Take a walk in the gardens, or a hike in the bush, pack something to cook on the barbie, wander the plant collections, enjoy the birds, see what’s flowering, or join a Trust guided tour – we just love showing off Ōtari!
Main entrance and car park: 150 Wilton Road, Wilton.
Northern entrance and car park: opposite the end of Blackridge Road.
Getting here: drive, bike or walk, or take the Number 14 (Wilton) bus from the city. It’s an approximately 15 minute journey by car from Wellington city centre to Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush. Route | Map
Please, no bike riding in Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush. Dogs are welcome on a leash only!
Lara Shepherd dwarfed by an Aciphylla Scott-ThomsoniiOur 2025 series was as informative and popular as ever. Many new faces were welcomed among Trust regulars and they were treated to fascinating insights from our guest entomologists, botanists, biologists and conservation research scientists.
We learned from Te Papa’s Leon Perrie and Lara Shepherd of the spiky world of the taramea. It’s the speargrass that trampers both love and hate – for its prickly viciousness and stunning beauty. You can see these striking plants (from a safe distance) around the Ōtari rock and alpine gardens.
Te Papa Curators, Julia Kaspar and Phil Sirvid, spoke of the very beneficial world of insects and spiders. Most flies are pollinators and we wouldn’t have many flowers without them, and of 19 sandfly species in New Zealand only three of them will bite – was the insect-friendly message from Julia. Meanwhile Phil assured us that most spiders can’t see worth a damn, and that New Zealand spiders are blessed with a lack of venom. Endemism of both our spiders and flies is 
Heidi Meudt on Auckland Islandvery high: 91% of fly and 97% of spider species are found nowhere else in the world.
Te Papa Botany Curator, Heidi Meudt, presented an engaging summary of a 2023 Science Expedition to Auckland Island, travelling with fellow scientists on the Rodney Russ research vessel Strannik. She noted that Leonard Cockayne had explored multiple Subantarctic Islands on a 1907 expedition. The Strannik expedition was hugely successful. Heidi and her colleagues camped in harsh conditions for several nights among the subalpine vegetation and herbfields and amassed between them 1,124 observations.
Ōtari’s own plant conservation researcher, Jennifer Alderton-Moss, gave an update about the native orchid research at the Lions Ōtari Plant Conservation Laboratory. The germination of several rare native orchids, which involves identifying the particular fungi they require, is going well. The current challenge is getting these orchids out of the laboratory and back into the wild. Various methods are being trialled.
Thanks everyone for your support for this year’s highly successful series. The Trust will continue its annual Seminar Series in 2026. Details will be listed here closer to the time.
Bring out your walking shoes! Don’t miss our last Guided Walks for 2025.
This year’s selection has offered a varied mix, guided by experts in their fields, that explored many facets of Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush and New Zealand’s natural biodiversity.
Tours are free for Trust members, otherwise cost $6 (including $1 booking fee) Tour numbers are limited to 20 so please, whether you are a member or not, make your booking via Eventfinda (eventfinda.co.nz). Family groups are welcome.
All tours start at 2pm, at Tāne Whakapiripiri (the visitor centre). All run for about 90 minutes and involve easy walking on paths and gentle tracks (sensible walking shoes are recommended).
Here are the final five walks.
25 April 5pm We discovered the night life of Ōtari!
Be it day or night DOC entomologist, Will Brockelsby, is a regular visitor to Ōtari, always keen to explore the insect world that lives here. We changed the date and timing of this activity so that we could take part in this year’s City Nature Challenge, when Wellington vies with cities worldwide to list the most native species on iNaturalist in one weekend. And wow! Did we find some insects - and moths, glowworms, spiders, weta and so much more. More than 60 parents, grandparents, kids and others joined the quest - with Will and fellow entomologist, Shaun Thompson helping to identify the critters.
4 May
Fungi Kingdom, Part One - Geoff Ridley (mycologist)
Among all the plants that co-exist within Ōtari there’s one ‘kingdom’ different from all the rest. Join Geoff for an introduction to the enormous fungi kingdom.
11 May
Fungi Kingdom, Part Two - Geoff Ridley (mycologist)
Delve deeper into the fascinations of our fungi kingdom, learn where you can look for them.
