By the numbers
4 books
12.83kms
18,610 steps
I woke feeling really refreshed from the sleep as it was something
that I had needed, although my legs were sore and I knew why. I had run to and
from the bus in Taupo as we only had 10 mins. I do not run anywhere so I felt
sore today. I wanted to leave on the bus by 8am and I made my way with the
weather looking really nice. I have heard by the weekend it will have changed
to wet and nasty, which I really hope it wont as I have to get to a bus without
being blown over. I was going to get a pie for breakfast, but found a shop only
had cheese pies so I walked out. I ended up with a sandwich and a coffee at the
transport centre, which made me feel human while waiting for the bus to Te
Awamutu. I had thought about staying there for a couple of nights, but I think
I made the right decision in staying in Hamilton.
There were not that many people on the bus going into town
from Hamilton and the driver had not wanted to give me my 30 cents change. I
think he was hoping I would forget and it was all sorted. Turns out there will
be timetable changes and new bus’ that will come out next year that will have
wifi on board. Just before leaving, I made sure I had a map on my phone or else
I would never have gotten very far. I just follow my little blue dot that seems
to take a bit to catch up with me. I didn’t actually know where the museum was
when I thought I did. It was actually not next to the information centre.
Nothing had opened by the time I had arrived and I wanted to wander the streets
making my way slowly toward the museum.
The first thing I did was checkout the rose gardens across
the road as it was on a list of things to visit. There were very few flowers
blooming, but I was actually more interested in what was across the road. St
John’s church had been built in 1854 and the cemetery had some people who had
served during the Waikato War during 1863 to 1864. I think the church played a
big par in the war, but cant quite remember. There is a monument out the front
to the Maori who died during the war. I was happy to wander around and then
made my way up the street, although I did not really know where I wanted to go.
I had to hang around for the museum to open as I had over an
hour to go, where I decided to walk up the main street to see what else there
was. I found part of a heritage trail pointing out some of the buildings and I
did find a little shed in a park were you could share fruit and books. Once the
museum opened up I found it was free and it was not actually very big at all.
It had a little bit of history on the pre European Maori and some of the wars
there and there was a bit about the Waikato War and the history of parts of
that including what it meant for the government. There had been a few flour
mills around as the Maori got the taste for bread, which I knew a little about
already. The land confiscations happened and I came across something more
recent about how two girls from a local school were involved with bringing
awareness to the past and looking for a national day for the Waikato conflict.
It even included the book I had bought this year by Vincent O’Malley. I ended
up with another book through a visit to the library.
I had a map by this time of the town and I was following the
Pioneer trail where I was walking through different parts of Te Awamutu
including past a Crochet club where I heard a ‘thunk’ and thought I was going
to get hit by some ball. I found a War memorial park where I wandered in and
then out as I did not want to get too lost, A sculpture park that didn’t seem
to be on the list for the walk, but I went through anyway and I found on the
banks of the river where the Redoubt defences had been built. If there had not
been a sign, I would not have known anything had been there other being park
land. I had to checkout a local bookshop to see what they had and I walked out
with nothing in hand.
By this time I had gone back to catch the bus back to
Hamilton and the driver was surprised that I had the right change. She had not
been expecting that. It did seem to be a quicker trip back into town than it
was when we were going into Te Awamutu. I needed to make one stop when I got
back to the bus station and that was to get a new pair of sandals. It took me 5
mins to find the right size and I was walking out with them. I wanted to see a
movie while I was in Hamilton, but found that would have to wait for a little
bit. By the time I got back to the room for a shower, I had bought three books
and posted them home. I found what I was after and was funny when the bookshop
lady pointed out a book that I already had, well had downloaded off the net as
it was part of the dept of conservation. Once I headed out again after a
shower, I wore my new sandals out as I wanted to try them out. I seen the new
Thor movie and it had gotten cooler outside when I came out. It had been a long
day and I had done everything that I had wanted to do.
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