Review: YWCA Hamilton

I spent 2 nights at the Hamilton YWCA hostel. You do not need to be young nor female to stay here, and they are the most value-for-money hostel near to the city.

From the main road

Activities hall/office

Flat units

For $30 a night you get a small, but private, single room like the one below:

A single room

It even comes with a towel, a rarity for hostels. They are also open for long term stays, and I've seen a few residents who look like they've been there for quite a while. If I remember correctly, the weekly rent is $140 for a single.

The main disadvantages:

• Still relatively far from the city centre, compared to other hostels. It's not within the free city circuit bus network, so you need to walk slightly more than 1km to Victoria St.
• Common kitchen has limited utensils. Each resident is given a sauce pan (small pot), a bowl, a small plate, a large plate, a small cup, and a pair of fork and spoon. They have some knives and chopping board in the kitchen, but there are no other pots and pans. I had to get really creative with cooking my meals.

Random Hamilton

It was a rainy time in Hamilton and so I didn't take many photos, especially the main Victoria St. These will have to do:

ArtsPost - old post office converted into commercial art gallery

Waikato Museum - permanent exhibits are free and highly recommended

Falun Dafa movement at the farmer's market

Weekend farmer's market

Hamilton Gardens, Hamilton

Hamilton Gardens was the highlight of my visit to Hamilton City. Located a few kilometers away from the city centre, there are public buses (about 5 a day) but a car is definitely more convenient.

Basically a large botanical garden, the thing that sets it apart is the focus on gardens as a historical/cultural concept rather than particular flora. Yes, there are the usual "here's 15 different types of roses for you to mull over" areas within its huge 50 hectares, but the part that I liked the most is the Paradise Garden Collection, which features themed gardens from the Italian Renaissance, Chinese, Japanese, English, American Modernist, and Indian era. Separated by high hedges, taking just a few steps transported me from a pagoda to a tea house to a mini Taj Mahal!

More pics under the fold...

Raglan, Waikato

This post contains text excerpts from Lonely Planet New Zealand, which helped me plan my holidays here. It's not the definite resource but it's a good base to start from.

I started an 8 day holiday around some parts of North Island on the 20th of this month, and I'll spend the next few weeks posting photos and experiences from my laidback trip. I hadn't realized it when I planned this trip, but I actually went from coast to coast, from the Tasman Sea on the west up to the South Pacific Ocean on the east, with a little jaunt through the Hauraki Gulf in the middle. Get ready to feast your eyes on lots of sea and beautiful beaches!

My first stop was Raglan, a famous surfing town not unlike Piha Beach but with more surfing spots. Bruce Brown's classic 1964 wave-chasing film The Endless Summer features Manu Bay (Lonely Planet, 2010) which was where I stayed during my short jaunt into Raglan.

I woke up that morning at about 5.30am so I could catch an early bus into the city. Reaching my final stop at 7.15am, I walked up to the SkyCity complex which was where InterCity buses depart. I hopped on the 8am bus to Hamilton and arrived at the Hamilton Transport Centre ahead of schedule, about 2 hours later.

All my bags are packed, ready to go...

InterCity coach terminal, SkyCity Auckland

I explored Hamilton a little bit on foot before my mid-afternoon bus to Raglan. It costs $7.50 one way (adult) on the Raglan 23 bus. It takes about 45 minutes to reach Raglan and you'll pass by plenty of rolling hills and at one point, a windfarm. It's amazing to see the really huge windmills and to see them perched on top of green hills, their blades rotating and generating clean energy. The bus passed it pretty quickly so I didn't manage to snap a photo.

Along SH23

More rolling hills for your viewing pleasure

Due to job interview commitments back in Hamilton, I had less than 24 hours in Raglan. A free shuttle drove me to my hostel and I immediately dropped my bags and went out for a short tramp (New Zealanders call hiking 'tramping') down to Ngarunui Beach. The track is well-maintained and sign-posted by the DOC (Department of Conservation).

Sign post before the track

Going down the hill to Ngarunui Beach

A short 20 minute walk down the hill leads you onto the beach itself. It's too bad that I visited during low tide because there were barely any surfers in sight. But in return I had a mostly-deserted beach to myself and I walked along it for an hour, just soaking in the sound of the ocean waves and getting a nice tan.

Ngarunui Beach from the lookout point

On Ngarunui Beach

On Ngarunui Beach

The next morning I went to the lookout point again to see how it looked like with a rising sun before I checked out and caught the 10am bus back to Hamilton.

Ngarunui Beach with the rising sun

Wouldn't you want to just sit on this bench and let time float by?

The famed Manu Bay from afar

Manu Bay close up