18 May
An introduction to Wellington’s common native plants – Leon Perrie (Curator of Botany, Te Papa)
Discover the diversity of our local and common native plants, and gain appreciation of the ecology and requirements of the plant life around us – a great walk for beginners.
25 May
Ōtari Essentials – an introduction to the wonders of Ōtari (Trust guides)
Let’s call this Ōtari 101. Join our guides for a gentle walk around the curated gardens, fernery and old growth forest. Learn the enchanting stories of some of our remarkable native plants and why so many from all over New Zealand are cared for at Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush.
Paparangi Girl Guides spotted bag moths, stick insects, eels, many spiders and of course gorgeous glowworms on their night tour in winter, 2024Each winter we lead guided tours in the dark to discover glowworms, and other creatures who venture out in the night in Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush. Word certainly got out about our titiwai last winter, when we hosted some 250 people in 13 tours. More wanted to come but there was no room at the inn.
So here’s your chance. Our tour dates for this winter have been finalised. They are timed during early or late moon cycles, when the sky is darker and the glowworms brighter!
Tours start at 7pm and finish at 8.15. (Meet at Tāne Whakapiripiri, the visitor centre.) Adults cost $10 (plus booking fees), children under 12 are free and Trust members are free. Maximum numbers per tour are 20, so it pays to book. You can do this on Eventfinda (eventfinda.co.nz).
Photo by Eleanor Burton
Here are the dates:
Friday May 2, Friday May 30
Monday June 23, Wednesday June 25, Friday June 27
Friday July 18, Friday August 15, Friday September 26
The Trust organises regular . Many focus on themes and are led by specialists in their field. Some examples: finding our fungi, discovering our glow worms, growing native plants, predators and how we are controlling them.
Maps, displays and botanic artwork will get you in the mood for appreciating your Ōtari visit. Take your time to learn about Ōtari from the interactive display. Pick up a brochure, and if our volunteer hosts are in attendance during weekends, they have some interesting books you might like to buy, also they’ll love to answer any questions you might have about exploring Ōtari. Our hosts’ hours are 11am to 4pm (summer daylight saving time) and 10.30am to 3.30pm (winter). The visitor centre is open daily 7.30am to 4pm.
Be like a bird, cross the walkway that soars 18 metres above the forest floor. Look directly into the tree tops. Look out for the birds, kererū could be feeding on fruit right beside you. Don’t trip over a forest gecko, they also like to cross the canopy, which leads from Tāne Whakapiripiri to the Cockayne Lawn and plant collections.
This viewpoint gives perspective to the treasure that is Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush; the myriad plant collections around you, the tall, green forest beyond, the sheer scale of it all, and most likely a kākāriki, or kākā, or tūī flying by. It’s also a place for reflection, to perhaps give a quiet nod of thanks to Dr Leonard Cockayne, who rests here with his wife Maude, beneath the memorial stone in the coastal garden.
More than 1200 plant species, hybrids and cultivars are set out in families, groups and specially created habitats to replicate their natural environments. Check out the fernery, alpine garden, hebe and flax cultivars, and much more. The collections sprawl over five hectares, connected by gentle, meandering pathways and all close to the main entrance. Pick up a brochure from Tāne Whakapiripiri.
Explore this self-guided tour that starts at the Fernery (near the main car park) and ends at the Cockayne Lookout. It was designed by the late Dr John Dawson, a renowned author/botanist and founding Trust member. Pick up a brochure from Tāne Whakapiripiri.
Probably the most popular spot in all of Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, the lawn is great for picnics and birthday parties, splashing in the stream or just relaxing in the sun with the forest all around - and usually kererū swooping through. There are barbecues, a shelter and toilets and you can walk in from the main entrance (10 minutes down a bit of a hill) or along the path beside Kaiwharawhara Stream from the northern car park (15 minutes, mostly flat).
‘Moko’ is more than 800 years old and probably the biggest, oldest rimu tree in the whole of Wellington. The track to Moko starts at the Troup Picnic Lawn. In 2022 a more gentle, zig zag route was opened to save your legs and lungs, allow about 20-30 minutes (one way). The platform around Moko was a Trust project, designed to protect the tree’s vulnerable root system from being trampled by visiting humans!