New Zealand's South Island Gardens

Day 1 – Welcome to Queenstown!

Kia ora! You’ll be greeted by two things when you touch down in New Zealand: the sight of the jagged Remarkables Mountains (yep, they really do live up to their name) and one of our always-smiling team members.

A direct private transfer will take you straight to the hotel to freshen up before you meet your fellow traveling garden connoisseurs and your tour host at 4 p.m. That leaves ample time for an evening’s cruise across Lake Wakatipu to the Walter Peak High Country Farm, where you can bond over a proper Kiwi BBQ. Views abound, of course – the farm butts right up to the lakeside, as mountains crash down to meet the shores to the north and south. What a way to start the trip!

Accommodation: Millennium Hotel, Queenstown
Included: Dinner

Day 2 – The gardens of Queenstown

Wake up in Queenstown to the clop of hiker’s boots on the sidewalks and the buzz of adrenaline junkies – this is the birthplace of commercial bungee jumping, in case you didn’t know!

Don’t worry, nothing quite so gravity-defying for you today. You’ll see the city this morning, then head out through the Otago countryside to The Elms at Lake Hayes. One of Queenstown’s loveliest, professionally-designed, private gardens, you’ll get the tour from award-winning designer Kate Campbell. Both native and exotic plants are beautifully curated here to complement the property.

Before you know it, you’re traveling back in time to little Arrowtown. Suddenly it’s the 1860s as you move between the old clapboard houses and miner’s taverns. Do some antiques shopping or unravel the enthralling local history at the Historic Arrowtown Chinese Settlement.

Finally, finish on high – literally! A ride on the Skyline Gondola will give you sweeping views over beautiful Queenstown, and then you have the afternoon free to explore it.

Accommodation: Millennium Hotel, Queenstown
Included:  Breakfast and Lunch

Day 3 – Cromwell and Clyde

Wake up to a bona fide horticultural wonder at the Jo Wakelin Garden. Delve in to discover why it’s graced the covers of gardening magazines and been hailed as “visionary.” This shock of lavenders and zingy euphorbias manages to exist on the dry Otago highlands where there’s less than 11 inches (280 millimeters) of rainfall some years! You’ll see the principle of “right plant, right place” at every turn as you wander beds woven together by gravel paths. Its delight is unexpected in this harsh landscape of crumpled mountains.

Lunch is a symphony of salted focaccia and real NZ lamb shanks, all finished off by a stream of local Otago Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris at the Kinross Winery – and, yes, the views are still that good. Later, push on to the little town of Clyde for a spot of retail therapy. Check in at a boutique hotel housed in Clyde’s 1860s gold-rush buildings, where no two rooms are the same – but all are brimming with character.

Accommodation: Olivers Lodge & Stables, Clyde
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Photo © Kim Woods Rabbidge

Day 4 – Dunedin

Rise and embark on a trip out of the mountains and into the pastoral backcountry of Central Otago. You’ll search for the oasis that is the Clachanburn Garden among this stark wilderness. It’s the brainchild of Jane Falconer, who’s been tending to the plot for more than 40 years. Pick her brains on all things cherry blossoms, crabapples, and hardy perennials that can handle what the Otago climate throws at them as she guides you around the site, spotting mirror-like ponds that reflect the distant mountains and manicured lawns fringed with lavender.

Lunch is at Clachanburn itself, a chance to sample vegetables from the country garden and fruit from the on-site orchards. Fill up, because the drive onwards to Dunedin, where you’ll stay for the next two nights, is another couple of hours of attention-demanding travel, offering scenes of high tussock hills framed by farms of swaying flax and grazing sheep.

On arrival, you get to relax with an evening of free time. You can branch out into Dunedin to seek out statues of Robbie Burns (yes, the Scottish poet!) if you like. Or stay at the hotel to discover some local history – it’s over 150 years old and was once a gathering place for Dunedin’s literary elite.

Accommodation: Scenic Hotel Southern Cross, Dunedin
Included: Breakfast and Lunch

Day 5 – A trio of gardens in Dunedin

By Day 5, gardens are coming thick and fast. Today you’ll hit not one, not two, but three separate gardens. You don’t even have to leave town for the first, as the Dunedin Botanic Garden is on the north side of the city. It’s an official six-star Garden of International Significance, which means it’s as prestigious and important as they come in New Zealand. You’ll discover why while you wander the lower gardens with their Edwardian greenhouses packed with cacti and Japanese bamboo. Or as you stroll amid the magenta rhododendrons of the upper gardens. This was the first botanical garden ever established in NZ and its maturity shows, with microclimates operating in different zones and a whopping 6,800 plant species on show.

How do you top a six-star garden? With another one, of course! Larnach Castle is first. Try not to get too hooked up on the Gothic Revival façade of the castle itself. Beyond that lie the green spaces, which include species you certainly wouldn’t expect on the salt-washed edges of the South Island – hulking Monterey cypresses, towering cedars, and some you would expect – like the avenue of twisted cabbage palms.

