CAMBRIDGE AND HAMILTON

Heading west from Rotorua, en route to Cambridge, we came across a fascinating village called Ritau.
Only place in New Zealand, so far, where we've seen a Bubble Car cut in two!

We'd stopped at Ritau because of the signs directing us to 'Beanz and Machines': not your common-or-garden coffee shop but a haven for real Coffee Experts. Apart from a myriad of beans on sale, there were also some 'awesome' coffee-making machines including one for a cool NZ$3,000. They'd sold one the previous week apparently. Kiwis like their coffee.

Yes, those ARE bowls.

Yes this is Oxford Street but less congested than the one we are acquainted with...

Onward to Cambridge. The 'Rough Guide' is pretty rude about it saying it has an 'undisturbed air, bordering on comatose'   but we were passing through fairly quickly and found it to be attractive and quaint, though no reminder of its namesake.

STEVE AND MONICA ALERT!!

It does feel a bit British, though, with the houses,street signs and river and a village green where cricket and bowls are played.

Not quite Hollywood, but you can follow the Equine Stars Walk of Fame, with mosaics of Cambridge-bred winners embedded in the pavement.

River runs along the road to Hamilton and through Cambridge - no punts seen....

 Could this be the UK Cambridge after all....

 Leamington: the sought- after area both in UK and New Zealand.

What more could a man want....especially one nearing a landmark birthday??

Kiwi Cordon Bleu:

1.

Hedging their bets.

2.

Not a reflection on its cuisine, we hope.

Ye olde English pub.

Cambridge cricket pitch

and nearby the traditional Bowls Green...

Now that could be the UK Cambridge on a quiet summer afternoon...

And then on to Hamilton, New Zealand's 4th largest city, on the banks of the Waikato river.

We'd read about a cruise on an old paddle-steamer offering Tea at 3p.m., so headed off to find Memorial Park where it was berthed. Unfortunately when we got there a blackboard announced the boat had sailed at 2p.m. that day, but our mistake was to our advantage as the park was full of beautiful flowers and trees, and many reminders of fallen Anzacs.

 Before going to Memorial Park we'd squeezed in a visit to the very interesting and well-laid out Waikato Museum of Art and History, where this fabulous Maori war-canoe is on display. In 1973 it was ceremonially sailed down the river to the Park as part of the Maori recognition of  many provisions of the Treaty of Waitangi (1840).

A WW2 Spitfire on display in the park.

 WW2 artillery.

Almost an English Garden