Dunedin Botanic Garden — Attraction in South Island

Established in 1863 as the first Botanic Gardens in New Zealand, the 28-hectare grounds are resplendent with over 6,800 plant species and the song of wild native bellbirds, wood pigeons and Tui.

What was shocking, surprising and delightful to see were a multitude of Tui! birds! They were feeding on the kowhai trees. Also feasting from the same tree were NZ wood pigeons.

Native birds such as the tui, bellbird, kākā and New Zealand pigeon/kererū/kūkū/kūkupa all benefit from kōwhai trees.

Māori hold the tree in high esteem, valuing the durability of its hard wood and its many medicinal properties.

Kowhai is a Maori word meaning yellow and many species have medicinal uses, for example a solution obtained from boiling the bark or the leaves was used on cuts, wounds and infections.

Joseph Banks, an 18th century scientist who travelled with Captain James Cook, observed that Māori were in good health and appeared to suffer from few diseases.

The creator of science-fiction series Star Trek was also famously inspired by Captain Cook and his ship, naming his fictional hero James T. Kirk and his spacecraft The Enterprise.

Kirk is the son of an Iowa farmer while Captain Cook was the son of a Yorkshire farmer.

The spoken line in Star Trek's opening credits "seek out new civilizations ... to boldly go where no man has gone before" was inspired by a line in Cook's journal: "... not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go."

James Cook’s ship Endeavour brought venereal disease to New Zealand in 1769. Cook disapproved of his crew having sex with Māori women, knowing they were introducing syphilis and gonorrhoea. "A connection with Women, I allow because I cannot prevent it, but never encouraging." he wrote in his journal. Māori had no immunity to these diseases.

Kowhai is one of the best trees to attract tui and other native birds to your garden.

The "Market Garden " City Christchurch planted English trees as a result, Christchurch is the only major city without tūī, one of the country's most beloved songbirds. The main causes of decline are likely to be the loss of habitat and predation.

The Tūī Corridor plans to plant 11,000 tūī-friendly plants between Banks Peninsula and the Christchurch...

We came prepared with at least 6 maps(!) from the info centre. The reason for this seeming excess of information is that it’s hilly and some of the tracks, conveniently marked in red, require a good level of fitness and are on rocky, gravelly and unstable spots. So we stuck to the lower gardens, the flat, easy, pretty bit, and enjoyed the late-blooming roses in the rose garden, the cacti and tropical plants in the large, Kew like glass house and then fed the ducks. It’s not that we planned ahead and brought stale bread. The info centre in the gardens actually hands out small bags of seeds for free for the specific purpose of feeding the ducks. Bargain! The ducks in particular think this is a splendid system. The sunny day with big clouds suddenly turned into torrential rain and we escaped into the cafe for coffee and a biscuit. (See review, Croque-O-Dile in the Gardens )We had the place almost to ourselves and had enjoyed our free...

Quirky avairy, come Edwardian greenhouse and gardens combined with an arboretum. If Dunedin has the steepest residential street in the world, arguably, it has one of more physically challenging botanical gardens as well. I was there for summer, one day in length, and it was one of the most beautiful summer's day I've ever experienced. It quickly reverted back to winter the next day, however. The staff at the tea rooms were friendly and it was reasonably priced. The only complaint was the groundskeepers driving up and down on their small, six wheel drive vehicles trying, not so hard, to hide their smugness as they sped past you in the near 30 degree heat as we toiled up Mount Doom. It was slightly annoying but at least made me feel confident that if I were to timed out on the way to base camp 2 ( upper carpark )my corpse would be recovered quickly For the record, it looks like the staff does a great job. And.... it's FREE. Good...