Botanica Gardens in Whangarei – Day 337, Part 2

Today we’re going to be checking out some of the free activities here in Whangarei.

Previously on Day 337, part 1 of New Zealand’s Biggest Gap Year we went to check out the iconic Whangarei Waterfall which is probably the most famous waterfall in Northland. If you guys missed out on that episode, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you get a notification every single time we release an awesome video about New Zealand.

So next stop, Botanica. The land of ferns and exotic and native plants.

So we arrive at the fernery Botanica. If you guys don’t know what a fernery is, it’s basically where you grow ferns. Becuase ferns are very native in New Zealand and you need to grow a lot to do all the conservation work that the Department of Conservation is doing. This very specific fernery also has a conservatory which has heaps of tropical and exotic plants.

There are two sections to Botanica: the fernery and also the conservatory and first, we’re hitting the fernery which boasts having one of New Zealand’s largest collections of native ferns in the whole of New Zealand and its off-shore islands. But one thing we really love about the fernery are all the eels in the eel ponds. Each of the rooms has little water features that are really cool to check out, as well as obviously all the ferns.

So Laura is now taking pictures of the other Whangarei Falls.

Not sure which one is better, really?

The little water features are so cool and it actually feels like we’re back in the middle of New Zealand forest just like all the many walks we’ve done in New Zealand during the last 300 and whatever days we are on now?

What’s really cool about the different rooms of the fernery is that they are connected by these little funky doorways. Especially this little tunnel right here is really cool. And in this room that we’re entering right now, all the conditions are made perfect for growing ferns. For instance, in here it is misted twice a day and air conditioned so it’s nice and cool and damp.

And we even spot some native wildlife in here. Who needs to see real birds when you can just see pictures?

Honestly, this fernery is really well setup. Every single one of the ferns has a little label which tells us what they are. It even tells us where we can find them in New Zealand which I find super handy.

As we are walking around the whole fernery we get to discover a tonne of different type of ferns which I find quite fascinating. I mean, to me a fern was just a fern, well not anymore. I learned a lot.

As Laura is falling behind taking a million pictures of the droplet filled leaves that she can find, we are moving onto the conservatory which has heaps of sub-tropical plants.

In a conservatory we get to see a tonne of exotic palms, orchids, and heaps of super colourful plants. it’s quite amazing the variety of flowers that you can find in only one place. I mean, I’m super impressed. Plus, there’s tonne of different colours as well making it for amazing pictures. It’s such an amazing place where you actually want to spend time to look at every detail of flowers. it’s so impressive.

The cool thing about this conservatory is that they change the display quite regularly depending on the seasons and stuff so it’s quite cool and there is also a fish pond because you know, every conservatory needs its own fish pond right?

Another section of the conservatory is the Cacti house which has all those spiny desert plants which you can’t help but want to touch but you know you probably shouldn’t.

All the cacti are presented on a rocky display so it looks really awesome and authentic. It’s kind of like your grandmother’s greenhouse but on steroids.

And finally, after checking out the desert plants we move onto the final section of final section of Botanica which is the Japanese Gardens. The Japanese Gardens has some really simplistic displays but also some really cool plants to check out such as the bormeliads, the bare claw fern and the large hoya and I want to take photos of every single one of them they look so cool!

Botanica is definitely a must-do if you have any interest in plants whether it’s exotic or looking at native vegetation. It’s also a free thing to do in Whangarei which is always a bonus in my book. After checking out the whole of the Botanica gardens we spot a little bit of a stream with a bridge crossing over it so we just have to go check it out. It looks really cool.

Laura takes a few minutes to take a million pictures of a simple duck because you know Laura by now she loves to take pictures. And then we head back to our accommodation. It’s the Bunkdown Lodge it’s a really cool accommodation to stay for any period of time. It’s a vintage Kauri villa. How awesome is that?

Gonna be taking pictures of plants, gonna be looking at plants, but first we must sit in traffic. Any moment now we will be moving, any moment now.

Robin has died on the side.

I will show you something as soon as there’s something to show. I’m getting ready for the entrance of Botanica.

Oh my, oh here we go! Here we go, people!