The Waterlily Gardens

Giant Oaks, liriodendrons, maples, liquid ambers, meta sequoias and swamp cyprus provide a dappled shade before heading through a path of native New Zealand flora; including rimu, kahikatea, lancewood, miro and kauri. After exiting the bush, past cascading water, past the ginko trees and the copper beech, the gardens open to an expansive two-acre lake, overlooked by a weeping willow, and surrounded by giant flora. Calling this property a garden scarcely does it justice. It’s a magical world; an unexpected sanctuary and photographers dream, intersecting the Bay of Plenty, Coromandel and Waikato.