About | Ngatea Water Garden
The Ngatea Water Garden is a garden with a difference. Filled with funny signs that start from the car park, you and the kids will get a good laugh out of it. Funny stuff aside though, this garden is beautiful and you can see that though owners, Roger and Emma Blake may love a good giggle, they’re also serious about their garden.
Note: a sense of humour is needed.
Enter Arthur’s Canny Museum to view a display of 11,000 different beer and soft drink cans from around the world. Arthur Blake, Roger’s dad, started collecting cans in 1989 and it is now the only collection of beverage cans open to the public in New Zealand.
The five-acre water gardens are quite small and can be walked through in about half an hour. Take your time, read all of the signs and enjoy the gardens. This was actually the perfect time for the boys who can get quite bored when we walk through larger gardens so you don’t have to worry about the kids throwing tantrums because of how long it takes. The flat paved walking paths make it accessible for prams and wheelchairs.
The path takes you over bridges, past waterfalls, water lily ponds, waterwheels and fountains. There’s even a castle!
Stop in at the gift shop to grab a souvenir. Water plants, fish and birds are also for sale.
Tip: grab a bag of fish and bird feed. The ducks are super friendly and the kids will find it amusing seeing how they follow you around – especially when you have a paper bag that they’re all used to seeing in your hand.
Open
Summer (October – April): Thursday – Sunday, 10 – 4pm.
Winter (June, July & August): Sundays only.
Cost
Adults: $14
5 – 13 years: $6
Under 5: free
Nearby
Location
At the end of Bratlie Place.
Photos
We loved the humour that Roger and Emma Blake infused into the place. As soon as we arrived and saw these reserved signs, we were a little confused as to where we were supposed to park, but looking over to the one next to me, I soon saw the joke. It catches a few people out – while we were paying for our entry we saw another car drive in, park, reserve out and find another park, then reverse out again and come back to their original one. You definitely need a sense of humour at a place like this!
There were paid parking meters for bikes and just in case you forgot your phone, there’s an emergency phone 75km away.
Look closely at everything you come across because 9 times out of 10, it’ll have a bit of humour in it. This sign shows what birds you might see in the gardens… including a pteranodon. You actually might find its eggs somewhere…
We had come first thing in the morning and were able to enjoy the Ngatea Water Gardens to ourselves. The gardens were beautiful and immaculate.
One of the highlights was getting to feed the very friendly ducks that are likely to follow you if you’re holding the paper bag that they know holds their lunch.
The ducks, still following us as we continued around the garden. Noah actually lost his bag to one of them snatching it from him so make sure you hold on to them and hold them high so they can’t reach.
We ended it with a little play in the play area. There was a climbing frame, seesaw, slide and swings.
We actually really enjoyed the Ngatea Water Garden and couldn’t believe that we hadn’t heard of them before. We pass through Ngatea a lot and this makes a great pit stop on the journey. Ngatea Water Garden is great for both the gardens and the humour. Drop-in a have a look for yourself next time you’re passing through.
