Gardens 

It’s a funny little fact but gardening is rated as one of New Zealanders’ favourite pastimes. New Zealand’s temperate climate a and being a long north-south country means that everything from the sub-tropical to the sub-alpine grows here. If you’re a keen gardener you will enjoy your visit here.

Many cities and towns have garden tours where you can visit botanic gardens and private gardens alike with the gardeners sharing their love of what they grow and how they grow it. The rural garden tours of Eastland, Manawatu, Whanganui, Wairarapa and Christchurch - Canterbury are often hosted by residents of stately historic homesteads. Visit Kerikeri’s Palmco Gardens and wander through lush sub-tropical splendour. At Matakana’s Villa Tamahunga you’ll see a unique garden that includes olive grove, beautiful bush walks, subtropical pond gardens, rose walk and a sequence of three formally designed terrace gardens below the relocated villa. In Blenheim, Hortensia House has a romantic flower garden with masses of colour co-ordinated flowers that is a gardener’s delight.

You cannot talk gardens without talking about Christchurch, the Garden City. A must-see is the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and, if you’re there in March, you have to go to the famous Ellerslie International Flower Show.