The finale of today’s garden trio is at the Olveston Historic House. This one’s back in the city, and it gives clues to Dunedin’s unique past, founded by Scottish traders way back in the 1840s. Expect Jacobean architecture and an Edwardian-era glasshouse. You’ll explore inside and out here, walking through the ornate interiors, between the elaborate drapery and antiques, and then emerging into the green spaces, which are no less ostentatious.

Accommodation: Scenic Hotel Southern Cross, Dunedin
Included: Breakfast and Lunch

Day 6 – Dunedin to Christchurch

The route to Christchurch – where you can unpack and relax for four full nights – is speckled with gardens. Skirting the coast, you’ll navigate landscapes of grass-green hills and cabbage palm-lined roads. You’ll have some time to discover the quirks of Oamaru town on the way – think elegant Victorian row houses in the Historic District and some of the South Island’s largest colonies of blue penguins on the beaches. Talk about juxtapositions!

Said juxtapositions keep rolling for today’s first garden. Tucked on the edge of Oamaru, there are 13 acres (5 hectares) of green spaces to dig into at Brookfield Park. At first glance, you may think, “Ah, that’s a classic.” Then, as you move beyond the beds of dancing perennials and lavender, suddenly there’s a reimagining of the Greek island of Delos, or a curious life-size statue of a horse standing between the shrubs.

Next stop is the Broadfield Landscape Garden. It’s yet another six-star rated garden, but here the focus is on meticulous design principles and ecological architecture. Notice how the central reflective canal sits flush with the tōtara hedge topiary. The garden’s various “rooms” whisk you from native NZ kauri woods to English rose bushes in a matter of seconds.

You can rest for the next few hours as you cruise up the haunch of the South Island to Christchurch, but don’t get too comfy, because you’ve got a reservation at the fine Curator’s House, a 100-year-old heritage building that’s perched right on the edge of the city’s famous botanical gardens. Dinner is two courses with a Spanish accent, made with fresh regional produce and vegetables from its own kitchen garden.

Accommodation: Rydges Latimer, Christchurch
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Photo © Kim Woods Rabbidge

Day 7 – Culture and gardens in Christchurch

Slow down the pace a little at the halfway point of the trip by retreating to a habitat not so natural to us horticulturalists: the indoors. It’s okay, though, it’s all in the name of high culture. You’ll go on a guided walkthrough of the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Appreciate the curvaceous glass and steel exterior, and then go within to find landscape works and modern installation pieces by some of New Zealand’s most ground-breaking artists.

Outdoor spaces come back to the fore in the afternoon. Explore the city of Christchurch with your local guide, learning about how the culture of the Māori people has been expressed in the rebuild of the city following the Canterbury Earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. 

Then, head south to the edge of the Banks Peninsula to find Ōhinetahi on a sliver of land between the green hills and the glinting blue of the Pacific. See how the rugged landscapes have been shaped and shepherded into a space that effortlessly blends the old and the new. You’ll spot thought-provoking modern sculpture works at one turn and English country rose beds at another. The center of it all is an Arts and Crafts-style home with a wraparound veranda. Talk about the perfect setting for that afternoon tea!

Accommodation: Rydges Latimer, Christchurch
Included: Breakfast and Afternoon Tea

BREAKOUT: What is a Garden of National Significance in New Zealand?

The New Zealand Gardens Trust was established in 2004 to promote the most distinctive gardens in the country. It created a system for ranking gardens, ranging from three stars for a “notable garden” to six stars for “New Zealand’s top garden experiences”.There are only 14 sites in the six-star category, representing the crème de la crème of horticultural sites in the land of the Kiwi.

Photo © Kim Woods Rabbidge

Day 8 – Free day in Christchurch

You’ve earned a rest, so Day 8 is yours to spend as you wish. Be lazy if you like; ditch the alarm clock, have brunch in one of Christchurch’s cool coffee roasteries, dip into your book. Or perhaps take the chance to tick off the Christchurch bucket list: a punt around the Avon River, a ride on the Christchurch Gondola to lookout points high above the harbor town of Lyttelton. Today, the itinerary is yours to control.

Accommodation: Rydges Latimer, Christchurch
Included: Breakfast

Day 9 – Christchurch’s final gardens

Reinvigorated and ready to go? Good, because Christchurch still has more gardens up its sleeve. Ditch the city center and head out to Frensham Gardens, a plot crafted to harness the changing light of the seasons with its mix of heavy tree planting, classical garden design, and just a touch of kitsch. You’ll be visiting in summer, when the lawns are in full color and the light booms through the apricots and acers. Notice the sheer range of perspectives created by the varying levels – a foreground marked by a pruned hedgerow, a background semi-visible through the trees.

Trade the country for the coast in the afternoon with a 1.5-hour drive through the heart of the Banks Peninsula –  a montage of bald mountaintops buttressing valleys so green you’ll be seeing emerald even when you blink.

The Fisherman’s Bay Garden awaits, a hard-to-believe garden if there ever was one. As you stroll the gravel paths between the bulging beds of flowering perennials, it’s worth remembering that you’re standing on the edge of an ancient shield volcano. Don’t worry – it’s extinct!

