Beautiful walk, if you are out on the road to Whatawhata or Raglan. It's a short walk around the…read moremain track, but worth a visit to take in the regional tree varieties, even in winter. Redwoods, oaks, flowering trees, along with a China section and bamboo forest, just to name a few, reflect a global arboretum collection. Free entry. Modest but clean facilities. UV purified well water available (nonflouridated). Lots of chickens (which little ones seem to love ). Nice trails (~90 minute including return).

We stopped by Hamilton Gardens on our drive back from Hobbiton to Auckland and really enjoyed the…read morevisit. The gardens are no longer free, they charge $20 admission but it's worth visiting. There are a number of different gardens to walk through (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Egyptian, etc) with a lot of thought put behind the design to pay homage to the different artistic styles and evolution of gardens. You really get to immerse yourself into different cultures and expression of art in the garden form through time. I loved the gardens so much I ended up buying the book and have been learning more about the history and development of the gardens (fun fact: it used to be a garbage dump). By the far the best gardens I've visited.

The Hamilton Gardens was our stopover on our way back to the AKL airport from Rotorua. It was our…read morelast bit of sightseeing before flying over to Australia. Parking was free but did take awhile to find an open spot considering it was a weekday. At the garden entrance we found out that admission was still free for anyone showing up instead of just for local Hamilton residents. That was a nice savings of $20NZD pp but not sure how much longer that exception will last. There were 17 different gardens to explore, all different and a joy to wander through. Our top favorites were the following: Mansfield Gardens - According to the signage, the garden may have been influenced by a novel written by Katherine Mansfield. It included a home, grass tennis court, outdoor piano and more. Chinese Scholar's Garden with the pathways lined with towering bamboo. Italian Renaissance Garden with its villa facade, fruit trees and statues. Te Parapara Garden for inclusion of Maori culture and traditions. We spent almost 2 hours here and we all agreed this was a must see when in Hamilton.