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Escorted Garden Tours
12 Day New Zealand Garden Tour
Featuring the Ellerslie International Flower Show
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| Prices: |
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Twin Share
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Single Supplement
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£1,533
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£399
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| Note: All prices are GBP, per person & include G.S.T. |
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Fully Escorted by Horticultural Expert, Kevin Walsh.
Kevin Walsh is a horticulturalist and garden designer and is acknowledged as one of Australia's leading experts in water conservation, having written Australia's first book on the subject, titled Waterwise Gardening.
For 10 years Kevin answered gardening questions in The Age and he now broadcasts a gardeners' talkback show weekly on ABC regional radio. Kevin is an experienced guide and has successfully escorted several garden tours to New Zealand.
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| Special Departure Date: 01 March 2010 |
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Price Includes:
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- 11 nights deluxe hotel accommodation
- Luxury coach travel throughout the tour, with onboard restroom and reclining seats
- Escorted by Horticultural Expert, Kevin Walsh
- Professional Coach Captain
- 11 full cooked breakfasts
- 8 dinners including 2 specialty dinners:
- Maori Hangi & Concert, Rotorua
- Farewell Dinner - Christchurch
- 3 speciality lunches - Longlands Farm, Matamata; Efil Doog, Upper Hutt; Broadfields Estate, Christchurch
- 3 morning teas
- Visit 11 significant gardens plus full day at the Ellerslie International Flower Show
- All sightseeing and admissions as per the itinerary
- Auckland Harbour Cruise
- Auckland Skytower
- Longlands Dairy Farm
- Paradise Valley Springs
- Skyline Gondola and Luge Ride
- Agrodome
- Thermal mud pools and geysers
- Maori hangi and concert
- Wairarapa Wine and Cheese Experience
- Te Papa, New Zealand's National Museum
- Cable Car Tramway, Wellington
- InterIsland ferry Wellington-Picton
- Christchurch Tramway
- TranzCoastal rail journey
- Return airport transfers in New Zealand
- 12.5% GST - New Zealand Goods and Services Tax
- Grand Pacific Tours travel bag, ticket wallet, toiletry wetpack, New Zealand travel diary, postcard, personal name badge, personalised itinerary, luggage label, touring map and Optional Tours Directory.
Important Note:
Dinner on Day 1 is not included for passengers arriving in Christchurch later than 8.00pm.
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| Day by Day Itinerary: |
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| Day 1 Arrive Auckland (D) |
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Day 7 Masterton - Wellington (B,L,D) |
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Fly from your homeport to Auckland where you will be met and trasnferred to your hotel.
Tonight enjoy dinner at the hotel and meet your fellow travellers.
Copthorne Harbourcity (2 nights)
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This morning visit Greytown and see the most complete example of original Victorian wooden architecture.
Travel to Martinborough, site of one of New Zealand's first sheep stations. Continue through the Rimutaka mountain range to Upper Hutt to visit the Efil Doog Garden. Straddling a river are two exotic forests where a large collection of sculptures create a special magic. Enjoy lunch before visiting the art gallery of early New Zealand paintings.
This afternoon travel into the nation's capital, Wellington, for a tour at Te Papa. DIscover the Bush City and hear how plants were used for traditional weaving, food and medicines and how the uses of these plants continue today. The tour ends with a "kapu ti" of Kawakawa.
James Cook Grand Chancellor (2 nights)
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| Day 2 Auckland City Sights (B) |
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Day 8 Wellington City Sights (B) |
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Enjoy an extensive city sights tour of Auckland which includes the quaint village of Devonport and takes in the views from the top of Mt Eden, an extinct volcano. Visit the Auckland Domain Wintergardens where hot houses show off lush tropical plants.
Today we also visit Eden Garden, featuring one of the largest collections of camellias in the Southern Hemisphere.
This afternoon enjoy a cruise on the beautiful Waitemata Harbour. The rest of the afternoon is at leisure. Included is a ticket to the Sky Tower, the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere.
This evening is free to dine out at one of Auckland's many fine restaurants.
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Today you will enjoy an extensive city sights tour which will highlight Wellington's tremendous history and culture.
This afternoon we have arranged for you to travel on the Cable Car to the Botanic Gardens which you can enjoy at leisure. See the protected native forest, specialised plant collections, colourful floral displays and views over Wellington city.
