December 14, 2020 by kiwipom91

Our Wedding at Hobbiton

My first visit to Hobbiton was nearly seven years ago. I knew then that I wanted to get married there. Ten days ago, I did.

And it was wonderful.

True, it was supposed to happen back in April, and our friends and family from Europe were supposed to be with us, but considering the state the pandemic has the rest of the world in, we count ourselves lucky.

The day was perfect. We said our vows in the Italian Renaissance Garden in the Hamilton Gardens, before making our way to Matamata. The reception was held in Hobbiton’s Green Dragon Inn, preceded by a tour.

Of course, this made for some epic photos.

Tim and I were so happy, and we have been floating on cloud nine ever since.

The cost of hiring the Italian Renaissance Garden – or, indeed, any of the Hamilton Gardens’ themed gardens – for a wedding ceremony is just $250. For double that, you can get the garden of your choice specially closed off for an hour or so, but you don’t need to. People are generally respectful and happy to stand back for you. The cost of hiring Hobbiton is fair bit more!

Here are some pictures from our ceremony at the Hamilton Gardens:

One bit of advice for Hobbiton: Wear comfortable shoes for the photo tour! I’m so glad I thought to change out of the gorgeous, but punishing heels I wore for the ceremony. My bridesmaid sister doesn’t look too happy!

The highlight of the tour was getting to go right up to Bag End, which doesn’t happen on regular tours. Here’s my father (the hobbit) and father-in-law (the wizard) posing suitably:

Springtime for Hamilton Gardens

There’s always something going on at the Hamilton Gardens. The weekend before last there was a model railway exhibition. I wouldn’t have gone to it myself, but my parents were visiting and my dad’s obsessed with trains. His own model railway takes up nearly half a double garage, and he’s started another one in a shed. (Mum wasn’t keen on him building one around the top of their lounge.)

Some of the layouts were quite interesting. I especially enjoyed seeing the ones set in Germany and Austria. They reminded me of my real train journey through Europe. My dad’s layout is based on our hometown in England. Mostly. He’s added a few quirky touches, such as a 1960s police box (or TARDIS) and zombies emerging from a graveyard. It’s really good, actually. The Victorian terraced houses make me nostalgic.

I didn’t find the model railway exhibition nearly as interesting as the gardens themselves, though. I know I go to the gardens a lot, but seeing them in the springtime is something special. I couldn’t resist taking these photos of the Italian Renaissance Garden…

When my dad finally emerged from the exhibition, he wanted to do some geocaching. It’s another obsession of his, albeit a recent one. There were a few hidden caches around the gardens. In one there was a trackable coin that had been all over the world. I followed him with my mum and partner, catching Pokémon on my phone as I went. I wonder if we’ll ever walk around the gardens normally again!

April 29, 2015 by kiwipom91

Hamilton’s Italian Paradise

There’s only one reason to visit Hamilton: the Gardens. Follow the Waikato River south out of the city centre and there you are. I’ve written about the Hamilton Gardens before, but last weekend I went again and discovered an entrance I never knew existed. I thought I’d seen all there was to see, but it turns out the Gardens are even more wonderful than I already believed.

They’re so extensive, with so many different sections, and they’re growing all the time. The fact that they’re free is an amazing gift to the people of Hamilton. And tourists. When I went on Sunday evening, there were a lot of families wandering around. As well as countless peaceful nooks for picnics, the Gardens have plenty of open spaces for playing.

It’s difficult to say which garden is my favourite. Possibly the Italian Renaissance Garden in the Paradise Collection. That’s where all this article’s photos come from anyway. It’s a very romantic place to sit and write. Of course, I’ve been to the ultimate Italian Renaissance garden, the one belonging to the Villa d’Este in Tivoli, near Rome. But Hamilton’s is pretty good.

I’m rather excited after reading about the Hamilton Gardens’ possible future developments, especially for the proposed eighteenth century garden, which could include classical ruins and a hermit’s cave. I absolutely adore classical ruins, even if they are fake, and find the subject of eighteenth century garden hermits quite fascinating.

(It was a bizarre practice wherein some rich people decided they fancied real life garden ornaments, so employed poor – or extremely eccentric – people to play the parts of hermits. These hermits would dress in rags and live in artificial caves in people’s gardens for a set number of years, during which time they weren’t allowed to speak, or they wouldn’t get paid at the end.)

Watch this episode of Tony Robinson’s The Worst Jobs in History – the garden hermit bit starts at 11:11 – to find out more.

Other possible future gardens include a surrealist garden, which I hope will be like Alice’s Wonderland, and an early twentieth century garden modelled on the one described in Katherine Mansfield’s short story The Garden Party. (Katherine Mansfield is an important figure in New Zealand literature. She was born in Wellington and spent the first nineteen years of her life here.)

But even if they weren’t to make any new gardens, Hamilton Gardens would be a place to go again and again. I know I gush about them, but I do love them. They’re amongst the best gardens in the entire world. And that’s not just me saying that – they won International Garden of the Year last year.