Features of the Oamaru Gardens

New Zealand Native Area

This part of the Gardens is full of native plants of New Zealand. Some of the trees and shrubs found there are, kowhai, ribbonwood, lancewood, flax, lemonwood, kauri, fivefinger, matagouri, paperbark, (hohena), astelia and beech. It is a good place to visit because it is very quiet and you can get some time to yourself.

Wonderland (Peter Pan)

The area is named after the Wonderland statue which was donated by Robert Milligan in 1926. The statue was sculptured by Thomas Clapperton who also did the original Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens in London. The Wonderland area can be used for recreation, sitting, sunbathing, reading, weddings, playing on the statue and playing in the creek!

Duck pond

There are lots of ducks to feed. You can feed them bread, but they also eat insects and worms from the bottom of the pond. The ducks also fossick around for pond weed, acorns and grain. The average number of ducks is usually around fifty, but this changes in different seasons. During duck shooting, a few hundred ducks may use the pond and then fly away later in the year. If there is not much food around, there may be a lot more wild ducks wintering here. We were surprised to know that the ducks do not fly North for winter. It is not cold enough to upset the duck's habitat and will not interfere with their breeding cycle. Two breeds are muscovy and mallard.

Written by Elliot, Jared and William