Ohaupo: living church, gardens and events

Ohaupo offers unusual garden architecture, local building history and a large events venue. TreeChurch and Gardens and Mystery Creek Events Centre offer very different reasons to visit; Ōhaupō Memorial Hall adds a piece of local community history. When planning your stay, you can start by asking whether gardens, an event or architecture will be the focus of your trip.

TreeChurch: gardens and a living chapel

TreeChurch and Gardens is a three-hectare garden in the rolling farmland of Ohaupo in Waikato. At its heart is a living chapel. TreeChurch itself is a church made of living trees in a garden, so the architecture and garden are closely connected. The New Zealand Gardens Trust rated the garden five stars as a garden of national significance.

From October to May, the gardens are open for tours, visitors and photo shoots. This seasonal opening period is an important point to keep in mind if you want to include the garden in your trip. The living church and expansive garden offer a very different focus for a visit than an event day in Ohaupo.

Mystery Creek and Fieldays

Mystery Creek Events Centre is located in Ōhaupō on a 114-hectare site set in natural surroundings. It is a large, multi-purpose venue for indoor and outdoor events of every size and type. Mystery Creek Events Centre is two minutes from Hamilton Airport.

Fieldays takes place at Mystery Creek Events Centre in Ōhaupō. At the 58th Fieldays, visitors could explore hundreds of exhibitors, live demonstrations and interactive experiences covering agricultural technology, products, services and the rural economy. Fieldays has several food courts and extensive free parking on Mystery Creek Road and Airport Road. If Fieldays is the reason for your trip, check the specific event dates against your travel dates.

Ōhaupō Memorial Hall

The Ōhaupō Memorial Hall, a distinctive community building on Great South Road, reveals another side of the area’s history. It was built in 1923. The concrete and stucco hall has a characteristic Dutch gable roof and served as a social meeting place for film screenings, sports groups, concerts and community meetings. Its architectural form and former uses tell the story of a building that served various purposes in community life.

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The wider Waipa District

Beyond Ohaupo, the wider Waipa District offers more nature and culture. Maungatautari Ecological Island Reserve is the largest ecological “island” on mainland New Zealand. A 47-kilometre predator-proof fence surrounds Maungatautari, enclosing 3,400 hectares of Mount Maungatautari. Lake Ngā Roto also has a 5.9-kilometre loop track open to walkers, runners and cyclists. Track conditions can change seasonally.

Discover more destinations

Te Awamutu, Te Miro, Karapiro, Pirongia, Cambridge

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