Kerikeri New World Rotary Garden Safari
24th Garden Safari - 29th & 30th October 2011
23rd Garden Safari a great success in 2010!
Newcomers to the area are usually completely taken by surprise when they embark on the Garden Safari. They are amazed at the variety and beauty of the private gardens shared with them during this annual weekend event. This year was no exception!
Highlights included the adjoining properties down Stanners Road. These three rolling gardens, each unique in its own design, merge into one green belt, around a tranquil lake. 2 Shelter Box emergency response tents and kits were on display here. Donations from the public during the Garden Safari and the Waimate Show totalled $800. This amount was rounded up to the cost of a complete kit by the Kerikeri Rotary Club and donated to ShelterBox. The DOC noxious weeds stand was also much appreciated by interested gardeners.
The pocket stamp garden down Cannon Drive was an example of a 'can do' attitude to growing your own fruit and veggies in a very confined area. The immaculate exotic paradise created down Silkwood Ave was hard to tear oneself away from. The spring colours and fragrances of plantings on steep banks, shaded nooks and sunny expanses were a delight to all the senses.
Roland's Wood is a special place for a ramble no matter what season of the year, a generous gift to the community. Rotarian volunteers have put in many hours this past year clearing and landscaping the stream and ponds in the lower part of the parkland. While the timing of the Safari just missed the breath-taking bluebell carpet, it was ideal for the lush spring foliage of all the European deciduous trees.
Palmco is another hidden gem. The garden and newly opened event venue will make for a pretty wedding ceremony backdrop that is not weather dependent, a huge factor in Northlands changeable climate. Their biologically purified ponds and swimming pools are an interesting option.
The Kerikeri Rotarians were out in the gardens all weekend assisting and supporting the gardeners, and chatting with the public. Funds raised from the Safari will be used to support all the local and international service projects of the Club.
22nd Garden Safari 2009 a triumph
The
weather, the gardens and the visitors all came to the party on Saturday
31st October and Sunday 1st November 2009 for a stunning collaborative
effort to raise funds for our community. 15 gardens and Roland's Wood,
in a very manageable circuit around Kerikeri, had all the punters raving
about the uniformly high quality of the gardens. People gratefully expressed
much appreciation to the Garden owners for opening their gardens and allowing
us with the privilege of meandering thought them.
Every garden was a highlight!
This annual event is one example of what Rotarians do in our community. The ShelterBox project is another. While the Samoa Tsunami is fresh in our memory, there have been numerous disasters presently that we have sent boxes to: The Victoria Fires, Bangladesh, Philippines, etc.
Kerikeri can be proud to have a trained international response team member in our midst. Rotarian Owen Smith is one of three in the country. To be able to support Owen, and the victims of traumatic events is amazing. Pledges received at the display will bring our tally of Shelterboxes funded in 2009 to five. Well done Kerikeri!
Domain Lodge, the cancer patients lodge in Auckland used by over 1,200 Northlanders each year will also be a beneficiary of the 2009 Garden Safari funds. Hospice and the Bridge Club provided outstanding refreshments during the Safari and have also done well financially.
For more information, email Vicki Douglas at gardensafari@kerikerirotaryclub.org.
