Rotorua Festival of Gardens
Highlights
Beautiful Private Gardens
Lake Rotorua
The Lakeland Queen
Stratosfare Restaurant
Paradise Valley
Lake Okareka
Buried Village of Te Wairoa
Next tour will be in November 2019. Please check again for updates.
Rotorua is well known for its amazing natural environment and spectacular scenery.
Many of the gardens on display that we visit this weekend make the most of their magnificent views of the lakes, mountains and countryside.
The diverse range of flowers on display include mixed shrubs, roses, azaleas, cornus, rhododendrons, hostas and many more.
A lunch cruise on Lake Rotorua and dinner at the Stratosfare Restaurant are also included on this tour.
Itinerary
Day 1
We start our journey and stop in Cambridge for morning tea before continuing to Rotorua. Here, we enjoy lunch on board the Lakeland Queen as we cruise around Lake Rotorua. The Lakeland Queen has a long history of being the only large vessel operating on the lake. Owing to the geothermal activity around the lake, it has a high sulphur content giving it an unusual yellowish-green colour. After lunch, we head to our hotel for the next 3 nights.
Day 2
This morning, we start our visits to the gardens in Paradise Valley, Ngongotaha and the west of Rotorua. Tonight, we have dinner at the Stratosfare Restaurant. Situated high on the side of Mount Ngongotaha, we enjoy stunning views of Rotorua and Lake Rotorua.
Day 3
We board the coach for a second full day visiting gardens in Lynmore, Lake Okareka and the south of Rotorua.
Day 4
This morning before starting our return journey, we go to the Buried Village of Te Wairoa. This is one of New Zealand’s most visited Archaeological Sites where stories of the 1886 Mt Tarawera Eruption come to life. The walk around the site is mostly flat and takes around 40 minutes to complete. We end our visit there with a Devonshire Cream Tea. Lunch is back in Rotorua before we continue our drive home.