It must have been a weekend for exploring hidden spots. We’d explored Secret Cove the day before and then on Sunday I set off to explore Eden Garden.
Both of these spots are well documented for being must see hidden locations, and yet both seemed still off the beaten track and untouched by being bestowed such a moniker.
Eden Garden’s span five and a half acres and sit nestled in-between Government House and Mount Eden.
An old abandoned quarry in a volcanic cone, it had been an overgrown wilderness and dumping ground until a horticulturist, Jack Clark, and 15 other hearty souls took it on as a project in 1964.
I’ve never been great at visualising how big something is so five and a half acres didn’t mean a lot to me. Certainly looking at it from the outside it didn’t look huge and with all of the carparks taken I had visions of being squished as we wandered in rows around a garden.
How wrong I was….
Despite Eden Garden obviously being busy that day I went for long stretches as I wandered around the expansive gardens where I saw no one.
I wandered through winding paths and up steep stairs (although in 27 degree midday heat I didn’t wander quite as far as the Hillary Heights)….
Making my way through the paths, parades and dales….
Past not one but two waterfalls…..
Through a butterfly garden where the butterflies were so used to the clicking of cameras that they all but posed for me….
Past statues….
And sculptures…
With flowers everywhere…
A cafe right in the middle of it all…
And everywhere I went more memorial chairs where you could sit and reflect on your surroundings…
It’s a sensational place and at only $10 per person (which goes back in to the upkeep of this not for profit garden) it is great value and I’ll definitely be going back each season to see how it changes. As I found out later as a dog owner this amazing spot is also dog friendly so is a great place to head for a dog walk.
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