blog/2021-12-05-hamilton_kirikiriroa.md

layout, title, category, date

layout	title	category	date
post	Hamilton	Aotearoa	2021-11-15 20:05:00 +0200

The moment I turned my back on Cape Reinga - the northernmost point in Aotearoa - began my journey southward, as far out as Rakiura. As they say, every journey begins with a single step - and my first stop on the path south was the city of Hamilton, on the great Waikato river.

Like Whangarei, Hamilton isn't a particularly favoured spot - and it was but a pit stop on my way to the glowworm caves of Waitomo and the geothermal Rotorua. It proved a natural continuation in the narative of Aotearoa - as the historic Pa (Maori fortified settlement) of Kirikirioa upon which Hamilton is built was the seat of the Kingitanga - the Maori kingship movement. The area experienced the brunt of armed conflict between Maori and Pakeha, which followed the bloody Musket Wars.

Kirikiroa was the heart of the Waikato region, rife with Maori history.

Kirikiroa was a great fortified pa in the fertile lands alongside the great Waikato river. Maori iwi famously revered great natural features - and thus the local Maori were proud and powerful. Kirikiroa was amongst the first to experience land loss of the enroaching Pakeha, who pressured Maori landowners to give up or sell their lands against majority interest after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

From the proud Waikato Maori rose a call to unite all North Island tribes, and they formed the Kingitanga - the Maori King movement - to stand on equal footing with the British monarchy.In 1858, the first Maori king was crowned in the Waikato region. Despite starting as a peaceful movement, tensions rose and war broke out in 1863 - the bloodiest collision of Pakeha and Maori. Two years prior, the King Movement had fought with the colonial forces - a war which ended with no decisive victory - but this time around, the British eventually overpowered the Maori, who retreated south to the area that subsequently became known as King Country.

The war provided the British monarchy ample ground for confiscation of lands - these events are still politically charged today!

All of these histories are present in the colorful Waikato museum, full of rich artifacts of the proud Waikato Maori heritage.

After the lands were confiscated, the area was abandoned for a few years, and upon those lost grounds European settlers founded the quaint city of Hamilton. As a sharp contrast from the violent history of the region, the city of Hamilton's biggest draw point are the Botanical Gardens - in peak Victorian fashion.

The gardens are very expansive and contain sections modeled after specific countries (India, China, Japan, Italy) as well as English favourites and local plants.

_{The flowers are EVERYWHERE! how pretty!}

_{Little did I know I would see Japaneese gardens in Japan later on...}

And as a nice bonus, Hamilton has a wonderful little lake, full of proudly struting Pukeko, where people go off to run laps. I had one of my best runs there! _{These guys own the place, no doubt.}

Now, Hamilton was not particularly popular among Kiwis, and I met plenty of interesting charchters in there - such as:

• A Christian Maori about my age who was absolutely amazed at me being an Israeli (of Abraham's People as he put it). It's nice to be appreciated
• A Kiwi who went from his Auckland home to the Hamilton hostel for two weeks strictly to sleep, because there's 'too much going on up there, man'. I hear you!
• A stranger I met along the peaceful Waikato walkway who had nothing but good things to say about Israel, and I did not realise was homeless until he courtesly notified me he had to rock a piss. That was an awkward handshake.
• A nice lady running laps along the lake who smiled at me at every lap running the other way, and me smiling back at her every time our paths crossed. Such a nice, simple understanding!
• Random deeply religious Christian person who really insisted I take a booklet and join their church, despite me immediatly identifying as an atheist. Kudos for the devotion, though.

It was a short stay, but colourful - the hostel was the only terrible one I experienced in New Zealand, and thus I left early for the glowworm caves of Waitomo.