January - India and Sri Lanka

Our journey began with our flight to New Delhi and meeting our esteemed guide Rajeev Butalia to escort us to the Royal Plaza Hotel. We enjoyed the very hustle and bustle of New Delhi before setting out for the pink city of Jaipur and a memorable elephant ride to Amer fort. New we had 2 days in Ranthambore tiger reserve to look for tigers. While tigers were elusive the game drives were great with lovely scenery and quite a bit of wildlife and countryside to enjoy. The glittering Taj Mahal awaited us in Agra before a train journey to end up in Khajuraho to see the famous carved temples. We then flew to the holy, chaotic city of Varanasi and had, among other things, 2 great cruises on the River Ganges. India is really an incredible place to visit - busy, spiritual, somewhat polluted and endlessly fascinating. We then flew to Sri Lanka. What a change - laid back, organised and relaxing. A few days relaxing in the coastal of Bentota before visits to Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Colombo. Think lush tropical bush, gardens, temples, tea plantations and an echo of colonial days long past. All in a great place to visit and highly recommended. Our group of 22 travellers will long remember this journey fondly. 

March - Victoria
​Our 2018 Victorian garden tour started with 4 nights in Melbourne. 27 travelers visited some famous sites in Melbourne including the Old Melbourne Gaol, Botanical gardens, Skydeck, Fitzroy gardens, St Kilda as well as a few gardens and a great nursery at Keysborough. We visited the Melbourne Flower Show on Wednesday which was a great show this year with lovely display gardens and blue skies above. The following day we set off for Shepparton but spent most of the day in the Dandenongs to see some lovely gardens and shops. Up bright and early the next day to visit Echuca and enjoyed a Murray River lunch cruise on the Emmylou as well as some history and laughs at the Great Aussie Beer shed. Our next day was in Beechworth in the footsteps of Ned Kelly. A great day out with a memorable thunderstorm mid afternoon. Our final day saw us travel some interesting countryside before stopping in to visit St Erth Garden which was looking as good as ever and then the irrepressible David Glenn from Lambley nursery gave us a guided tour of what I think is one of the finest gardens in Victoria.

April - Japan Cherry Blossoms

Our 2018 Cherry Blossom is timed to coincide with the wonderful Cherry Blossom season and that worked out perfectly! We saw cherry blossoms at each point of the tour but were at their absolute peak in Kanasawa as you can see from the images with this tour description. Beautiful. The Japanese people have a great time in this very special but short season. The tour started in Tokyo, included Mt Fuji, Matsumoto, Kanasawa, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka and Nara. Our great guide was Mai who really did connect well with our group. We travelled by plane, coach, bullet train, local trains, trams and cable cars! Our garden visits were superb as was the natural scenery and cultural sites. We had one nights accommodation in a traditional spa style hotel where we were treated likely family (only better!). Our tour party of 25 were a friendly and supportive group of people. ​

Singapore Garden Festival July
We arrived in steamy Singapore on July 15th for a great week of sightseeing, orchids and lovely food. Our group of 31 people got on really well and some great fun was had with laughter being lead by the "baby" of the group Georgie (who was a delight). We visited many of the highlights of this bustling island nation/city with the first 5 days being spent in the fun company of tour guide Lawrence. His great knowledge and love of Singapore was evident in what he had to say and his daggy sense of humour much appreciated by all. The next 3 days we were guided by our friend Tham and she too did a great job. We timed the tour to coincide with the Singapore Garden Festival which this year was moved to the Gardens by the Bay site. It was great. High standard displays throughout and the perfect setting  for a garden show. One thing for sure I learnt from the show - I will be back!

South Africa Wildflowers and Wildlife August

Our first visit to South Africa was memorable! We travelled a great deal of the country starting in Johannesburg before flying to the north west cape to visit some incredibly isolated and beautiful nature reserves in time for the wildflower season.  Our guide, Brett Stanley, and our driver Linda Botha did a very professional and friendly job of showing this remarkable country emerging as it is from the long apartheid years. We travelled by plane, bus, taxi, power van, paddle steamer, safari trucks, safari jeeps, cable cars, helicopters, catamarans and minivans to see some incredible scenery, finbos vegetation, succulent country, rain forest, open Savannah and  much more. We journeyed via Cape Town for 4 nights along the South African garden route to Port Elizabeth before flying to a private game reserve in the Kruger National Park area. We saw plenty of wildlife in the wild: Giraffe, Lions, elephants, hyenas, warthogs, buffalo, elephants, zebras, all kinds of antelopes, Rhinos, 50 species of birds and a lucky few also saw Leopard. A truly unforgettable series of safaris with great guides and animal trackers that made sure every safari had a highlight. Most of the group then transferred to Victoria Falls for a few days to see one of the most impressive waterfalls on earth. We can feel another African adventure will not be too far away!

Tasmania - November for spring!
Our first garden tour to Tasmania started and finished in Launceston with many miles in between. Our group of 26 enjoyed being chauffeured around by Rob Byrne our driver from Coal River Coaches and we were certainly very well looked after. We did have many highlights including a few standout gardens - Woolmers Estate, Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden and Wychwood Gardens. While gardens did provide some focus for the tour we were also keen to see some of the natural beauty of Tasmania including Wineglass Bay, Port Arthur, Mt Wellington, quite a few national parks, a Gordon River Cruise, Cradle Mountain and Stanley. Seahorse World at beauty point was quite a hit as was some great "taste of Tasmania" culinary delights. We plan to visit again in 2020 so if you are interested please register your interest as this tour filled up very quickly.