Jane Ussher/NZ House & Garden
From the highest point in the waterfall garden you can see the ponds and Doubtless Bay beyond. “How could you improve on such a view,” he says, pointing across his garden to the bay’s sparkling waters. Old pā sites overlook the cove. Nearby is Butler Pt, with its early settlers’ cottage, garden of national significance and whaling museum. Also on the doorstep is charming Mangonui village, and Kerikeri is only a 45-minute drive away. So began the creation of a new life, business and glorious hectare or so of subtropical gardens on the property Bruce has dubbed Sanctuary in the Cove. Not that he knew in 2002 that he was about to embark on an 18-year project transforming paddocks into garden. Nor that, he readily admits, he was all that mad about gardening, though he always had a soft spot for planting trees and building waterfalls.