Randoms

 Rounding off my trip to the Waikato, here's just a few random shots.

We chose to stay in Cambridge rather than Hamilton, because it is smaller and quieter and easy to find your way around.  It has a population of fewer than 20,000 but offers all the amenities you could possibly want or need. 

Our little cabin was the middle of these below, reasonably priced, spotlessly clean, warm and very comfy.

One day we stopped at a garden centre which had been recommended to us for lunch.  The food was good but what took my fancy were the toilets.  (I think that came out wrong.)  I liked how they adapted garden implements.

For years I've noticed Saint Andrews on the corner as I passed through Cambridge on State Highway 1.  I've always thought it was a lovely church but was surprised how grand it is inside.  We arrived a few minutes before the lady who was rostered on to welcome visitors was about to lock up.  She was sitting in her little car by the front door, a charming older lady keen to tell us all about the church and its history.   That was the first time I've ever been greeted by a member of a welcoming committee at a church. 

One set of stained glass windows tells the story of the link between Cambridge and Le Quesnoy in France.  To quote from the church website:  In 1923 a set of windows were installed to commemorate the men of Cambridge who were killed in WWI. It has three distinct panels, depicting the battles of Gallipoli in 1915 showing New Zealand troops storming the beach at ANZAC Cove; a scene of a soldier praying at Ypres in 1917; and lastly the scaling of the walls of Le Quesnoy on the 4th of November 1918. 

This is the above panel shown from a better angle by Dave Homewood.  You can more clearly see the soldiers climbing the wall in this photo.  Not your usual church window at all.

 The bowling club and nearby Tudor style houses near the town centre.  Not something you often see in NZ.

Before I finish about our Waikato visit I'm going to admit to how many times we got lost.  Even with the help of modern technology I make the world's worst navigator and only someone who enjoys back roads as much as I do would put up with me.  I'm so lucky to have a friend like Chris with whom I can get out and about.

One day when we were returning from our day's tripping about south of the town a bit earlier than we expected I noticed Karapiro marked on the map.  Lake Karapiro is recognised as one of the most picturesque rowing lakes in the world and hosted the World Rowing Championships in 2010.  We both had visions of what it looked like from seeing rowing championships on TV.  And my logic said it would be near a place named Karopiro and as likely as not be on Karapiro Road.  About 20 minutes later we came out on the same road we'd been on, more south than where we had turned off.  No lake had been spotted but we did see a huge quarry in an area called Taotaoroa and some lovely countryside.  So we tried a road on the other side of the highway and eventually came upon a large expanse of water.  Roadside workers were amused by our question about was it the Waikato River or the lake.  One of them was very articulate and explained, as if to a child, that it was both, the lake is part of the river formed behind the Karapiro hydro dam.  We provided a bit more entertainment by asking where were the boatsheds (the ones we'd seen on TV) and that it was much further from town than we thought it would be.  On the other side of the river which it turns out was very close to where we were staying.

It was getting late by then and we intended to go for a quick look the next morning before we set off but we both forgot.

So no pic of the lake but here's a gate where we turned around one day.  Unexpected delights are everywhere.