Otari-Wilton's Bush is the only botanic garden in New Zealand dedicated solely to native plants and consists of 100 hectares of native forest and 5 hectares of plant collections. Large conifers (podocarps) such as rimu, totara, miro and matai can be viewed from the Canopy Walkway or the Nature Trail. Approximately 150 species of flowering plants, conifers and ferns can be found in the forest, and a further 1200 species in the plant collections area. With such a large area of native forest it is also a haven for many native birds such as tui, kereru, fantail, silver eye, kingfisher, grey warbler and morepork. Situated only a short distance from the Wellington CBD it serves as an invaluable asset for education, conservation, research, and recreation.
Originally placed as one of a number of temporary caches in the area for a very successful Introduction to Geocaching exercise conducted by Yeetrees and ADV for the Wellington City Council's "Stepping Out" summer recreation programme this has now been listed as a permanent cache. The cache is placed near a very pretty waterfall and will encourage some exploration of this reserve, exploration being the operative word due to the myriad of tracks in the area. It is recommended to grab a brochure, which contains maps of the area, from outside the information centre which is a short 100m walk from the parking co-ordinates. Alternatively you can download the on-line version
here.
Please keep to the formed tracks at all times. The cache itself can be reached from the track, and definitely without climbing over any fences or railings. GPS reception at GZ may be patchy due to the forest canopy and terrain but is good enough to get you close enough to GZ that the clue will make it a cinch.
Otari-Wilton's Bush is open between the hours of sunrise and sunset. Dogs are permitted if on a leash. No bicycles allowed. Public transport is available by catching the No. 14 bus from Lambton Quay to Glouster Street, outside the Bank's entrance (see brochure map).