DAY 1 SUN 8 NOV 

HOME TO AUCKLAND (D)

Meet your Tour Leader Angie Thomas at Sydney International Airport and join her on our flight to Auckland. Or meet this evening for a Welcome Dinner at our hotel in Auckland, overlooking Auckland Harbour

Accommodation: JW Marriott, Auckland

DAY 2 MON 9 NOV

AUCKLAND GARDENS (B)

You’ll see two very different gardens today. Beverley McConnell’s large country garden, Ayrlies, is one of the most celebrated gardens in New Zealand. Lush woodland planting complements her large ponds connected by a tumbling stream and edged in hosta, iris, and other damp-loving plants. Festooning old roses scent the air and tumble over their supports. Garden seats take advantage of planned vistas with distant views of the sea. This afternoon discover Auckland’s ‘hidden gem’, Eden Gardens on the slopes of Mt Eden.

Accommodation: JW Marriott, Auckland

DAY 3 TUE 10 NOV

MATAKANA (B/L)

Travel north this morning to Mincher Garden with a chestnut-lined driveway, parterre, perennial borders, loosening to a cottage garden around a classic Georgian styled home, one of New Zealand’s finest. Then onto Matakana and Omaio Garden on the Takatu Peninsula, for an understanding of New Zealand’s plants. Omaio is a fusion of native and exotic plants, well designed to suit their coastal landscape. Lunch is served in the garden before a tour of Totara Waters, a large sub-tropical garden which includes many rare and collectable plants.

Accommodation: JW Marriott, Auckland

DAY 4 WED 11 NOV

AUCKLAND TO NEW PLYMOUTH (B/L/D)

We are heading to New Plymouth with a lunch stop at Hamilton Gardens, the brainchild of Dr Peter Sergel in 1979. A surreal collection of gardens here, each one carefully designed as an immersive experience. Then we travel south this afternoon to New Plymouth where you'll check-in to our hotel for the next three nights. 

Accommodation: Novotel Hotel, New Plymouth

DAY 5 THU 12 NOV

TARANAKI GARDENS (B/L)

Your day today - Three Elms is an urban hillside garden with a modern fusion of delightful perennial and subtropical plantings. Pukeiti sits on the slope of Mount Taranaki with a famous collection of rhododendrons in full bloom! Hurworth Country Garden is a graceful country garden with flourishing beds and borders developed around a 1910 villa.

Accommodation: Novotel Hotel, New Plymouth

DAY 6 FRI 13 NOV

TARANAKI GARDENS (B/L)

Explore more Taranaki treasures today. Te Henui Cemetery is remarkable; the result of the dedication of a small band of volunteers led by Susan Oliver. It’s a riot of flowers all year round with a fine collection of perennials and bulbs. Riverlea Gardens uses a well-chosen plant palette. There is a good balance between flowers, hedges and trees. You’ll lunch at a tranquil elegant country garden, Waiongana Gardens, bound by the Waiongana River. Tikorangi is the famous Jury Garden, home to the extraordinary magnolias that the late Felix Jury and now his son Mark, have hybridised.

Accommodation: Novotel Hotel, New Plymouth

DAY 7 SAT 14 NOV

NEW PLYMOUTH TO TAUPO (B/D)

Your destination today is Taupo. This stunning town is centered around Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake, formed from a massive volcanic caldera. We’ll visit the Ora Garden of Wellbeing. This remarkable garden won the Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2004 and has been rebuilt and replanted at the Taupo Museum. This afternoon you can relax as we cruise the picturesque northern bays of Lake Taupo and view the Maori Rock Carvings up close.

Accommodation: Hilton, Lake Taupo

DAY 8 SUN 15 NOV

TAUPO TO ROTORUA  (B/D)

You’ll see the magnificent Huka Falls on the mighty Waikato River and travel through vast pine forests to Rotorua, where you enjoy a tour of Te Puia and visit the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve to see the boiling mud pools, steaming silica terraces and the geyser activity. You can walk high amongst giant 120-year-old redwood trees at the Whakarewarewa Forest. Tonight experience Te Pa Tu where we feast on Maori song and tradition and divine seasonal cuisine.

Accommodation: Pullman, Rotorua 

DAY 9 MON 16 NOV

ROTORUA (B/D)

Today you travel to the heart of kiwifruit growing country, Te Puke, to visit Shalendy Gardens. Established in 1990 from a bare paddock to complement the owners’ new home, this cleverly planted garden has plants flowering all year round. This afternoon head to Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty to The Elms, one of the oldest gardens in New Zealand. The Elm’s thoughtful integration of indigenous and heritage species, alongside those introduced by the early missionary gardeners, adds to its charm. Tonight we celebrate at our Farewell Dinner.

Accommodation: Pullman, Rotorua

DAY 10 TUE 17 NOV

ROTORUA TO HOME (B)

Depart Rotorua and travel across the bush-clad Mamaku Ranges and picturesque farmlands towards Bombay Hills before arriving at Auckland Airport for our afternoon flight back to Sydney.