1121 | Wonderful Waikato Gardens

$2,510.00

Join the Bay Tours & Charters senior tour club for the Wonderful Waikato Gardens tour on Monday 21st to Friday 25th November 2022.

Over 5 Days we’re going to experience some of the best Waikato has to offer and, at times, you’ll feel like you’ve walked into an issue of the English ‘Country Life’ magazine. And Ken will make sure there’s plenty of room on the bus to take home any new garden items, plants or cuttings you ‘acquire’ over the tour.

Read the summary of this amazing itinerary below;

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TOUR 1121

Full Tour Itinerary:

Day 1: Hawke’s Bay to Hamilton 

After we’re fed, firstly by a Rangitaiki Tavern morning tea and then lunch at that monument to mosaic, L’Arte Café & Gallery in Acacia Bay, we head north to our first garden which overlooks Lake Karapiro just out of Cambridge. Chiddingfold is a beautifully maintained mature garden with original plantings dating back to 1873 with ‘newer’ plantings from the 1930s. John and Sally Coles came to the property in 1976 and have extended the garden further and brought a balance of native plants to it. Sally will show us around and tell us about the garden’s history. From Chiddingfold we carry on to Hamilton and the lovely Novotel Tainui Hotel for the next 4 nights.

Day 2: Villa Walton, Adrian Worsley Gallery & Hobbiton  

We begin today with a visit to Lavender Backyard Garden and their wonderful shop full of aromatherapy products and much more. From here we travel to the village of Walton, outside Matamata, and to Villa Walton which has been an integral part of the village since 1904. The magnificent mature Kowhai, Totara and Magnolia trees are full of birdlife and the ordered flower and shrub beds are a beauty to behold. We’ll have lunch in the homestead before venturing out to wander this fine garden. In Te Aroha sits our next destination. Marvel at the brilliant sculptures made from recycled scrap materials at Adrian Worsley Gallery. Then, after a quick reviving stop at the wonderful Kowhai Creamery for an ice cream, it’s on to Hobbiton in the late afternoon for a guided tour of the ‘real’ imaginary world of The Shire and a Baquet Dinner in The Green Dragon Inn.

Day 3: Aramatai Garden, Parkwood Garden & Otorohanga Kiwi House  

This morning we head south into the King Country and to Aramatai Garden south of Te Kuiti. The 5-acre garden is owned by Leo and Jill Mouat and is part of their farm. After a cuppa Jill will show us around the formal plantings of mainly exotics but also the fruit and nut orchards, sunken garden and vegetable garden. From here we turn north to Otorohanga and the private Parkwood Garden, registered as ‘A Garden of National Significance’ by the NZ Gardens Trust by sweeping lawns and borders filled with Just over ten years old, Parkwood is characterised colour. Several areas are devoted to moisture-loving plants while an enclosed formal garden features climbing roses, clematis, delphiniums and lillies. After lunch we have a real treat in store and branch out to a visit to the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park. Set in beautiful park-like surroundings, they have the country’s largest public collection of Kiwi and other indigenous bird species such as Morepork, Falcon, Weka, Tui, Kereru, Kaka and Kea.

Day 4: Hamilton Gardens, Woodlands Estate, Willowbrook Park & High Tea 

This morning brings some FREE TIME to relax after our busy schedule of the last few days. There will be a shuttle to the magnificent Hamilton Gardens for any who are keen to wander the amazing themed gardens. After we have lunch together, we’re off first to Woodlands Estate at Gordonton. Here is a great example of a great house surrounded by a great garden. 3 acres of original plantings have been meticulously maintained since their inception in the 1870s and now feature a number of trees of national significance. This is a glorious heritage garden on a grand scale. From the historic estate to the very new estate, Willowbrook Park stands in 25 acres and was bare ground as recently as 2009. The owners moved from the south of England and wanted to create a garden in the 18th century English style. Over 7 years they spent their spare time building the garden and planting over 15,000 trees, shrubs and plants to create a series of themed gardens and outdoor rooms which blend with the surrounding countryside. Then there’s the small matter of the nearly 10,000sq feet of Georgian-style Manor House they built as well. Owner, Peter, will show us around the house before we enjoy a High Tea and a wander of the garden. Phew!

Day 5: Moondance Manor, Tree Church Garden to Hawke's Bay 

From Georgian grandeur to Edwardian elegance, our first  garden at Moondance Manor could have sprung directly from the design book of renowned garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. Designed to compliment the ‘Arts & Crafts’ style house, the garden features extensive lawn walks with lavish herbaceous borders of colour, formal hedging and a large ornamental pond and island. How terribly, terribly English. Contrast that with our next and final garden of the tour,Tree Church Garden is exactly what the name suggests it is. It’s a garden with a church made of living trees at its centre. Designed originally as a private garden converted from a tree nursery, in 2011 then owner, Barry Cox, began creating a chapel made from living trees. Over 7 acres feature European and English inspired plantings, lawns, hedges and structures. But it’s the incredible living chapel that will live longest in the memory. After morning tea here we start to head for home with a lunch stop in Taupō. What an incredible collection of magnificent gardens we have for the keen observer on this tour. It’s bound to be popular so…well, you know!



		
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Date

Monday 21st – Friday 25th November

Times

All collected by 9.00am

Payment

$750.00 upon booking, balance due Wednesday 28th September

Tour Includes

Door to door transport, accommodation x4, breakfast x4, morning tea x3, lunch x5, high tea, dinner x3, all activities

Single Room Price

$3,185.00 – We do our best to match tour members for twin share rooms if you would prefer.

(Non-Patron) Members Price

Twin Share: $2761.00 Single Room: $3505.00