High Country Gardens, Gallery and Maze

Well, what a day ! It's not often Jackie and I are left speechless on our travels, but today we were left gobsmacked and in complete awe of 3 amazing people who own and work at the High Country Gardens, Gallery and Maze.
From the moment you enter, you are greeted with smiles and warmth, i felt like i had found the rusty key that unlocks the door to the Secret Garden.
We have been to many amazing gardens such as Allowyn and Cloudehill, but this, for us both, tops them all. The atmosphere as you walk around leaves you with a sense of calm, wonder, amazement, and awe. The gardens are maintained mostly by Nichole, who in her own right is also an amazing artist, and the amount of dedication and time it takes to keep this hidden treasure of topiary, flowers and artistic ideas in such pristine condition is something i hope she feels very proud of. These gardens have been so well thought out and crafted that, as you walk through them, you could be forgiven for thinking a team of 50 gardeners are responsible. Instead, it is Nichole and Tony Pridham, who are responsible for this wonderland, which lies about 15-20 min outside of the main shopping area of Mansfield.
There is a fabulous maze to the left of the cafe that will keep children engaged for hours. Very cleverly, the owners have created a challenge of finding 16 gnomes within the maze that if you photograph them all, a prize awaits you back at the cafe.
I took this challenge on and found the task harder than it sounded, but it was so much fun (and yes! I did get a small prize at the end), but my main gift was walking amongst huge hedges looking for tiny gnomes.
Walking through the designed, labyrinthine style gardens is most definitely the highlight, though, every turn, and almost every hedge holds a surprise.
After walking for hours, taking what seemed like a million photos, we strolled over to Tony Pridham's gallery where he, ever so humbly, showcases his works. As Australia's foremost bird and animal artist extraordinare, he is the grand nephew of Australia's acclaimed artist Sidney Nolan, but you won't find any airs or graces but just a thoroughly down to earth happy human, who was only to eager to find out about his audience and to chat about his beautiful collection of Heirloom roses (thanks for the rose too and for your time it was an honor).
Not wanting to give away any more secrets of this wonderful visit, i will simply say if you are travelling anywhere near Mansfield, you would be crazy not to go and see High Country Gardens, Gallery and Maze. You will not be disappointed but simply wonder how you never knew about it before.

Definitely has to be Victorias' best kept secret garden.

Jackie and I would like to thank and congratulate, from the bottom of our hearts, our gracious hosts of the day, Nicky you are a ray of sunshine, a brilliant artist and phenomenal gardener. Tony Pridham, what talent and what a pleasure it was meeting and chatting with you. Thank you for the personal tour of the beautiful heirloom roses.
We have neglected to mention another very special lady, who i have, so apologetically, forgotten the name of, but she makes the most amazing handbags, of which we bought 2. You were lovely and your work is amazing.
Thank you for an a-maz-ing day !! And beautiful memories we will treasure always.

Lovely day out. Our 4 year old was super excited to go through the maze and finding all the Gnomes. He absolutely loved the Labyrinth and the chickens. Brought our own food, but the Cafe looked great.

What a delight to find this little gem for an amble in the beautiful gardens and maze. We enjoyed the stunning art in the gallery and chatting with Tony while he worked. Finishing off with a light lunch and wine in the garden taking in the scenic backdrop.

Fantastic gardens, a great place to stop and visit.

The maze is wonderful and fun for all ages, even grumpy father's will have a laugh.

Owners are lovely artists who were very friendly and welcoming.

This is not just a cafe, the gardens will give you a couple of hours of fun.

The kids loved the maze, really large and we'll kept maze. Even though the weather was not the best and it was raining, it was still a fun experience. The grounds were a bit muddy but it wasn't completely unwalkable, so overall it was a good experience. The art gallery is definitely worth stopping by to appreciate the works of and support the local artist.

This place was amazing! The gardens are beautifully designed and maintained. The maze was fun and the food was delicious! We loved meeting Tony and Nicky (2 of the artists). So refreshing for the soul. A must see.

This has to be one of the most amazing gardens in Australia especially in spring. The Maze is brilliant and great fun but the meticulously cared for huge gardens with so many separate sections each telling its own story are the best - so beautiful, full of colourful flowers and shaped plants, dotted with lovely sculptures and offering more than an hour or two of wonderful wanderings. Top this off with a cafe where you can find great coffee and food (gnome cake to be recommended) and some great local craft to be purchased. This is a must visit for anyone who loves great gardens.

