THE HAMILTON GARDENS

About an hour south of Auckland sits the city of Hamilton. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it has a territorial population of 192,000, making it New Zealand’s fourth most populous city.

Since we were passing by Hamilton on our way south, I was curious if there was anything there of note. We hadn’t originally planned on stopping, but we were going to need some gas, so I checked TripAdvisor to see if they had any recommendations.

Imagine my surprise when I read there was supposedly a world-famous attraction called “Hamilton Gardens” that was “unlike any botanical garden in the world” and rated among the top 3 things to do in New Zealand and in the top 1% of attractions globally on TripAdvisor. No travel blog or YouTube video about New Zealand I looked at ever mentioned the place. We, of course, immediately decided to stop in for a look-see.

We filled up the RAV 4 for the first time since picking it up in Auckland. Mastering the Z Gas (New Zealand’s WaWa) pumps was a bit tricky when it came to paying at the pump, but a nice lady pulled up and helped me figure it all out. The trick is this: you need to know your bank or credit card PIN. Without that little bit of info, the pumps won’t operate. The 91 octane gas was going for $2.80 a liter, which meant that I spent about $100 NZ, or $60 US, to fill up the Toyota—about twice as expensive as in the States. Having a hybrid definitely saved us on gas.

Then it was on to the nearby Hamilton Gardens, where we paid $20 NZ per person to walk around the most unique botanical garden I have ever seen. And I have seen some of the best all over the world.

What makes Hamilton Garden so special is its extraordinarily uncommon concept: ”To tell the story of civilizations through gardens. Each beautiful garden is a chapter in the story of civilization and culture, transporting visitors across centuries and continents.”

The gardens are laid out like pods encircling various hubs (Courts) that function as circular gateways to the next garden.

The Piazza led us to the Cloud Court, where we were immediately dazzled by the:

* English Flower Garden;

* Chinese Scholars’ Garden (a winding and zig-zag path through bamboo and ponds led to a hilltop pavilion where a bronze turtle, a gift from Wuxi city in China, keeps the gardens safe from floods);

* Modernist Garden (California cool in the Sixties)

* Indian Charbagh Garden (flowing water channels, symmetrical layout, and Persian-style carpet of mass flowers in a grid pattern);

* Italian Renaissance Garden (Romantic statues, classic architectural features, a small amphitheatre, arched trellises, and raised terraces);

* Japanese Garden of Contemplation (Zen).

The Time Court ushered us to the:

* Te Parapara Garden (traditional Māori);

* Tudor Garden (celebrates the Tudors’ love of intricate designs, fantasy beasts, and secret symbols, with a pudding house, a shipbuilder’s arbour, and the knot garden);

* Chinoiserie Garden (Oriental designs and the Chinoiserie Pavilion, copied from a design built in an English garden in 1738);

* Roman Garden (Roman and Greek gods amidst vibrant flowers);

* Tropical Garden (tropical-style plants like bromeliads, orchids, and palms create a dense, jungle-like atmosphere);

*Surrealist Garden (perspective shifts as you walk among giant tools, moving trees, strange shapes, and a lawn that appears to have fluttered down from the sky like a discarded sheet of paper);

* Kitchen Garden;

* Sustainable Backyard Garden;

* Herb Garden.

The Braithwaite Court unlocked the:

* Concept Garden (a steampunk-inspired blimp floats in the garden and abstract artwork by English artist Michael B. White);

* Picturesque Garden (18th century European garden that celebrates wild, untamed, romantic nature, inhabited by characters and scenes from Mozart’s famous opera ‘The Magic Flute’, and filled with masonic symbolism);

* Mansfield Garden and Summer House Garden (a captivating tribute to New Zealand’s renowned short story writer, Katherine Mansfield, transporting visitors to the Edwardian era of 1907, and vividly recreating the setting of Mansfield’s celebrated story, “The Garden Party”;

* Ancient Egyptian Garden (hieroglyphics in a Middle Kingdom temple garden dedicated to ensuring the soul’s safe passage through the underworld).

And the Western Court steered us to the:

* Medieval Garden (monastery with a Cloister Garden and an Apothecary Garden);

* Baroque Garden (a Rococo/Baroque facade, large reflecting pool, and sculptures associated with classical music);

* Pasifika Garden (a jungle setting featuring South Pacific plants and a Samoan Fale Afalau shelter).

Man, I’m telling you, I have never seen anything like the Hamilton Gardens. Anyone can plant flowers, install some pretty fountains, and throw in some fancy sculptures. But this was another level of the botanical garden game entirely. I mean, when did you ever see an Egyptian Garden or a Baroque Garden? And to create a Surrealist Garden and another one based on some British storybook was so off the garden wall that I caught myself laughing uncontrollably at times and at others, exclaiming, “Unbelievable!”

When the need to fill up your rental car with gas leads you to an unexpected place of great wonder, you know you must be on a roll.

But, unfortunately, our luck was about to run out …