They have wild turkeys in NZ, presumably emigrants from the US. We'd seen them before and saw them again as we entered Eastwood Gardens this Sunday morning.
Eastwood Gardens is an arboretum created by one man, the somewhat eccentric William Douglas Cook, who started planting stuff when he returned from service in WWI, and kept planting until his death in 1967. During the 1950s he became afraid that the great gardens of Europe would be destroyed in an atomic war He wanted his land to be able to provide stock for replanting afterward, so he planted some of all the stately trees of Europe and the Americas.
The result now is a charming and beautiful rolling property thickly covered with trees and gardens of flowers. We took a 3km path that led through some of it. The clouds were breaking up and the sun popped in and out. Here are a few pics.
Gardeners: What is this?
Recent planting of 100 trees by the Rotarians.
Mother turkey with turklets.
Overview of the older part.
You wanna use this path, buddy?
OK, off for Opotiki.
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We stopped several times to try to get a picture that would show how they plant these very tall rows of windbreak trees to protect the orchards and vineyards.
This route goes through the Waioeka Gorge, a wild and steep canyon that didn't get a paved road until the 1960s. Now it's a scenic day-trip.
Camped in a really nice holiday park on the shores of the blue Pacific.It's warm! Marian's cold definitely improved, David's still mild.
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