Garden of Mindfulness Retreat: Gathering Our Gifts
28 Dec 2025 – 3 Jan 2026
Join us for the midsummer family gathering at the beloved Wangapeka Study & Retreat Centre.
Open to all ages, stages, and whanau constellations, Garden of Mindfulness is an annual retreat that offers a unique opportunity to gather in community to explore, rest, practice, and create. This year’s theme is ‘Gathering Our Gifts’, and we invite participants into a collaborative space where skills, passions, and creative expressions can be shared and offered.
This year we will be trialing something a bit different to the usual retreats on offer at Wangapeka. We are hoping to shift the energy slightly from a retreat space to a time of gathering in community together over the New Year, sharing and co-creating the event as it goes, with space for meditation, reflective practice and play.
Meditation teachers Kath Mitchell and Mark Schrader are living onsite, and meditation sessions will be offered in the morning and evening. Activities and adventures for kids and adults alike will be organised each day, including games, arts & crafts, wandering, wondering, feasting, and lolling in the sun beside the majestic Wangapeka river.
This gathering will run for six days, from Sunday to Saturday. While priority for hut accommodation will be given to those who can attend the whole event, shorter stays are possible. Please contact the Course Manager: gom.curious@gmail.com to discuss attending for less than the whole retreat. Registration is required by December 1.
We very much welcome others to bring their gifts and offer something as part of this gathering. Please let us know if there is something you would like to offer.
The event will be organised by a team of five: Ross, Ronnie, Malu, Hadleigh, and Georgia.
Costs
Costs for the full 6 days of Garden of Mindfulness are below. This includes food, accommodation, and a resource fee for arts and crafts materials:
Members of Wangapeka
Adults in units at $94 per day = $564
Adults camping at $73 per day = $438
Non Members of Wangapeka
Adults in units $104 per day = $624
Adults camping at $76 per day = $456
Children 5-13 yrs
In a unit at $30 per day = $180
Camping at $27 per day = $162
Children under 5 are free
Information and Registration
For enquiries please contact the team at gom.curious@gmail.com
To register please fill out our online registration form
Payment
After you have Registered for the retreat, please pay a deposit of $100 to secure your place.
Please pay using internet banking. The bank account number is: 03-0703-0156597-003. Note the 003 suffix!
Make sure to include your name and the retreat name in the payment details.
Payment information is also included on the Registration Form. Thank you for your patience. We are working on improving this payment system to make it easier to use.
Please consider becoming a Wangapeka member – click here for details.