Efil Doog - Garden of Art eco Park 3.53

"Efil Doog" was the life's work of Shirley and Ernest , who designed both their home and their garden over 11 acres of the Akatarawa Valley about one hour north of Wellington. Over the past 36 years they have hand-planted more than 2,000 rhododendrons, along with countless camellias, azaleas and other flowering plants and trees. They have transplanted numerous stands of flowers, nurtured a pine tree forest, built little bridges over streams on the property -- and collected scores of outdoor sculptures and figurines that enhance (and sometimes frighten) the viewer.

From an assortment of strange stone heads with colored eyes that stare at the passersby from the forest floor, ...this is a place that would have inspired Walt Disney himself.

The Efil Doog "Mystical Forest, For obvious reasons, it's a favorite hangout of the children, who head for the Macrocarpa grove with the disembodied stone heads when they come to visit.

Exotic birds love the garden too, and you can hear them calling back and forth to each other as you walk the grounds.

There is a collection of bonsai as well as flowers, and these are displayed in the Efil Doog Bonsai house next door to the Efil Doog Residence, where on some tours, visitors are invited in for afternoon tea in the Gardens.

Efil Doog is listed as a "Garden of Regional Significance" by the New Zealand Garden Trust. Is well suited to Private Tours and Functions such as Wedding Ceremony in the Garden or Gallery, Wedding photo location , Private Garden Tours for the Free Independent Traveller / Tourists ( FIT ) or Tour Group Tours. Corporate events / Team Building events, Family Picnic or Special Occasion Events in the Garden or Gallery. High Tea or Devonshire Tea outings may also be arranged by pre-Booked arrangement .