Pukaha Mount Bruce’s most successful fundraiser to date, The Wairarapa Garden Tour 2017

After the success of the 2016 Wairarapa Garden tour, Pukaha Mount Bruce is thrilled to announce it has broken all records and hosted its most successful Wairarapa Garden Tour ever. Over 1500 tickets were sold to the day annual event. The Wairarapa Garden Tour was established in 2012 to raise funds for Pukaha’s forest restoration programme.

Pukaha Mount Bruce is a national wildlife centre set on 942 hectares of protected and restored New Zealand native bush. Pukaha has Conservation Breeding programmes that contribute native wildlife, flora and fauna back into New Zealand’s unique Eco-system. With Conservation programmes for the Whio, Pateke, Kakariki, Kokako, Shore Plover, Tuatara and of course the kiwi you can see conservation in action daily as the centre is open to the public 364 days a year. Every day except Christmas day.

The garden tour is one of Pukaha’s annual fundraising events. This year the event held on the 11th and 12th of November was a unique opportunity to explore some of the most beautiful gardens of the Wairarapa, most of which would normally not be open to the public.

The ticket price of $50 per person covered entry to 13 different gardens over both days. There was also opportunities to take a guided tour around the historic Brancepeth homestead and take part in nursery demonstrations at Lansdowne Nursery.

The Gardens were in and around Masterton and the wider Wairarapa. This year there were four gardens in Eketahuna. There was everything from grand, well established gardens to smaller ‘town gardens’, with plenty of great ideas and a fantastic day out and about in the beautiful Wairarapa.

Some gardens were relatively new, while other gardens had been established for generations. Many of the owners were available during the day to tell the story of how their garden came to be.

Event organiser Jennifer Taylor stated that “ Pukaha were very grateful to the garden owners who had opened their gardens to be part of the tour and of course to the volunteers that donate their time to help the event run smoothly. We couldn’t hold this event without their kind efforts.”
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Pukaha’s general manager, Emily Court believes “The Wairarapa Garden Tour event is now established as a key annual Wairarapa event. The spin off to the region in a tourism capacity is fantastic and the event contributes over $40,000 dollars annually to the Pukaha restoration fund. It is a win –win situation for our region and Pukaha.”

Next year’s garden tour dates have yet to be set but after this year’s success the event will definitely be returning in 2018.

ENDS

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