Hamilton Gardens

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We spent a few days in Hamilton which sits along the Waikato River.  There are lots of lovely walks, hikes, and bike rides you can do in Hamilton!

Rolling green hills, spectacular limestone caves and black sand surf beaches surround Hamilton’s vibrant city hub.

We find a place on Air BnB right in the City Center.  It was conveniently located by many shops and eateries.

Hamilton Gardens

There are 18 individual and unique gardens within Hamilton Gardens.  Each garden is a journey through time, culture, and imagination.

Originally, I thought I’d fall in love with a bevy of beautiful flowers, plants, and shrubs. 

However, I mostly fell in love with the statues, overall scenery, and architecture. 

I did not manage to note which gardens each photo was from so I grouped them into different categories.

The Gardens

The Surrealist Garden was my favorite because it was so whimsical and creative. 

Poor Matt couldn’t open the door, then he got stabbed by a pitch fork, then he was ignored by the waving trees.

Another favorite of mine was the Tudor Garden with all of their protective guardians.

Everywhere you turned there were statues with magnificent stories. 

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual live events.  

We visited the Hamilton Gardens in early February 2026.

Raglan and its Black Sand Beaches

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We left Waitomo early and only had an hour drive to Hamilton so we decided to make a detour to Raglan, a small surf town.

What a wonderful surprise this place turned out to be.  It was bustling with tourists enjoying the sunny day and various shops and eateries.  

We walked around a bit, checked out a few shops and had lunch at Wyld.

This place had a super cool vibe.  We both wished we would have stayed over night here!

Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil falls drops an impressive 55 meters through the lush forest of Raglan.

This is definitely one of the most impressive waterfalls we’ve seen! 

The pure force of the water coming down caused it to bounce off the pool of water at the bottom!

It is super easy to get to and you have the option to experience the waterfalls from 4 different lookouts.  

There are 261 stairs down through a thick pocket of native bush, it feels peaceful, wild, and a little bit magical.

My favorite view was at the bottom looking up at the magnificent force of nature.

Ngarunui Beach

Raglan is known for its black sand beaches and I just had to see them.

The first beach we went to was called Ngarunui Beach and it is a famous left surf spot.

This is the main beach of Raglan and is great for swimming and surf lessons.

There is a beautiful lookout over the entire bay.  Just to the right of the lookout is a little, not well-traveled trail down to the beach.

We walked the span of the beach which is simply stunning.

Te Toto Gorge

Te Toto Gorge is not super easy to get to as you have to drive along a very narrow, gravel road 5km to reach it.

This site has dramatic views of the west coast and the Tasman Sea. Rich in Māori history.

It was a truly lovely day visiting Raglan, but we were off to Hamilton next.

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual live events.  

We visited Raglan in early February 2026.

Waitomo Caving Experience

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We scheduled a tour with The Waitomo Experience that included spelunking, swimming, caving, and bouldering.  

The last time we were in Waitomo we did The Lost World Experience which was very different, yet similar, and equally over-the-top experience.

This organization has the rights to the Okohua Caves so no other organization can use it.  We are lucky enough to get one of the owners as our guide, Vaughn.

Vaughn took us 40 meters below the surface and traveled about 1.2km down the river.  The track is below in the lower left corner.

We are provided with 5mil wetsuits and jackets, helmets, and wellies. We brought our bathing suits and merino wool tops and socks and were pretty comfortable in the 15c water!

There are gorgeous stalagmites and stalactites throughout the cave.  It is so hard not to touch them as you traverse the rocky terraine.

The Caving Begins

We start off with an easy descent down a ladder about 20meters. 

The first challenge is a “squishy” tunnel, a medium tunnel, or a walk over.  Matt took the squishy tunnel and I took the medium tunnel.

We had several opportunities to squeeze through (spelunk) spaces. 

The headlamp luminated our path while our wellies protected our feet from the sharp rocks.

At times we were balancing on sharp, narrow, slippery rocks, delving into chest deep pools, and crawling over boulders.

Along the way, Vaughn had us pose for unforgettable moments!

There were several places where we saw glowworms.  

We would turn off our headlamps and just sit and admire the beautiful constellation of lights ahead of us.

At one point we hopped on tubes, linked together and floated down the river in the dark.  It was mesmerizing. The dots in the top right photo are glowworms.

We emerged back to the surface two hours later.  It was so sad to leave the magic of this cave!

This is truly an amazing experience.  Super great guides, beautiful cave, small groups, and spectacular experience.

We highly recommend this tour over the standard “boat glowworm tour.” 

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual live events.  We took the Waitomo Caving Experience in early February 2026.