When Hannah Goldmanu arrived in Hamilton four months ago with husband Jay and twin sons Atoa and Lua, they wanted to get to know the region as quickly as possible.
The Cambridge number 20 bus at the Hamilton Transport Centre.
The boys saw a number 20 bus pass by their Hamilton East home and asked their mother whether they could catch it and see where it would go.
It brought them to Cambridge where the Americans fell in love with the Velodrome, Farmers’ Market, Lake Te Koo Utu and the cafes.
So, every chance they get they hop onto the bus in Clyde Street and travel to Cambridge, more recently with Hannah’s parents who came out from New Jersey state to check on the new home in New Zealand.
Hannah, who was born in middle America and grew up in California, has a Bachelor of Science degree in marine, freshwater and environmental biology from Ohio University.
Upon graduation she volunteered for the Peace Corps in Samoa where she met Jay, a school teacher.
He was then 26 and had never been out of Samoa but after the two fell in love they married and he moved to the US with her. His teaching qualifications were not recognised so he retrained as a massage therapist calling on the skills he learned from his parents who had been healers in their village.
A decade ago, they had their sons. Hannah worked in environmental roles, but the couple had dreams of moving to New Zealand where she wanted to study for a master’s degree in management at Waikato University.
“We just thought Hamilton had a perfect location for us as a family.”
The Goldmanu family, from left Lua, Atoa and Hannah on the number 20 regional bus service in Cambridge. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
The boys go to Berkley Normal Middle School where they have started playing volleyball and are trying to shake their American accents.
They and their father have taken up Samoan cricket.
“We are big public transport advocates,” said Hannah who in addition to riding the number 20 bus to Cambridge and back, recently experienced a Te Huia train day trip to Auckland. On the way back Hamilton city councillor Louise Hutt was a passenger, and they got to know her.
“We will get on whatever bus passes our house to get to know the place,” said Hannah.
Highlights of the trips to Cambridge include stopping off at the Velodrome and going inside.
“Seeing them whizz around that track was amazing.”
The regional bus stops at the Velodrome to pick up a student for Cambridge.
They pass Te Awa Lifecare Retirement Village and love seeing the sheep grazing and the chickens pecking in the paddock.
“That just seems to be so well thought out that village,” she said.
The wide footpaths and cycleways have also attracted their attention as have walks around Lake Te Koo Utu.
But it is the weekly trip to the Farmers’ market which she and the boys love. Jay, who works as a massage therapist in Hamilton, works on Saturday mornings, so most weeks the three of them hop on the bus to Cambridge for a morning trip returning with fresh produce.
When she finishes her management degree, Hannah, who is in the country on a student visa with the family, hopes her environmental, conservation and management skills will be useful to a New Zealand employer.
“I just love this place.”
The EV double decker bus on Waipa regional services. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
