port
Timaru, New Zealand
activityLevel
Moderate Activity
excursionType
12,24
wheelchairAccessible
No
startingAtPrice
$170
minimumAge
Information Not Currently Available
duration
Approximately 4 Hours
mealsIncluded
Meals not included
Get acquainted with Timaru on this walk of about three miles.
You'll start with Caroline Bay, voted in the top ten beaches in New Zealand. Follow the memorial walkway and take a look at the display panels honoring the fallen war heroes of Timaru. Continue along the promenade and boardwalk towards the beach lookout and see the alarming historical high tide marks.
You will take the cliff path to the Benvenue Cliffs and enjoy the view of Caroline Bay. Your guide will tell you about Timaru's worst shipwreck. On the path leading back through New Zealand native tree plantings, you'll find a bird aviary, wind sculptures, summer carnival items, and remnants of Timaru's whaling days.
From the elevated Bay Hill, take in lovely views of the ocean and mountains and enjoy a Devonshire Tea snack -- tea or coffee with scones, jam and cream.
Next, continue down to the Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden -- a sensational collection of more than a thousand of gorgeous rosebushes. Take the steps or elevator from the foot of the Timaru Piazza to the top panoramic views. Walk along the street above Caroline Bay to the Landing Services Building. At more than 130 years old, and made of local bluestone (basalt), this building was once a port warehouse. In 1987, a civic trust purchased the dilapidated building for exactly one dollar. It has subsequently been restored and is now a sensational example of combining old architecture with new, and of repurposing an iconic building for a new lease on life.
Visit the Te Ana Maori Rock Art museum for a guided interpretation of the local indigenous people in a high-tech, high-spec, visual, tactile and interactive Maori culture display.
Conclude the tour with a short walk back to your Seabourn ship.