The drive back to Christchurch is broken up with a pitstop in Akaroa, where you can stretch your legs walking the boat-bobbing harborside and grab a croissant (or 10) in one of the Francophile bakeries that harken back to the days when this was a French whaler settlement.

By day 9, a Carex trip feels more like traveling with family. You’ll have made new friends for life and forged bonds stronger than a New Zealand flax grass. It seems like a good time to take a free evening, perhaps to dine and drink together before you leave Christchurch in the morning.

Accommodation: Rydges Latimer, Christchurch
Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Photo © Kim Woods Rabbidge

Day 10 – Kaikoura

Bid farewell to the Garden City of Christchurch as you head north today, to the yes-I’m-ridiculously-handsome region of Kaikōura. But before you’re wowed by snowy mountains literally dropping into a whale-filled sea, more gardens await.

Your first stop today is at Blue House Amberley, a beautifully designed garden where strong structure meets a passionate plantswoman’s creativity. Remarkably lush despite being a summer-dry, no-irrigation garden, Blue House thrives through specialized techniques such as no-dig methods, bare-root planting, and woodchip mulching. Created over just 9 years by illustrator Jenny Cooper, with help from her partner Chris, the garden is still evolving, and it’s full of ideas for climate-adapted planting you can take home.

Next is the Flaxmere Garden. Once a humble sheep farm, today, it’s run under the guiding hand of Penny Zino, a gardener with a penchant for crafting pleasing vistas – you’ll sit and wonder at visions of the Southern Alps through the azaleas and see the outline of the mountains mirrored in the five ponds that pepper the property. A perfect lunch spot, no?

The last stop before the grand reveal of Kaikōura’s coastal mountains (don’t worry – you will get there!) is Loch Leven. Originally a nursery, it’s grown into a fully fledged garden with a five-star rating. Appreciate the shape and contour of the curved lawns that rise and fall around beds containing vibrant displays of New Zealand rock daisies and peonies, between a pretty summerhouse and clusters of boulders that break up the space.

Lastly, Kaikōura. This is one to write home about. Keep your eyes peeled as you cruise into the bay, where snow-mantled peaks lurch overhead and the waters are filled with dolphins and whales. Your hotel is right on the esplanade – that means views front, back, and sides.

Accommodation: The White Morph, Kaikōura
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Photo © Kim Woods Rabbidge

Day 11 – Blenheim

After breakfast at a cafe a short stroll from the hotel, the road whisks you north again. Enjoy the drive in the morning, snaking on the famous State Highway 1 with the jagged tops of the Kaikōura Range on one side and Pacific waves rolling in on the other.

The six-star Garden of International Significance today comes in the form of the Barewood Garden. Appreciate the artful and abundant planting here, starting with the color shocks of the herbaceous borders, past rooftop-tall lilies and on to pale yellow roses against brick walls that feel just like strolling through a quintessentially English garden. It’s a serene and meditative space, so take some time to digest the journey you’ve been on so far.

But the day isn’t over yet. Cue Paripuma. It clings to the edge of the Cook Strait, spilling out onto a blustery beachfront where you can stand and see the outline of the North Island in the distance. Take in the fairway-like textured lawns that create a feeling of vastness between beds of New Zealand natives, enjoy the echinacea and helenium beds dancing in the sea breezes, and don’t miss the butterfly garden planted in the New Perennial Style to maximize naturalism and habitat creation.

This evening, settle in to your new hotel in Blenheim. This town is the centerpiece of the Marlborough wine region, which means an evening of sipping local Sauvignon Blanc could be in order.

Accommodation: Carnmore Chateau Marlborough, Blenheim
Included: Breakfast and Lunch

Day 12 – Blenheim

Day 12 marks the final day of your garden adventure. But, to put it in a way that horticulturists will appreciate, it’s not time to go all sad like a salix just yet! There’s still one final hurrah of gardens, which kicks off with a late-morning visit to Moritaki. Once bare clay farmland at the foot of the Wither Hills, Moritaki has been transformed over the past 24 years into a tranquil green oasis that showcases exclusively New Zealand native plants.

Up next is Welton’s own Welton House – talk about going out with a bang! This is a garden set atop an ancient sand dune, encircled by swirls of Marlborough vineyard, mixing wild bushland with stark elements of hardscaping, all while incorporating the old footprint of the farmstead it came from. It’s a space to appreciate the subtleties, shapes, and colors that inform the work of Kiwi garden designer Ross Palmer, and to admire the intermingling of the untamed and tamed sides of the South Island. You’ll get a hands-on walkthrough of the garden here, followed by a light lunch.

You should have a little spell of free time this afternoon, to gather your thoughts, and to reminisce about this trip to gardens great and small. Then, bring all your thoughts and feelings to a group farewell dinner. Eat together tonight to confabulate on a wonderful journey, wonderful gardens, and – perhaps most of all – wonderful new friendships.

Accommodation: Carnmore Chateau Marlborough, Blenheim
Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 13 – Bid farewell

There’s one final chance to say goodbye to your new Carex family this morning before the trip officially comes to an end. It’s a moment to swap contacts, and maybe even plan your next horticultural expedition together. Until next time!

Included: Breakfast