Timaru Discovery Walking Tour

OVERVIEW

Transfer to Timaru where you will meet your local guide. Follow the Caroline Bay memorial walkway to attractions that reveal the history of Timaru, a city known for its outstanding Victorian and Edwardian architecture. While strolling the promenade, you will pass interpretive panels that pay tribute to New Zealand’s fallen heroes and view markers that show historic high tide levels from a beach lookout. At the Benvenue Cliffs, you will gaze out over the sea where in 1882 heavy swells caused the Benvenue to capsize, resulting in the loss of several crewmembers and others in the rescue party. The Trevor Griffiths Rose Garden will offer a serene setting to admire its more than one thousand varieties, including Old Roses, a specialty of the garden’s namesake rosarian. You will enjoy a different perspective of the garden from the Timaru Piazza above it. Other highlights include the 19th-century Land Service Building – which operated before there were harbor facilities – and a collection of Māori rock art.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Walk along a promenade that winds past several historical sites and attractions.
• See markers that show extreme levels of past high tides and the site of an 1882 shipwreck.
• Meander through a serene rose garden with species seldom seen elsewhere.
• Admire Timaru’s elegant Victorian and Edwardian architecture.
• View Māori rock art that depicts mythical creatures and abstract figures.

HELPFUL HINTS

• Dress in weather-appropriate clothing.
• Wear flat comfortable walking shoes.