice, but had fun anyway. Robbie is a great coach & explained very well.
After, we all went out for lunch at a nearby Asian, & Robbie treated me to mine. Cheers Robbie :-)
 I thought I wrote what I had, but I can't find my notes. It was Japanese :-q 

Then Robbie kindly took me to the bus station & I caught the afternoon bus to Auckland.
Of which I shall write in the next blog.
OAO