American gardeners visit Waimarino

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 5, Issue 24, 10 November 1987, Page 3

American gardeners visit Waimarino

New Zealand gardens and national parks were the focus of a group of touring American horticultural enthusiasts who were in the Waimarino last week on a three week visit to the country. The party of six arrived in Auckland with the company 'Pacific Horticulture' recently, to begin their whirlwind visit of places of scenic interest which included the Bay of Islands and the area's awesome kauri forests, New Plymouth and Egmont National Park. In Wanganui they toured picturesque Virginia Lake and its surrounding gardens and enjoyed a scenic drive up the Parapara Highway. The party spent an afternoon at Titoke Point in the garden of reknown horticulturalist Gordon Collier of Taihape, who is the party's guide during their visit. Another point of interest was the garden of Jim and Norma Cranston of Ohakune, well-known in the Waimarino. The Americans were fascinated by the vast variety of flora prevalent in New Zealand and the enormous areas of bush and forest still untouched by development. The group have been staying with garden enthusiasts during their stay. After visiting the Tongariro National Park and climbing Mt Ngauruhoe on Tuesday, they moved on to Wellington. They will be travelling to Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown and the Milford Sound, before flying back to Auckland and the United States later this month.