Two Tours: Anzac Day 25 April 1pm-5pm & Friday 26 9am-1pm

A bus tour for garden lovers to four very different Otago Peninsula gardens from small to large. Meet the gardeners and their pets, and hear about their gardens’ histories and their future plans.

Home gardening has huge benefits – storing carbon for the planet by planting trees and making compost, gardeners tend to be happy, satisfied and always learning, and growing our own food is easy and saves money. Getting your hands into microbe-rich soil is a great way to get closer to nature.

Garden 1: Neil Harraway (your host and driver) is the co-owner of Monarch Wildlife Cruises and Tours. Neil inherited a garden with great old trees, and has tried to bring order in some areas, profusion in others and loves to find serendipitous wildlings everywhere. He admits he’s an intermittent gardener and no expert, learning all the time. He’s also a great fan of alpaca as grazing pets.

Garden 2: Kerry Mackay is an art teacher and artist and has contributed art workshops for Wild Dunedin Festivals. Kerry is a real animal lover and her garden gives her chooks shelter, entertainment and food. Her hens and orchard are on a north facing hill which is great for both but can be slippery if wet. Her gardening companion is a grey kitten called Graham Grayson (after the artist).

Garden 3: Lyndal Roe has taken two years to transform a standard sized section into a mostly edible garden. She is experimenting growing tamarillos and over the summer her garden is full of sunflowers. She makes teas for the soil and compost, plus there’s a Bokashi and wormery - no wonder she grew a 7kg cabbage! Lyndal’s partner Nic is passionate about fungi and will talk about growing your own.

Garden 4: Jeannie and Peter Hayden moved to Fat Weka Farm (50 acres) in Portobello in 2015. Over 50% is under a QEII Trust covenant and has been regenerating for 30 years. They have planted food trees (mainly apples, pears and plums) and follow permaculture gardening principles. The first orchard was planted in 2016 and they now grow rhubarb to supply their son’s preserving business, Augustines of Central. You’ll meet Paddy the miniature fox terrier at Fat Weka Farm.

Enjoy afternoon tea on the veranda before heading back to town via Highcliff Rd when Neil talks about some of the history and features of plants on the Otago Peninsula

Please note:

make sure you have warm clothing
wear waterproof footwear or gumboots as you will be outside and walking on uneven surfaces
bring a water bottle
be at Monarch Tours at 12.45pm (15-minutes before departure).

Cost: $50pp (includes bus and afternoon tea)