Te Puna

This morning, we drove a short distance to Te Puna Quarry Park, which was used as a rock quarry until 1979. In 1993, a group of local volunteers proposed that they could plant native & non native trees, flowers & bushes. It took 3 years to get approval. The Park is totally run by volunteers, who plant & maintain the gardens. 25 years later, the number of volunteers has grown, & the Park continues to evolve. There is a butterfly garden, heritage rose garden, & an orchid garden. There’s a Japanese, South African, Sub tropical, Australian, and Native New Zealand garden. We enjoyed our morning walking around. At dusk, we drove to Waimarino Water & Adventure Park, where we enjoyed a light snack, & were transported to a shoreline where we got into a double kayak to paddle out to see glow worms. From previous experience, we knew they don’t photograph well, so we just enjoyed the after dark paddle & looking at stars & the glow worms.Read more