Wellington Botanic Garden

The garden covers twenty-five hectares of steep hillside between the city and Kelburn, and the way to use it is downhill: take the cable car - running since 1902 - from Lambton Quay to the top, then walk down through the garden to the Glenmore Street gate and back into town, which turns a hill garden into an easy stroll. On the way are the Lady Norwood Rose Garden with a hundred-odd beds and a begonia house, native bush remnants in the gullies, a duck pond, the Space Place observatory at the Carter Observatory, and a sequence of formal plantings that change with the season. The garden holds original forest in parts, which is why tui and kereru are common in the middle of a capital city. It is free and open all hours; only the cable car and the observatory are ticketed. In summer the Soundshell hosts free evening concerts.

History

The area was used by the Ngāti Te Whiti hapū of Te Āti Awa for growing and gathering food for Kumutoto and Pipitea pā. The Crown set aside a 13-acre strip for a botanic garden in 1844, the garden was laid out there in 1868 and extended to 28 hectares in 1871, and it was run by the New Zealand Institute under James Hector until 1891, when the land passed to the city (Wikipedia, Wellington Botanic Garden).

What you'll find

• The Lady Norwood Rose Garden - a hundred-odd beds, at their best from November.
• The 1902 cable car - the ride up that makes the visit downhill.
• The bush gullies - remnant native forest with tui and kereru.
• Space Place - the observatory at the top of the garden.

When to go

November to March for the roses; any season for the walk. Take the cable car up and walk down. Summer evenings have free concerts at the Soundshell.

Practical notes

It is genuinely steep - going up on foot from Glenmore Street is a climb. The cable car is ticketed and queues at midday in summer. Wellington wind reaches the upper garden.

Nearby

Lambton Quay and the city are at the bottom; Otari-Wilton's Bush and Zealandia are west.

Key facts