Auckland Botanical Gardens - Spectacular in Spring!

What an absolutely stunning day in the Auckland Botanical Gardens today.  Situated just off the motorway in Manurewa, South Auckland, this is a real jewel and it never looks better, in my opinion, than when the magnolias are in full flower, the cherry blossoms and kowhais are bursting into life and the tuis are singing and swooping wherever you go.

Friends and I meet there regularly for a run as yes, we are among those crazy joggers you see all around Auckland streets.  We starting running in the Botanical Gardens and Totara Park because it is so much more fun running through acres of beautifully landscaped gardens and forest trails than running on the roads.  And there's a really great cafe for that well deserved half-strength trim latte and a muffin afterwards!

But the Botanical Gardens is not just for us crazy running folk, it really does have something for nearly everybody (except as I have discovered, teenage boys!).  Toddlers will love riding their tricycles down the paths to the duckponds and playing in the Potter Children's Garden, dogs are welcome on a lead (and there are even some off lead areas in Totara Park) - not that you'll have your dog in your Omega Rental Car of course!  And us grown ups will enjoy fantasising about the things we are going to do to our own gardens to make them look more like this inspiring display of green fingered-ness.  It's a great spot for family photos, picnics and, in Totara Park - a friendly game of cricket. 

Make a point of heading along while it is looking at its best, I promise you a sensory feast!