Stopped by here on Sunday morning on the way back from Mt Buller on the way back to Melbourne. And what a wonderful surprise this was! We ordered a coffee and they gave us mugs (not take away coffee cups) to walk around to enjoy the garden. There's a maze, giant chess, giant checkers, etc and plenty of places where you can sit and enjoy some food and drink from the cafe! We were lucky it was a sunny winters day. Make sure you pop by the Art Gallery too where there's amazing oil painting art pieces! The friendly artist was welcoming and was working on a new piece (a tiger) and told us about the other animal based art he had made displayed on the wall - quite a talent really! Overall a great experience and well worth a stop over to support the local community.

Located just minutes from Mansfield down the Gough's Bay Rd, this place is perfect for an afternoon of fun and outdoor enjoyment.
The weather was a little windy with patchy rain when we arrived, but with a couple of provided umbrellas we decided to make the most of it. The maze wasn't hard, but with the gnome challenge at hand we spent quite a while inside going round and round.
Then we decided to explore the impressive gardens, where we could have easily spent an entire day wandering and exploring the intricate topiaries and well manicured hedges, surrounded by all sorts of colourful plants and flowers.
While the cafe isn't huge, the food is good. Or if you prefer you can take a picnic to enjoy while you're there. They have a selection of wines and beers if you're after them, or tea and coffee with cakes.
They have hosted many weddings here and I can see why. I would love to have a function here and share the gardens with friends and family. I'll definately be returning to this place in the near future!
I highly recommend this place for a quick visit with the option of staying the day!

Beautiful gardens and just an amazing experience! Nicky and Tony, and the staff at the cafe are just lovely and warm people! The topiaries and gardens are gorgeous and the art gallery is well worth a visit, with gorgeous bird paintings by Tony. You can tell that a lot of love has gone into the gardens.
Also don’t forget the scones, made by Nicky, which are light, fluffy, melt in your mouth parcels of deliciousness. Thank you for being the highlight of our Mansfield getaway!

One of the surprises of the Lake Eildon district is this really lovely, quaint park with its sculptured hedges surrounding gardens featuring a variety of both native and non-native plants and flowers, a cafe, hedge maze, an art gallery, and more. Service is very warm and friendly too. One interesting feature of the maze is the collection of 16 little garden gnomes - all different - hidden in various nooks and crannies around various points of the hedges. If you can find all 16 and take photos of them, you are rewarded with a lollipop, bag of lollies or small box of sultanas for the more health conscious. Makes a great game for the kids.

Had a ball, even though it was raining when we went! Thoroughly recommend it. Our young niece had such fun with us trying to find all the gnomes in the maze! Gardens were so beautiful too! Definitely a must visit location!

Wow what a hidden gem. Nice relaxing and place and great coffee. The gnome in my kept the kids busy for ages. Beautiful gardens so much work has gone into the design and upkeep. Definitely a must visit for the whole family.

Came here on Sunday and it was a perfect day for it, we were greeted on arrival by Nicole who was so sweet, helpful and also an artist! Nicole’s art is available for sale in the cafe and she is so talented
There was also an artist in the gardens working on a painting which was very cool to see
Had so much fun here, you really can easily wander around for hours

Spent a fun afternoon with the family exploring wonderful gardens and searching for gnomes in the maze. Full credit to owner and local artist Tony, his partner and their friendly team for the hard work they have put in since taking over in March just when the Covid restrictions hit. What a treat to be able to view a collection of Tony's work in his gallery also located at the property. Tony was at his easel painting when we walked in. We really enjoyed the delicious homemade scones and chai tea purchased from the cafe, bringing out a tray of chocolate coated strawberries was a lovely unexpected delight. We look forward to returning at some time to see the completed cafe and new plans for the gardens. Hope you get some more rain soon, will return.

Magical gardens. Well worth a visit. They also catered well for our large group despite low staff numbers.

Wonderful place. Immaculate gardens, a wonderful maze & gnome hunt. Great cafe with tasty food, friendly owners. The art gallery is amazing.
Open weekends & school holidays but may be shut for special events so check before you head over.

Idyllic and artistic, the gardens are beautiful in spring. There’s a hedge maze with a gnome hunt which is great fun and a nice little cafe which serves delicious scones! My personal favourite was visiting the art gallery which is part of the gardens and talking to the artists, Nicky and Tony, who own the place and have made it with so much love. 🌸

A lovely day trip with beautiful gardens and roses. But the best part was gnome hunting in the maze. The kids had a great time and the owners were lovely and got the kids very excited for the maze.

great day with my sisterinlaw..gardens were amazing..Cafe was awesome...great scones and strong real tea...artist in residence was so talented...toilet clean...highly recommended