Smell the Roses, Stop to See New Zealand

The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is offering a tour of New Zealand gardens in January when flowers are in full summer bloom. The three-week tour begins Jan. 10. Called Gardens, Wine and Wilderness, the tour will be led by a New Zealand horticulturist and landscape architect. The small group will visit private and public gardens, nature preserves and wilderness areas. Vineyard tours and wine tastings are included. Travel is by motor coach, boat and internal flights.

Cost: $6,400 per person, double occupancy, including one night in a hotel in Los Angeles, where the group will visit a local garden; round-trip air fare to New Zealand; internal flights and land transportation; lodging; most meals; and guides.

Contact: Richard Lyon (tour guide); telephone (610) 444-6161 or Marsha Ray at Morris Arboretum; tel. (215) 247-5777, Ext. 119.

Fishing New Zealand

If garden flowers aren’t exciting enough, then try fly-fishing in New Zealand’s lakes and rivers. The tour is from March 19 to 29. Guests will land in Auckland and travel to the Tongariro Lodge on the shores of Lake Taupo and the banks of the Tongariro River, one of New Zealand’s most popular fly-fishing spots.

Then the group will fly to the South Island to stay at the Lake Rotoroa Lodge on the northern part of South Island. It is a Victorian-style fishing lodge built in the 1920s. The group will spend three days there fishing for brown trout.

Cost: $4,590 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, accommodations, meals, guides, domestic flights and transfers, and taxes.

Contact: Best of New Zealand Fly Fishing, 2817 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90403; tel. (800) 528-6129.

Trans-Canada Rail

Long rolling prairies and the Canadian Rockies are the sights on a trans-Canada rail tour Feb. 22 to 28. The train passes through Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Jasper. The tour begins with two nights in Toronto with a day excursion to Niagara Falls with lunch at the Skylon Tower.

During three days and nights riding across Canada from Toronto to Vancouver, guests view scenery from day window seats but have sleeping accommodations at night.

Following the rail portion, guests stay overnight in Vancouver and take a sightseeing tour of the city and surrounding area, followed by a farewell dinner and an evening theater performance.

Cost: $1,775 per person, double occupancy, including Via Rail sleeping accommodations, round-trip air fare to Toronto and return home from Vancouver, hotels, all meals except one dinner in Toronto, sightseeing tours and admissions, transfers, tour escort and local guides.

Contact: Great Western Tours, 3814 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 200, Pasadena, CA 91107; tel. (626) 578-1161 or (800) 344-7090.

Ireland Highlights

An 11-night tour to Ireland, Oct. 26 to Nov. 7, combines historic sites with scenery. Guests will explore the hills of Donegal and Kerry, see the Burren (unusual rocky terrain in County Clare) and the Aran Islands. The group will also get a chance to kiss the fabled Blarney Stone, tour medieval castles and listen to Irish ballads.

Cost: $2,900 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare, hotels, ground transportation, daily breakfast, some meals, entrance fees and porterage.

Contact: Betty Leonard at Shamrock Tours, 213-C Avenida Majorca, Laguna Hills, CA 92653; tel. (714) 470-0301.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with travel agents or tour operators.