We spent Sunday doing the 10 gardens in this year’s trail and unlike for the spring trail in November last year, the weather was good.

Only 4 of them were in Waikanae proper and none were in the January 2016 trail. Despite all the new presentations, we are told the attendance figures are down on January last year, so the Lions may return from a November to a January event for the next one.

Here was our visit order with one photo of each; we’ll post more photos of them over the next week or two.

89 Greendale Road, Otaihanga

111 Ngatiawa Road, Reikorangi

It reminds of scenes in the English Lake District.  At the bottom is the Waikanae River.

245 Ngatiawa Road, Reikorangi

Definitely the highlight of the day for us, this is a fabulously created extensive garden in an idyllic hill setting.

5 Lindale Grove, Waikanae Beach

In the beach zone, one of the owners sitting at the table, with a photo-story board of how it was developed.

206 Tutere Street, Waikanae Beach

At the south end of Tutere Street adjacent to the Estuary Reserve, this demonstrated how it is possible to produce a colourful array of shrubs and bushes in a fairly salt-air laden environment which many plants don’t like.

40 Tutere Street, Waikanae Beach

This is the commercial organic garden of the Long Beach café, and this one provided not just the visual pleasure, but also lovely scents of the various exotic edible plants.

37 Kensington Drive, Peka Peka

This is home to Peter Augustin’s arts studio, and this also featured in the Arts Trail (see earlier).  If you wonder about Peter’s accent, he is from Basel in Switzerland, which is also very close to Germany and France.

61 Hadfield Road, Peka Peka

In the hills above Peka Peka was this garden nestled in the natural folds, a place to go exploring around the paths and discover ornaments and features.

62 Hadfield Road, Peka Peka

Terrace views of the coastal plain, the sea and Kapiti Island are a major feature of this garden across the road from the previous.  It also provides a view of the ‘Ewy’ and we were told the noise from it at night drives them mad, particularly from motorbikes.

283 Ngarara Road, Waikanae

This was another extensive and well-sculptured garden with the feel of an old world gentry estate.

In all it was a most enjoyable way to spend a fine spring day.

Our admiration goes to those who made the garden trail happen:

• The Lions for organizing it all and providing people for the entry tables
• The Law Connection who were the major sponsor.  Although some lawyers give the legal profession a bad name, there are the good ones.  The Law Connection is in this category and co-principal Mathew O’Byrne is another guy Geoffrey went to school with. Co-principal Steve Tomlinson came to the Destination Waikanae AGM.
• The several other sponsors and, of course, the garden owners for opening them to the public over the weekend.