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Published: June 27th 2016
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For anyone interested in trains, railways and their history in Hamilton, there is quite a bit on offer. While you are exploring, you will be visiting plenty of places that will keep the adults happy, the kids interested and the dog exercised too.
As I started writing this, I received a text from my daughter who works in the CBD, telling me that part of the old railway building that was being demolished collapsed all by itself.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/81492548/building-partially-collapses-in-hamilton . This link will give you more information about the building and its history
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/80853629/tainui-group-holdings-invests-in-hamilton-cbd For history buffs, the best place to begin is Frankton which was once home to Frankton Junction. It still acts the junction of the North Island Main Trunk Railway and the East Coast Main Trunk Railway. But the station is a sad looking place with only the Northern Explorer stopping there 6 days a week on its route between Auckland and Wellington.
http://www.kiwirailscenic.co.nz/northern-explorer/ . The best part of the station for me is the photos I can take and the land I can let my 4-legged assistant have a run on. Be warned - if you want to take a photo of
the amazing palm trees, don't stand underneath them as they are inhabited by a large number of pigeons. Do I need to go into further detail?
Geocaches in Frankton: Here are 4 easy geocaches around Frankton that I recommend -
GCYD73 House the Workers. A quick park and grab at the Frankton Railway House Factory.
GC4JPMJ Frankton Railway Art. I drove right past this as I didn't recognise is as 'art'. Another very easy one to help your tally but it is on a busy corner so watch out for muggles.
GCYBQ8 Saturday Night at the Railway. I love the easy ones! But again, this is in a high muggle area, particularly at weekends.
GC2Bx70 Frankton Junction. This is an interesting and easy 6 stage multi which guides you round Frankton Village, 1 of Hamilton's oldest parts. My advice is to do this during the day, during the week if possible as my assistant and I attempted it on a Sunday and had problems with some of the drugged/drunk locals. We had to go back on the Monday to retrieve the actual cache. A good multi for the kids to try.
For the kids, how about finding them a couple of old trains they can play on? One is at Lake Rotoroa which is 1 of the top tourist spots in Hamilton as well as being very popular with the locals. You can walk round the lake, visit the Rose Garden (and do the amazing geocache GC1MVYT - Just Another Rose: tricky but brilliant and I can always be your PAF), visit the cafe, watch the model boats, grab the numerous Munzees that are placed around the lake, photograph the wildlife, feed the endless ducks and check out the train. A bit of hunting will lead you to old tracks from when a miniature railway ran there many years ago.
Another great place to take the kids is Minogue Park in Forest Lake. On Sundays, weather permitting, the miniature railway runs which is fun and cheap.
http://www.hme.co.nz/ There are many trains running with lots of tracks and bridges. Or, if you want to explore and let the kids play on the big train, visit during the week when you will probably be the only ones in the park. This is a dog park so you can let
them loose for a good run. The best option, during the week when access is blocked off to vehicles, is to drive up Tui Avenue, park and then walk up the track. Try finding the Thomas the Tank Engine geocache (GCV0GJ) hidden somewhere in the miniature railway system. You can also park at the end of Walsh St or Moore St. GC53F0M is a park and grab geocache in the Moore St car park. There is a lake you can stroll round (picking up a couple on Munzees along the way) but it can be really muddy in winter.
If you are passing through on a Sunday, there is another option, north of Hamilton.
http://www.bushtramwayclub.com/information.htm This is on my 'to do' list so I will add a blog about it in the future.
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