“Explore a world more wonderful,” announces the webpage of this extraordinary garden. Located in the small town of Hamilton, in the heart of Waikato, near Rotorua on the North Island, it’s listed as one of the top 3 things to do in New Zealand.

Day 64, Friday, November 8: Hamilton

After a slow morning, we drove for almost 4 hours to Rotorua. On our way we passed Auckland, and reached Hamilton Gardens by noon.

We heard about this garden from our friend Kerry, who, together with her husband, visited New Zealand a few years ago. We thought we would give it a try. We didn’t regret our decision. The wonderful world of Hamilton Gardens – that has been the recipient of numerous awards –delighted us very much.

Hamilton Gardens features 18 Enclosed Gardens celebrating different cultures around the world. We were able to visit all of these breath-taking gardens that journey from the serene to the surreal.

Here are the gardens we saw, in the order of our visit:

Italian Renaissance Garden – a garden of symmetry and art, celebrating ancient myths

Indian Charbagh Garden – showcases perfumed flowers in beautiful vibrant hues

Japanese Garden of Contemplation – a Zen garden to still the mind

English Flower Garden – features natural looking, cottage-style plantings

Chinese Scholar’s Garden – a Song Dynasty garden for contemplation and artistic pursuits

Modernist Garden – shows a post-war functional California garden

Te Parapara Garden – the world’s only traditional Maori garden

Tropical Garden – has exotic tropical plants that can survive the cold Waikato winter

Surrealist Garden – a mysterious world of fantasy with giant tools and moving trees

Chinoiserie Garden – celebrates Europe’s fascination with Asian design

Tudor Garden – an ornate garden with geometric patterns, inspired by Tudor aristocracy

Concept Garden – a modern garden inspired by abstract art

Mansfield Garden – inspired by New Zealand writer, Katherine Mansfield’s short story “The Garden Party”

Picturesque Garden – celebrates Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”

Kitchen Garden – a productive space of a variety of vegetables in spacious raised beds

Herb Garden – showcases herbs used in cooking, medicine, and cosmetics

Sustainable Backyard Garden – creates a healthy ecosystem based on Permaculture principles

Ancient Egyptian Garden – you can travel back 4,000 years to the time of the pyramids

After enjoying our time in these very special gardens, we visited the Rogers Rose Garden that demonstrates the evolution of the modern rose.

Hamilton Gardens is so beautiful! No surprise that in 2014 it received the recognition of Garden of the Year from the International Garden Tourism Network. In every season, you can truly experience the magic here.

If you can, please visit the garden’s webpage for more information, and if you happen to be in New Zealand, add this to your itinerary. You will be delighted to see this wonderland.

We could have easily spent more time at Hamilton Gardens than the three and a half hours we did, but we left to reach our accommodation before dark. Around 5, we arrived at Robyn and Scott’s “bach” (holiday home) at Lake Okareka, near Rotorua. We were going to spend 3 nights at this place and use it as our home base for the exploration of the region.