flower image : NZ Botanical Garden

We got an early start on the drive from Christchurch to Dunedin on the morning of December 3. The drive took us most of the day, and we had only the morning of December 4 to tour the city before starting off for Te Anau in the southwest. We had some rain along the way from Christchurch, but by the time we arrived in Dunedin the sky had cleared and this morning we awoke to bright sunlight and somewhat warmer temperatures.

Dunedin is a "U" shaped city built on the hillsides overlooking the end of a long bay. The approaches to the city are quite hilly but although our rental Ford struggled up some of them, they were a welcome relief after the relatively uninteresting road north of Christchurch. The garden described below is perched on a hillside high enough to overlook the bay and quite close to the downtown area.

Again most of the images are from my hi-8 video, but Jennifer took the brighter and sharper 35 mm photographs
A closer look at the Crambe which was standing about four feet tall.
A clump of some sort of pink-lavender aster was also in bloom
Jennifer took this 35 mm photo of me checking out a plant label in the rock garden. The lower garden is to the right in this image and is separated from this banked rock garden by a river that was spanned by two foot bridges at either end of the garden. The left side of this image shows the beginning of a major hill that rose over a hundred feet to various overlooks, shade gardens, and an Aviary.
Various primula were blooming merrily in little nooks of the rock garden.
And a sort of hen and chickens succulent that was adorned with orange flowers.
White daisies on plants with thick gray leaves, low plants covered in small white flowers, and large orange plumes in one image captures something of the variety that was growing in the rock garden.

© 1996-1999 L.R. Fortney