This evening is free and you may choose to dine out at one of the many fine restaurants in Wellington.
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| Day 3 Auckland - Rotorua (B, L, D) |
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Day 9 Wellington - Christchurch (B,D) |
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Depart Auckland and travel to Ayrlies Garden, one of New Zealand's best known gardens and a Garden of National Significance. Use of colour is a hallmark of Ayrlies, seen best in the Lurid Border where hot colours are used to great affect.
Travel throughmagnificent countryside to Longlands Dairy Farm for a tour followed by a delicious home cooked lunch.
Continue to Rotorua and this afternoon visit Paradise Valley Springs, where you can walk through the tree top canopy of native tawa trees hundreds of years old.
Sudima Hotel Lake Rotorua (superior rooms, 2 nights)
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This morning board the InterIslander ferry, cross Cook Strait and travel through the Marlborough Sounds to Picton.
Join the TranzCoastal, a truly spectacular rail journey that links the port of Picton to Christchurch and travels through vineyards, salt mountains and river valleys before following the thin wedge of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Kaikoura Ranges. Continue across the farmlands of North Canterbury to the garden city of Christchurch.
Copthorne Durham Street (3 nights) |
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| Day 4 Rotorua (B,SD) |
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Day 10 Christchurch City Sights (B,L) |
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The day begins with a gondola ride to Skyrides Restaurant where a buffet breakfast and spectacular views are on offer.
Travel to the Agrodome where you will see performing sheep, a shearing display and sheep dog trial.
Enjoy free time this afternoon before travelling out to see boiling mud pools and the awesome geysers that Rotorua is famous for.
This evening you will experience an entertaining Maori hangi and concert.
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This morning visit elegant Mona Vale, an historic Victorian homestead surrounded by English style gardens.
Next, visit the Christchurch Botanic Gardens for a guided tour and to see the Rose Garden which boasts 250 varieties. Continue to Broadfields, an estate comprising 20 different gardens, all planted in natives or New Zealand-raised varieties of exotics. Stroll amongst the native species that flourish before a delicious lunch.
The rest of the afternoon is free to travel on the Christchurch Tramway which is the best way to visit the "must see" sights.
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| Day 5 Rotorua - Napier (B,D) |
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Day 11 Ellerslie International Flower Show (B,SD)
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Today travel along the Thermal Explorer Highway to view the mighty Huka Falls before continuing to Lake Taupo. At the Taupo Museum you have the opportunity to view New Zealand's gold-medal-winning entry in the 2004 Chelsea Flower Show, The Garden of Wellbeing.
Continue to Trelinnoe Park, a landscaped garden with plants from such diverse
habitats as the Himalayan high mountains to the semi-tropical climes of Mexico and Brazil.
This afternoon enjoy a tour of "The Art Deco Capital of the World", Napier, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1031.
Scenic Circle Te Pania Hotel |
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Enjoy a full day at the Ellerslie International Flower Show. The focus of the show is as much about our homes and our lifestyles as it is about garden design, colour, structure and form.
This iconic event provides horticultural, floral, landscape and construction businesses with the opportunity to showcase to the global audience the best of what New Zealand has to offer.
After a full day at the show, you will enjoy a farewell dinner, including musical entertainment, with your new found friends.
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| Day 6 Napier - Masterton (B,D) |
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Day 12 Depart Christchurch |
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Enjoy time at leisure to explore the fascinating architecture before we travel to the charming and historic Oruawharo Homestead. The park-like landscape has been replicated to that as seen around English stately homes with thousands of trees in a woodland behind the house. Enjoy morning tea in the garden as it used to be served, on fine English bone china.
Travel through the Wairarapa region to Carterton where we visit Richmond, a formal garden, which recently been recognised as a "Garden of International Significance". This garden is reminiscent of 16th and 17th century Italian gardens and is the only one of its type in the Southern Hemisphere.
This evening enjoy a pre dinner wine and cheese experience which will showcase the local produce.
Copthorne Hotel & Resort, Solway Park
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Having experienced some of the finest gardens in New Zealand it's time to return home and share your memories with family and friends.
You will be transferred to the airport for your flight home after a memorable holiday. |
Email us now for more information and availability.
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Strides Travel Limited, United Kingdom 2006 - 2009
5 Heritage Close, Sunbury-on-Thames, TW16 6PY, United Kingdom. Phone / Fax: +44 1932 770530. Email: |
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