Taranaki in Bloom
Highlights
Beautiful Private Gardens
Pukeiti Rhododendron Gardens
Waitomo Caves
Tainui Historical Society Museum
Cruise to the Sugar Loaf Islands
Gaze around acres of flowers with all the colours of the rainbow at your fingertips.
This lovely long weekend embraces the heart of the gardener’s spirit with fabulous sites of hundreds of specimens. Inhale the fresh flower aromas from the world famous gardens that we visit.
We have added in some extras on the tour including a visit to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves and a cruise to the Sugar Loaf Islands.
Itinerary
Day 1
We start our journey and head to the Waitomo Caves for our visit. The caves were carved by underground streams over thousands of years and be amazed by thousands of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave walls are also decorated with galaxies of native glowworms.
After our cave adventure, we have time for lunch at the Caves Restaurant. We continue down the coast and pass through the Awakino scenic bush and farming country, stopping at the Tainui Historical Society Museum then through to New Plymouth where we spend the next three nights.
Day 2
Our first full day visiting the gardens exhibiting in the Taranaki Garden Festival.
We visit several of the private gardens in and around New Plymouth as well as going to the world famous Pukeiti Rhododendron Garden which has over 100 acres of colourful specimens.
Day 3
Our second full day visiting the private gardens of Taranaki as we travel right around the mountain. We go to a variety of country and town gardens including Palmer Garden and Mary's Garden.
Day 4
We start our day by going on a cruise to the Sugar Loaf Islands with our great host and captain, Happy Chaddy.
Expect laughs a minute on this unforgettable one-hour cruise which includes seeing a local fur seal colony. After our cruise, we head north and make a pit stop for lunch along the way before continuing our drive home.