I’d never visited these gardens before although I’d driven past a number of times. The Asian Garden was nothing like any botanical gardens I’d ever been in before. It wasn’t laid out in neat rows with every tree labeled. It was more like a natural forest.
On the lower path it was impossible to avoid the noise from passing traffic. Still, that September was an excellent time to view mountain ash and there were sprouting colourful displays.
While the pathways were well labeled, not all the trees were. There was a rhododendron collection, but it was too late in the season for flowering. The Greenheart Treewalk wasn’t operating but I’d had a similar experience in New Zealand and discovered that I preferred admiring trees from the ground rather than half way up.
A tunnel that went under South West Marine Drive connected the Asian Garden to the North Garden. This section was more like other botanical gardens with special sections for different species. It was clear from the groups of students gathered in different sections, from the room where notebooks lay opened, and from the amphitheatre, that this was a learning botanical gardens.
From here to there 