Looking for a walk that incorporates nature and the arts? Then put Te Puna Quarry Park, in the Bay of Plenty on your to do list + the kids will love this place too! Donations welcome as it is run by volunteers. There is an honesty box at the park entrance.

The kids highlight’s were the huge digger at the park entrance (good luck getting them off!), the monarch butterfly garden, the musical garden, the komodo dragon sculptures, the moving wind sculptures, any chimes you get to bang, searching for painted rocks, and the wonderful dragon playground under the cherry blossom trees.

My highlight’s were: sitting in the mediation/peace garden eating lemon cake (I love a good picnic spot) and the views over the Bay are awesome from there! Also getting to walk around the long loop without pushing a toddler in a buggy (it is steep!) These days I almost have to run to keep up with them (ah the irony!) If you are in the buggy pushing stage I’d just recommend a walk to the butterfly garden and perhaps some of the lower tracks definitely the musical garden.

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A very brief history: Large quantities of low-grade rock were extracted from the quarry from the early 1900’s to 1979. After it closed the disused quarry, already an eyesore began to get over run by noxious weeds, when the local council suggested its sale in the late 1980’s they were met with opposition from the local residents who argued that the mine was not environmentally acceptable. In 1993 the Te Puna Quarry Park Society was formed largely thanks to a lady called Shirley Sparks. And after a serious amount of behind the scenes type work, the society got the status of the quarry changed to “Quarry Reserve Community Use”. Then the real work began transforming a scarred piece of land into a giant garden paradise🌵🌼🌴🌳🦋🕊🎨🌻🍁🌹.

Aren’t some people just awesome!😍👊🤗 Click here for their website.

Happy exploring!