Ah Ailsa, a lady after my heart who loves gardens and getting her hands into the dirt. I can empathize with her feelings for the beauty of nature. When travelling the highlight of any visit is when I find a beautiful garden to wander around.
So it was with pleasure that I embrace Ailsa’s garden theme this week. The photos of gardens Ailsa has chosen to show on her blog “Where’s my backpack” are exquisite and very varied examples of some of her favourite gardens from around the world, do click here to immerse yourself in more gardens.
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We lived and worked in New Plymouth in the 1980’s and so part of our New Zealand visit was to revisit our very good friends Ray and Kay who were our neighbours back then. New Plymouth is a hidden gem in New Zealand and off the tourist trail. With a backdrop of Mount Taranaki rising, in symmetrical splendour, from the fertile dairy country of its lower slopes(often claimed to be one of the most symmetrical volcanoes in the world) and the Tasman Sea beating and swelling along the western shore to create wave breaks surf board riders dream of, this is a place of natural beauty.
This is also a mineral rich area and in the fertile volcanic soils gardens thrive.
It was to “Tupare” one of these beautiful gardens that Ray and Kay took us. One that we had not visited when we lived here. It also had a personal connection for Kay as in the 1950’s her uncle was the head gardener when it was a privately owned property and she remembered, as a girl, spending time in the garden.
In 1932 Sir Russell and Lady Matthews started to create a garden from a gorse covered wilderness on the edge of the Waiwhakaiho River. After a lifetime of artistic creation and love, the couple relinquished their 3.6 hectare garden and gracious Tudor-style home to ensure the protection of Tupare as part of New Zealand’s heritage.
Under the management of the Taranaki Regional Council, Tupare continues to develop as one of the country’s most beautiful and distinctive gardens. Tupare, which means ‘garland of flowers’, has a number of special features, including the glade, glasshouse, old orchard and cliff cascade.
Entering the garden it enfolds us into a magical landscape, a garden that has been designed with love. The path zig zags down the side of a steep embankment and we are surrounded with a deep border of hydrangea, the variety and colours are stunning, I have never seen so many.
We wander through intimate garden rooms and past a pond where large goldfish swim lazily around.
In contrast the lawns down to the river flat area keep an idyllic pastoral feeling with simple plantings of specimen trees.
Then as we round another corner we catch a glimpse through the trees of Tupare the English style home.
We circle the house taking photos from all angles and peer through the windows at the beautiful, solid period furniture inside. Unfortunately the house is closed. It opens at 11am for conducted tours and as it is now 2pm we have, sadly, missed out.
Now we find out how beneficial it is to know a local. Kay wanders around while we take photos. Finding one of the “friends of Tupare” having a cuppa in the small office under the house she tells her of her uncle and that she last visited the house in the 1950’s. Excitedly Kay calls us over, this lovely lady is going to give us a quick, personal, guided tour of the inside of this grand old house.
How lucky are we…
The house is magnificent, it has an atmosphere of love and feels lived in, not just a museum of period pieces. We follow our guide around, reverently touching the solid wood and admiring the beautiful views of the garden through the windows. I could picture the family going about their day-to-day lives. I could live here…
We hurriedly take as many photos as the time allows and I invite you to come with me on a tour around this charming country home.
Thank you Ray and Kay for introducing us to this amazing house and garden.
We wend our way back up the hill, tired but satisfied by a day spent sharing this magical place with our friends.
What a splendid garden. I’m fascinated by the house, though. It is very lovely, but it’s interesting how colonists tried so earnestly to recreate their old home in their new homeland – living in two worlds at once – one real and one imagined. Lovely photos as ever, Pauline.
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That is an interesting thought Tish and yes many of the pioneers built rather English style homes. In some cases, especially here in Australia, they were not suitable for the climate. Even now with the trend to glass and hi-rise apartments they have to use aircon all the time. The old style Queenslander with wide verandas are a thing of the past.
