Farm & Garden Tours

The Tour:

With a commentary along the way, the tour runs through the farm explaining typical farm use of the land. There are breath-taking views of Mount Hutt and the surrounding farm land, and up the Rakaia River to the mountains. The tour comes out through the Bayfields yards past the shearer's quarters, woolshed (which is now close to 100 years old) and the machinery sheds. From Bayfields, the tour completes a circuit back to Benlea where guests can wander along the paths meandering through the one acre garden surrounding the family home, which has many established trees, rhododendrons, and New Zealand native plants. There is an opportunity to view and feed the pet sheep at the bottom of the garden and a spinning demonstration if requested. Morning or afternoon tea can be included by arrangement. The whole tour takes approximately one hour but often people like to stop for photos of the farm or views, and to wander for some time in the garden.

Look here for a gallery of photos from the farm and garden (click on the thumbnails and they will enlarge).

The tour suits any nationality and most age groups.  

There are many activities in the area that can be tied in with the Benlea Farm & Garden Tour such as jet boating, various walkways, other gardens, horse riding, morning or afternoon tea, golf or a meal at the Terrace Downs High Country Resort which has a world class golf course and is our immediate neighbour.

The Farm

Benlea is situated in the stunning Rakaia Gorge, 80 kilometres from Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. The Bell family have run a commercial sheep and beef farm here since 1969 originating with the property Bayfields and adding two further blocks of land in 1994 (Benlea) and 2001 (Snowy Peak). The farm runs up to 16000 stock units (one stock unit is equivalent to one sheep) in the summer, reducing to 5000 in the winter when we get several snowfalls, some as deep as 40 cm around the house although 5 - 10 cm falls are more likely. The breeding flock of sheep are a Romney- Perendale cross - a fat lamb breed with around 10000 store lambs of varying breeds often bought in for the summer. The cattle breeding herd are Angus, a meat breed, and the calves bought in the spring are Angus, Hereford or crosses between the two breeds. Crops of wheat, barley or clover, plus various others are also grown.

The Garden

The large garden at Benlea is a well established hillside site with the house being built in the 1940's as a war rehabilitation house with some additions made since. There are numerous fully grown trees with paths wandering underneath past shrubs incorporating a mixture of NZ natives and introduced plants aiming on a nice mixture of colour and form. A large rock bank including a natural bird bath is a stunning feature at the top of the garden. The pet sheep reside in the paddock at the bottom of the garden below a bank of rhododendrons that line the tennis court.

Tour Details:

The Farm and Garden Tour is open to buses only but groups of 20 people or more in cars are welcome to do a garden only tour. Bookings are essential. We operate Monday to Friday plus Saturday morning, September to end of April.  Bus operators will need to know the farm track is not sealed.

Cost (NZ$):

Farm and Garden Tour: $25.00 per person (Net, non commissionable price, includes GST).                               
Garden only Tour: $15.00  per person  (Net, non commissionable price, includes GST).     

Please contact us for further information or bookings or click here for a printable detail sheet.