Nature Walks at Otari Wilton's Bush

Otari-Wilton's Bush is a Wellington treasure. Not only has New Zealand's native bush been preserved here, but special gardens hold a collection of plant treasures from around New Zealand. I've always thought of this as a great place to bring children to romp around in the bush, it's wild but not so wild that you could get horribly lost. Last year when I came here with some young cousins, we took the nature trail and while they enjoyed running ahead, we had them stop at each of the numbers to do some quick observation before running on helter-skelter down the track.

On Wednesday I came with quite a different group, members of the Forest and Bird Wellington Regional Tramping group. While the group is normally keen to move at a good pace they don't usually run helter-skelter! This time though we were all prepared to go very slowly, stopping and starting as volunteer guides from the Otari-Wilton's Bush Trust led us through the plant collections, showing us things to look for to help us with plant identification.