Tourist information site on Abel Tasman and Kahurangi National Parks; has info on activities (tramping, kayaking, swimming with seals etc), accommodation (backpackers, bed & breakfast, motels, lodges etc), shopping and so on; offers online booking

Trust established by the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture to develop a database and web site of gardens endorsed by it, promote the interests of member gardens, etc; has more than 160 gardens listed; based in Warkworth

Botanic gardens founded in 1863 near the Avon river, & managed by Botanical Services Team of Greenspace Unit, Christchurch City Council; has a fine collections of exotic & indigenous plants, & herb, water, & rock gardens in 30 hectares; open daily

Park situated 4 km from the Waitomo Caves in Waikato; features 70 different varieties of birds and animals; five acres of picturesque gardens, ponds and waterfalls; play and picnic grounds; snack and refreshment shop

Garden in Manurewa, south Auckland that is home to more than 10,000 plants from around the world; includes edibles, perennials, native plants, threatened plants, shrubs, palms, the Gondwana Arboretum, native forest, roses, camellias, magnolias etc

Garden in the Reikorangi Valley, three km from Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast; venue for weddings etc; has herbaceous borders, waterlily pond, rose garden, spring garden, woodland garden; also offers self-contained accommodation, with kitchen etc

Auckland park renowned for its landscape design and wide variety of mature trees; built around a volcanic cone and on a Maori fortification (pa); park is run by the Cornwall Park Trust Board

Seven-hectare park-like garden located 5 km north of Kimbolton and 32 km north of Feilding; has a fine collection of over 2,000 varieties of rhodendrons and azaleas; sells aluminium plant labels and plants; organises conducted tours at $40 a group

Garden of international renown in Upper Hutt, Wellington; features: all-season garden with ponds, walks & water features, iris garden, rhododendrons, bonsai etc; also has an art gallery with exhibitions of early NZ paintings and sculptures

National park in Taranaki, where you can see the volcano Taranaki (aso called Mt Egmont) and two other volcanoes of an earlier era, Kaitake & Pouakai; the nearest towns are New Plymouth, Inglewood, Stratford and Opunake