Ngatea
Ngatea is a small town on the Hauraki Plains in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 18 kilometres southwest of Thames and 70 kilometres southeast of Auckland. Ngatea lies on the Piako River, eight kilometres south of its outflow into the Firth of Thames.
Ngatea is the 'service centre' for the farming area of the Hauraki Plains. It was established in the 1900s as a result of a unique series of canals and stop banks which drained the land and produced rich farmlands for dairy production.[1]
The town also acts as a service town for motorists travelling from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty via State Highway 2. Its population in 2013 was 1248.
Ngatea has various tourist attractions around the area, both historical and new, such as the Ngatea Water Gardens, peat dome, the Millennium Bridge and the now-defunct gem stone factory (Wilderness Gems), whose building used to be the Ngatea Dairy Factory.
Ngatea has two schools, Hauraki Plains College (with around 720 students as of 2012), and Ngatea Primary School (with around 310 students as of 2009).
Coordinates: 37°17′S 175°30′E / 37.283°S 175.500°E