March Grampians and Melbourne Flower show

Our autumn tour to Victoria included the Grampians, Daylesford, gardens of Mt Macedon and the Melbourne Flower Show. A group of 19 travellers were joined at the airport by our great coach driver for the tour, Bernie Wilson from Ballarat Coachlines. We spent time exploring some of this most scenic region staying for 3 nights before 2 nights in picturesque Daylesford. We visited National parks, waterfalls, viewing points and undertake some short walks as well as visiting a few nearby towns. Native plants and gardens were a feature at Wartook gardens and at Vaughans Nursery. As we moved to Daylesford we saw some great gardens including Lambley Nursery, Viewfield, St Erth and Forest Glade.
As we headed to Melbourne we called into a real treat - Country Dahlias and the Geelong Botanical gardens for a guided walk. We visited the Melbourne Flower and Garden Show resumed after disrupted years due to Covid. It did not dispoint! We had a lovely group that enjoyed out first trip for 2022. 

May - Sunshine Coast

Our first ever Sunshine Coast short break was great fun. After months of wet weather we were very fortunate to have 5 days of pretty good weather with only shopping in Montville rained out. Some lovely private and public gardens were a real highilight - Maroochy Botanical gardens are developing into a world class garden. The passion and talent of the private gardeners we met were insprirational. We were based in Maroorydoore with most people enjoy some beach time. Culinary delights included Bloomhill Cafe, Ricks Garage, Harbour Wine Bar and the sensational Spririt House at Yandina. 

May - Northern Rivers

The 2022 Northern Rivers tour managed to have all days as lovely weather after a rather torrid year of flooding. Many areas had upwards of 2000mm of rain thisyear year so we were lucky! We had 4 days and 3 nights visiting some beautiful gardens on the Gold Coast, Lisomore and places in between. We stayed at the restful  Peppers resort at Kingscliff allowing for some beach time. All in all a great trip!

July  - Far North Queensland

We started with a flight to Cairns and then straight to Douglas for 3 nights in the beautiful Peppers resort. We visited Mossman Gorge, the amazing Botanical Ark, and a full day on the Barrier Reef with Quicksilver tours. When we left Port Douglas we spotted crocs on the Daintree River cruise before heading through Daintree rainforest to Cape Tribulation. This part of the tour was conducted in an off road coach so that we could ontinue up the Bloomfield track to Cooktown. Was rough and memorable.  Cooktown was a lovely surprise with plenty to see including the wonderful murseum and a sunset cruise on the Endeavour River. Next was 2 nights on the Atherton tablelands where we stayed at Tinaroo Lakes Resort. Great spot. We visited Herberton historic village an organic farming enterprises and a few other beautiful national parks. On the way back to Cairns we visited Nerada tea plantation , Mamu skywalk and Paronella Park near Innisfail. Gardens, nurseries and a day in Kuranda  traveling up via the Scenic Railway and back by the Skyrail. Special mention of our tour company Down Under Tours and great driver - Joe!

August - September
​Western Australia Wildflowers
Our 2022 WA tour was nearly at the peak of the wildflower season! We started with a couple of nights in Perth before flying north to Broome for 2 nights and some warmth. We journed even further north the next day to Cape Levique before travelling south via some vast and amazing countryside. We visited Karijini national park, Port Headland, Tom Price mine site, Kalbarri National park, Coral Bay, Shark Bay, Monkey Mia, Geraltdon, the Mullawa Wildflower festival, Nambung National Park, New Norcia, Rottnest Island, Freemantle and of course Perth. The flora of WA is like no where else on earth and the group of 24 loved it. We used Adams coaches with Luke as our trusted driver for our journey travelling long distances over some beautiful and rugged terrain. About half the group travelled home via the Indian Pacific train to add a few extra km and see a large chunk of our country. 

South Australia in Spring - October

Our second tour to South Australia worked well!
We again used local tour company Grants Coaches for the tour with our driver Remo proving to be a great addition to the tour. The tour started with Adelaide for 2 nights with a couple of lovely gardens before heading for the northern component of the tour overnighting in Port Pirie. We will visited a number of outback gardens and points of interest before 3 nights in the Wilpena Pound Resort in the heart of the Flinders Ranges. We toured the main highlights of the region including a guided aboriginal walk into the Sacred Canyon. We then travelled via the Clare Valley to the Barossa Valley to visit Maggie Beer, some wineries and a beautiful staton garden. We then had 3 nights in Renmark timed to coincide withe the annual Rose and Garden festival. Gardens, roses, Paddlesteamer cruise and a few surprises were in store. Then to Hahndorf to see the home of Hans Heysen, Tickletank Garden and Sophie Thompsons garden. Next was 3 nights on Kangaroo Island visiting Seal Bay, national parks and a few special spots. A lovely tour with an interesting group of travellers. 

October - Blue Mountains and Beyond

This much postponed (due to COVID) tour was a great success in October 2022. We flew to Sydney airport and met up with our excellent driver from Bilpin Coaches, Cam, and headed to the  Blue Mountains for 4 nights at the historic Carrington Hotel in the heart of Katoomba. Cam was a great driver and guide with the decided bonus of being a plant nut and horticulturist.  The tour was timed to coincide with the Leura garden festival and the peak of spring in this very garden oriented part of the world. As well of the exhibition gardens we visited some fabulous gardens in Mt Wilson and Mt Tomah (included Cams' own private garden) and some beautiful scenic spots. Next we travelled to Oberon via some lovely gardens in Little Hartley and a lunch stop in Lithgow. In Oberon we visited a lovely private garden and the huge Mayfield Gardens. Certainly the most impressive show garden in Australia. We then called into a few native gardens on the way in to Sydney for 2 nights in the heart of the city. Our sightseeing day in the harbour city included all the main sights as well as a trip up Centrepoint and a harbour cruise. A lovely group of 24 made the journey a friendly and postiive one. 








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New Zealand - November

​This tour was planned for the fabulous, scenic and floriforous South Island of New Zealand planned for peak spring in 2021 but due to covid travel restrictions we finally made it in 2022! This tour was one that Vivien and I worked on together so it was an extra special one to see come off. We used Leisuretime tours in New Zealand for our third tour of the country and they one again did a great job. Our Driver was Wayne Turner and he did a great job as we started in Nelson in the north and finished in Dunedin in the south.  The gardens were in great condition as you can see from a few of the images to the right and the natural beauty of NZ must be right up there with anywhere on earth. 25 travellers joined me on what was the final tour for what was a very busy and enjoyble 2022 of tours.