After a visit to the Ōtari Native Botanic Gardens, Wellington, continue down the hill to the Wilton Bush walks. There are several options, but we chose the Blue Trail loop to the west that followed the edge of a very steep bush-clad ravine, connected to one of the access tracks to the Skyline Walkway.
We then looped back to an 800-year-old rimu tree, the oldest in the region. As you stand admiring the tree, consider that it and a few others nearby are all that remain of the ancient forest that was here before Europeans arrived.
But all things can change for the better, and now much of Wellington and its surrounding hills is regenerating native bush. This, along with local protection efforts, is bringing back birds, including kiwi and kaka, that have not been seen in the region for over 100 years.
