176 days ago

Medieval quest seeks donations for latest time travel experience

The Team from Momentum Waikato

Hamilton Gardens enthusiasts now have the opportunity to support the completion of its Medieval Garden, the next new time-travel experience at the city’s premier visitor attraction.

A fundraising campaign to raise $300,000 needed to complete the new themed space has been launched by Momentum Waikato, the region’s community foundation.

The design of the Medieval Garden will be based on the ruins of the St John of the Hermits Monastery in Sicily, made up of a ‘Cloister Garth’ for prayer and meditation and an ‘Apothecary Garden’ for growing medicinal herbs and healing plants.

Peter Sergel, the founding director and visionary designer of Hamilton Gardens, says each of its existing and planned gardens represents a major transformation point in history, with the Medieval Garden representing the spread of Christianity.

“Three particular aspects will be reflected in the Medieval Garden, one is the piety, study and prayer, second was protection and looking after strangers, and the third was superstition, particularly around geometry and maths and numbers.”

“The Medieval world has inspired all sorts of fiction, including science fiction films, because it was a strange brutal world with all sorts of magic and mystery,” says Sergel.

The monastery spaces of the Medieval Garden will ultimately be one of four gardens on site reflecting the philosophies of the world’s major religions, the others being Islam via the Indian Char Bagh Garden, Buddhism via the Japanese Garden, and Hinduism via the planned Vedic Garden.

More messages from your neighbours
20 hours ago

Best way to use leftovers?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.

What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.

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16 days ago

⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️

The Team from SPCA New Zealand

It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:

👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️

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8 days ago

Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.

If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?

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Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
  • 62.1% Summer
    62.1% Complete
  • 36.4% Winter
    36.4% Complete
  • 1.5% Other - I'll share below
    1.5% Complete
1565 votes