Cockington Green Gardens

Cockington Green Gardens has been a Gold Creek fixture since 1979, built and still run by the Sarah family across four generations. The draw is the miniature buildings — hand-crafted replicas of British village life in the original display, and landmarks from around the world in the International Display — but the gardens they sit in have become an attraction in their own right, with visitors regularly comparing them to the famous miniature parks of Europe.

The planting is the reason the place photographs so well. Around 35,000 annuals go in each year, propagated on site and staged so something is always in flower, and the display lawns are real Bent grass mowed once or twice a week to keep them in scale with the models. Miniature conifers, dwarf elms, maples and Kurume azaleas fill out the two-acre display area. A garden rotunda set beside a cascading waterfall and slate bridge has long been the venue’s prettiest corner, and the site has hosted garden weddings and ceremonies over the years alongside its day-visitor trade.

Beyond the displays there is a miniature steam train that loops the International Display, the Rose Room — a Cornish-cottage-style building housing the licensed coffee shop, the 34-room ‘Waverley’ dolls house and rotating special exhibitions — two gift shops, and a picnic area with free gas BBQs, shaded tables and a playground.

School groups are a regular fixture, booked directly or through Book Canberra Excursions, and the gardens are wheelchair accessible with mobility scooters available. Cockington Green is about 15 minutes from the city centre in Nicholls, in the Gold Creek precinct alongside Gold Creek Country Club, the Chapel at Gold Creek and the National Dinosaur Museum. It’s open seven days from 9.30am, with last entry at 4.15pm.