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As an Aussie I have to say that I eat humble pie at the immense beauty of Mount Taranaki and the beautiful garden you have shown us. Until this post, I had never heard of New Plymouth, and at first I thought this was a post about somewhere in England. The house is amazing, and you could lift it and drop it in the Cotswolds.
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Thank you for your comment Christopher. New Plymouth is off the beaten track in New Zealand, sort of a bulge tacked on to the west coast, not visited by many tourists, but it is certainly worth finding, especially if you like tramping in wild unspoilt mountain terrain and visiting gardens and surfing. It is a mecca in the NZ surfing community
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Beautiful lillies!! Great post 🙂
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Thank you Holley for leaving a nice comment
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You’re welcome 🙂
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What a wonderful place – and an interesting array of hydrangea colors!
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I t was hydrangea overload, I loved it… 🙂
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how beautiful! looks like hobbits live there!
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Ah Hobbits… Wait for it Stephen, we visited the land of Hobbiton and I will be doing a post on that soon….
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OMG … I was hoping you were going to say that! Can’t wait to see your blog post. Maybe if I didn’t visit Australia so much I might be able to visit NZ!
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You would LOVE NZ Stephen.easier to get around as the distances are not so immense
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Greetings from Egypt! I believe yours is my favorite link of all from Ailsa’s website – what a wonderful job you did, putting all these pictures out here to share with us, they are all incredibly beautiful! My youngest sister married an Aussie, too, they live in Melbourne. Best wishes to you and I look forward to exploring more of your blog!
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That is a lovely comment Aisha thank you for dropping by enjoy your trip around my blog world. I’m looking forward to a trip to your Egypt blog. That is the beauty of blogging, I love meeting people from all over the globe through blogging
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Same here – it’s very nice to meet you!
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Absolutely stunning and I love hydrangea – wow! 😀
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Thanks Dianne. The hydrangeas do seem to be a universal favourite.
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So many lovely shots – love the hydrangeas!
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Those amazing hydrangeas were a beautiful feature of this garden, I loved them too
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Totally lovely those hydrangea flowerheads, Pauline 🙂
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Thanks Jo I never realized how many different shades there are
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The hydrangeas are stunning- my favourite flower.
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G’day Francesca thank you for visiting my world and leaving a comment. I have a real soft spot for hydrangeas too
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heavenly!
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Thank you Christine
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This post just kept getting better and better – as I scrolled each photo it was so delightful. 🙂 ~y.
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Loved your comment Y, it was a very special day
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This is just gorgeous! Garden, house everything. I just love it! Such charm and comfort~
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Thanks Cindy, we both loved it and it was so photogenic
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Wow, we could be in England here – the plants and even the house are much the same. But not that splendid volcanoe 🙂 Many thanks PP for the tour around this lovely garden and home.
Jude xx
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Yes Jude I think many of the pioneers tried to bring a memory of the home land in their gardens. The house was certainly old style England, but the weather is soooo much better… 🙂
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No need to rub it in PP 😀
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Your beautiful spring time WILL arrive soon. I loved spring in England. Hope to see some photos of it on your blog…???
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Already posted some spring flowers on http://smallbluegreenflowers.wordpress.com/
take a peek 🙂
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Wow Jude that is a lovely site, I hadn’t found it before. I will be going back for a better look. Thanks for letting me know about it
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You’re welcome PP. There are lots of individual flowers on the site, but also write-ups of several gardens that you might enjoy – when you have time!!
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Gorgeous ! ! ! So grateful to know there are people supportive of creating and caring for such spots. Loved every bit of your tour – thank you!
del
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I also am grateful Del that the National Trust and Regional Councils think it important to spend money on these projects and of course the volunteers who spend their time lovingly caring for these beautiful places deserve recognition
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Very nice gardens and excellent shots…
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Thank you for dropping by, I appreciate your comment
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