Qualla: Queenstown Gardens https://qualla.com/queenstown-gardens en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:26 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Queenstown Gardens https://qualla.com/queenstown-gardens Queenstown Gardens: Introduction https://qualla.com/queenstown-gardens/ The first two trees were English oaks, planted in 1866 by Queenstown's inaugural mayor, James William Robertson, and a nurseryman named McConnochie. They were commemorating the incorporation of the borough, a formal gesture in a settlement that was barely four years old, founded in the chaos of the Otago gold rush. The peninsula where they planted those oaks had been bare shrubland over glacial moraine, wind-scoured and unremarkable, with a natural tarn that would later become a lily pond. Within a year the gardens were officially opened, and residents began planting exotic trees wherever they pleased, importing species from around the world with the cheerful confidence of people building a town from scratch. A century and a half later, those trees are enormous, and the gardens they created are the quiet heart of a town that has become anything but quiet.

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]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/p/x/z/z/queenstown-gardens-wp/pxzz-queenstown-gardens-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Queenstown Gardens: Trees That Outlasted the Gold https://qualla.com/queenstown-gardens/ The heritage trees Robertson planted are still alive, protected under the Queenstown Lakes District Council's Operative District Plan. The list reads like a Victorian arboretum catalog: Black Oak, Red Oak, Grand Fir, Algerian Fir, Monkey Puzzle, Western Hemlock, and a Wellingtoni...

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]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/p/x/z/z/queenstown-gardens-wp/pxzz-queenstown-gardens-trees-that-outlasted-the-gold.mp3 0:06 2 full Queenstown Gardens: Memorials Among the Branches https://qualla.com/queenstown-gardens/ Two stone memorials stand in the gardens, each anchoring a different chapter of New Zealand history. The Scott Memorial, unveiled in 1913, honours Robert Falcon Scott and the men who perished during the ill-fated Antarctic expedition of 1912. Queenstown may seem an unlikely place...

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]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/p/x/z/z/queenstown-gardens-wp/pxzz-queenstown-gardens-memorials-among-the-branches.mp3 0:06 3 full Queenstown Gardens: A Peninsula of Pursuits https://qualla.com/queenstown-gardens/ The gardens occupy a peninsula jutting into the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu, giving them water views on three sides and mountain views on every horizon. This geography makes them feel larger and more remote than their actual footprint suggests. Walking trails loop through the t...

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]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/p/x/z/z/queenstown-gardens-wp/pxzz-queenstown-gardens-a-peninsula-of-pursuits.mp3 0:06 4 full Queenstown Gardens: Creatures and Sculptures https://qualla.com/queenstown-gardens/ Wildlife finds refuge on the peninsula. New Zealand scaup and paradise shelducks paddle in the central pond, while bellbirds and tui call from the native plantings. Australasian crested grebes, an uncommon species, breed on the lake edges nearby. Fantails dart through the underst...

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]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/p/x/z/z/queenstown-gardens-wp/pxzz-queenstown-gardens-creatures-and-sculptures.mp3 0:06 5 full