Hamilton Zoo

As it is the school holidays again we decided to visit Hamilton Zoo.

It's quite a small zoo but set out very nicely in picturesque grounds and keeps you occupied for a good couple of hours. We did seem to spend quite a lot of time peering into cages that didn't have anything in them but the chimpanzee house is very entertaining and you get a good view of inside their enclosure.
The zoo has 2 large tigers who looked at us with total disdain as only felines can. This one stared straight at us and you can almost hear it thinking 'I could rip you to pieces in one go, if I could be bothered"
The giraffes are the definite stars of the show, they really are huge elegant creatures.
After heckling the rhinos for a while we decided to move off when the calf started to make a meal of its mothers' droppings - nice. We then headed for the cafe for a very good coffee and walnut cake.
Hamilton town is the 4th biggest town in New Zealand (I think!) and has a very good museum which we had a browse round. Of course we managed to get lost and ended up riding in a lift which was for staff only but we were eventually politely pointed in the right direction by a very helpful lady.
Anyway, the Maori carvings in the museum are excellent.
On the outskirts of town there are some great looking garden walks with sculptures and exhibits to look at but as it started to rain we decided to head home but will definitely return sometime.