Sunday 23rd November 2025

Sunday 23^rd November

SHE SAID:

After an excellent poached egg, bacon & sausage breakfast we all went out “Tiki Touring” again. Ang suggested the Pukeiti Gardens, in the foothills of Mount Taranaki. There were manicured planted gardens, hundreds of Rhododendrons, & native rainforests all there.

I was in seventh heaven, seeing 2 flowering orchids & a Sun Orchid in bud. We saw another new Greenhood, & Geoff found the prized, hoped-for orchid, a Helmet, though here in NZ they are called Spider Orchids! WOW, well happy.

From the gardens we headed for an old lighthouse on the coast, followed by dumplings on the beach at Opunake, a popular beach for the locals, with the typical black sand of the area.

It was a quiet late afternoon at the house, rounded off by Ang’s beautiful slow-cooked pork, shredded onto buns for dinner.

Pukeiti Gardens

Corybas oblongus - Spider (Helmet Orchid)

Pterostylis australis - Greenhood

Cape Egmont Lighthouse

HE SAID:

My brownie points went through the roof, at least for now, when I found the wee bugger helmet/spider orchids. Varena was very pleased indeed. Our wanderings through the very nice gardens continued, but nothing exciting was added to the orchid finds list. The scenic drive continued around the Taranaki district, with Tony waving every now and then at random passing Kias that he had sold; he remembers the cars and plates, but not the people! Funny!

Dumplings, beaches, a lighthouse, a quiet arvo, two new local beers (one of which was actually a stout) and pulled pork burgers rounded out our day.