Balloons over Waikato

Lake Rotoroa or Hamilton Lake (officially Lake Rotoroa / Hamilton Lake) is a lake in Hamilton, Waikato, North Island, New Zealand. It has a surface area of about 54 hectares (133 acres) and an average depth of 2.4 metres (7 ft 10 in). It is the home of the Hamilton Yacht Club, which holds regular sailing in the summer.Lake Rotoroa formed, like most of the lakes in the central Waikato (Hamilton) basin, about 20,000 years ago, after the Waikato changed course to flow out at Port Waikato, rather than at Thames. It was a high-energy, braided river carrying large volumes of volcanogenic sediment (Hinuera Formation), which was deposited over and around a pre-existing hilly landscape to form an alluvial plain. In the process of depositing the alluvium, small basins were formed adjacent to the hills, and water then accumulated from local drainage and groundwater in these small basins. At Rotoroa, initially two small shallow lakes were formed with clear water in an embayment of the partially enclosing hills, a low spur off the hills separating them. Peat growth in the adjacent Rukuhia bog to the west and south then expanded and deepened as net precipitation increased as climate became warmer and wetter in the region, lifting regional water tables. The peat then encroached on to the alluvial dam holding in the two shallow lakes, forming a second storey barrier on top so that the two lakes coalesced into a single deeper lake with brownish peat-stained water, submerging the low spur.Innes Common, to the west, is 28 hectares (68 acres) of former wetland, bought by the Domain Board to protect the lake and drained some time after 1883. It was named after the Innes family from 1956.Near the cafe, a shelter covers the old locomotive, F230, donated in 1957. On Ruakiwi Rd an ivy-covered memorial arch to Arthur Swarbrick, former chairman of the Hamilton Domain Board, dates from 1929.The lake is sometimes affected by cyanobacteria, due to its high nutrient levels. However, the eutrophic quality of the lake has improved since 1998 due to regrowth of macrophytes, such as charophytes. In 1959, 11,000 litres (388 cu ft) of sodium arsenate was poured in the lake to control weeds. Arsenic is still in the sediment and eating fish from the lake is not recommended; it is on Regional Council's contaminated sites list. Copper, lead, mercury and zinc also exceed the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) guideline value in parts of the lake.On 26 August 2021, the official dual name of the lake was standardised as Lake Rotoroa / Hamilton Lake, having previously been Lake Rotoroa (Hamilton Lake) since 1974.

Hamilton railway station serves the city of Hamilton in the Waikato region of New Zealand. It is located in the suburb of Frankton, hence the station's former name Frankton Junction, its name for most of its existence. The station is a Keilbahnhof, located at the junction of the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) and East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) lines. The station is served by the regional Te Huia service, which runs to Auckland via Rotokauri Transport Hub and Huntly railway station twice daily in the morning, with return services in the evening and by the 6-days a week, Northern Explorer passenger service, between Auckland and Wellington.

Gower Park, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Hamilton, New Zealand, suburb of Melville. It is used for football matches and is the home stadium of New Zealand National League and Northern League side Melville United.

Hamilton Lake is a residential suburb of Hamilton, surrounding Lake Rotoroa and the Hamilton Lake Domain. Most of the housing in the suburb was built in the 1970s. The roads close to the lake are considered to be amongst Hamilton's premium streets.

Hamilton Girls' High School is a state single sex secondary school located in central Hamilton, New Zealand. The school caters for students in Years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18).

Frankton is a central suburb of the city of Hamilton, New Zealand. It is the site of the city's passenger railway station, a major industrial-commercial stretch of State Highway 1C, and a commercial shopping area. Frankton Borough Council was formed in 1913, but merged with Hamilton in 1917, after a poll in 1916.

The Hamilton Street Circuit was a temporary street circuit in Hamilton, New Zealand. From 2008 to 2012 it hosted the Hamilton 400 as part of the V8 Supercars championship. From 2010 to 2012, ITM, New Zealand's largest group of independent trade building supplies, sponsored the race and it became known as the ITM 400.

Seddon Park is a cricket ground in Hamilton, New Zealand. It is the fourth-largest cricket ground in the country, and is renowned for its "village green" setting, affording a picnic atmosphere for spectators.

Braemar Hospital is one of the New Zealand's largest private hospitals. It is owned by the Braemar Charitable Trust located in Hamilton, New Zealand. There was a separate and unrelated organisation, Braemar Hospital in Nelson, New Zealand which provided long term psychiatric care for children. It was founded in 1926 and moved from Lake Road in 2009.The hospital is located on Ohaupo Road, Melville. It carries out 10,000 surgical and medical procedures a year. It started a bowel-cancer screening service in 2014. In 2015 it had 85 beds, eight theatres and two endoscopy units. It was the first private hospital in New Zealand to offer endoscopic ultrasound and the first hospital in Australasia to install ultra high-definition imaging tools in the operating theatres, which enabled it to expand the range of keyhole surgery.It says that the fees charged "are very reasonable and any surplus we make goes back into the hospital or the charitable activities that we do, like supplying free surgery and supporting doctors and nurses with ongoing education."Hamilton City Council's proposed long-term plan would involve raising its rates by $355,400, compounded by a proposed transition from a land value to capital value rating system which chief executive Paul Bennett says would cause considerable problems. The hospital's annual rates bill was $52,550 in 2014/15.It initiated a $20 million expansion plan in 2015, driven by the demand for orthopaedic surgery from the aging population.

Hamilton City Council (Māori: Te kaunihera o Kirikiriroa) is the territorial authority for the New Zealand city of Hamilton.The council is led by the mayor of Hamilton, who is currently Paula Southgate. There are also 14 ward councillors.Council elections are held every three years.

Waikato Hospital is a major regional hospital in Hamilton, New Zealand. It provides specialised and emergency healthcare for the Midlands and Waikato area with patients referred there from feeder hospitals like Whakatāne, Lakes area, Tauranga, Thames, Tokoroa and Rotorua.

Hamilton West is a suburb in western Hamilton in New Zealand.Hamilton Lake (a.k.a. Lake Rotoroa) is located to the west. To the east is the Waikato River and the Victoria Bridge, which links with Hamilton East on the other side of the river. To the north are Hamilton Central (the business and shopping centre of the city) and then Hamilton North. To the south is the suburb of Melville. Hamilton West is located close to the central part of the city of Hamilton, known as Hamilton Central, where notable attractions bordering on Hamilton West include Waikato Museum and St Peter's Cathedral, the Anglican cathedral for the Diocese of Waikato, both on Victoria Street. The former office of the Waikato District Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, now Diggers Bar and Café is located in the suburb.