I have just got back from a few more weeks in New Plymouth, New Zealand and so here are a few more travel photos. I joined a free garden walk there that I saw advertised in the local paper. It was a walk around Pukekura Park and was led by park volunteers. As you can see, it was a beautiful day and lots of retirees like me came out.
Pukekura Park is an iconic park situated just a few blocks behind the city center. Bless those early settlers who reserved a scrubby gully to become a community park and for the many donors and volunteers as well as the paid gardeners who built up and expanded the gully to become the premier botanical garden of today. It is now almost 130 acres of park filled with bush walks, playgrounds, a cricket field, lawns, glass houses, a tearoom by a lake, as well as a small zoo and the popular Brookland's Bowl....an outdoor amphitheater used for performances. It is very worthy of a visit if you are in town. These photos were all taken at the town entrance end of the park.
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| Main entrance to the park with the cricket field in the background. |
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| All us retirees enjoying the garden tour. |
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| Highest view point. |
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| Queen Elizabeth fountain in lake. |
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| One of the many shady dells. The palms are the native NZ nikau palm. |
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| Shady paths, some easy access like these and others were less tame. |
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| Inside one of the glass houses. |
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| The tea house by the lake. A good place for lunch. |
