To Boldly go to...Hamilton

It comes as no surprise that the Discovery astronauts visited Hamilton. There is a synergy there; both crew and city have been off the planet at various times. Nor was I surprised to hear mission commander Colonel Eric Boe waxing eloquently about the New Zealand countryside on his way from Auckland to Hamilton—Americans are prone to say nice (read right) things when in another’s country. But, please, the Waikato? Outside of Canada there is a no more boring landscape in the world, and clearly Colonel Boe has seen more of the world than most. But what embarrassed me most was the meagre turnout that turned out to greet them in Hamilton. These astronauts had taken the Hamilton flag all the way into space—God knows why, there is enough debris up there already—and were now returning it to Hamilton. So, who turned up to say thank you? Well there was the interestingly named mayor, Julie Hardaker, but that was about it. I can imagine the low turnout if the ceremony was at night in Hamilton—one doesn’t want to interrupt one’s witches coven or BDSM munch, but this was in broad daylight! It is not as if living in Hamilton you have anything else to do. So, where were you Hamilton? And why did you embarrass the rest of New Zealand? Oh, sorry, I forgot, that’s what you do best.

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