Nature / Sustainable Tourism

Spring in New Zealand is a season of colour, new life, new harvests of food and wine and exciting arts and cultural events.

New Zealanders have always been proud of their hands-on attitude and willingness to help out.

Eco-sustainability and a four star luxury rating are not usually bedfellows: but Awaroa Lodge, based in Abel Tasman National Park, combines the two effortlessly.

New Zealand's top five gardens and garden festivals.

A list UK nurseries selling New Zealand plants including Avant Gardener which was established by New Zealand expat James Fraser.

The dramatic landscape of Auckland's west coast depicted in the 100 per cent Pure New Zealand Garden is accessible within a 30-minute drive from downtown Auckland. This is just one of the starkly contrasting landscapes that are accessible within a short distance from the city.

Woodbridge Garden Situated half an hour north of Auckland city, this four hectare country garden envelopes a large pond and bog garden and includes areas of whimsical informality as well as sophisticated formal hedging. Woodbridge has featured in a number of New Zealand magazines and includes a productive potager garden, a dry garden, a bluebell grove and extensive perennial borders.

The majestic kauri tree is the only member of this coniferous genus that is endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 60m tall with an impressive trunk girth of up to 16m. These ancient trees can live for up to 2000 years and New Zealand's largest kauri, Tane Mahuta in Northland, is appropriately named after the Maori God of the Forest.

An inner city slice of native paradise is not what you expect to find in a Capital city but the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary is just that.

One of Wellington's most popular tourist attractions, the cars run from Lambton Quay in the commercial heart of the city and emerge in the Wellington Botanic Garden where the Lookout, Carter Observatory, Planetarium and Cable Car Museum are located.