Botanic Garden Playground

Wellington Botanic Garden ki Paekākā's playground is a honeycomb and bee themed adventure ground, rebuilt in 2023 and 2024 after 22 years, shaped by the community it serves down to a design workshop with pupils from Clifton Terrace Model School. It sits a short downhill walk from the top of the historic Wellington Cable Car, inside a garden that draws around 1.2 million visitors a year.

Equipment

The centrepiece is a 6-metre climbing tower with honeycomb panels, feeding three slides pitched for different ages, plus a senior timber challenge and internal climbing routes for older kids working toward the top. A new double-seated flying fox replaced the old single-rider version, and monkey bars, two bee-shaped springers, a springer seesaw and a carousel round out the equipment for younger visitors. New safety surfacing runs throughout the fenced play area, with sail canopies over key equipment for hot Wellington days.

Access and Inclusion

An accessible entrance leads into the play area. The redesign specifically targeted inclusion, after 831 respondents to the council's pre-design survey pushed for equipment suited to children of all ages and abilities. The result includes a basket swing, two musical panels and sensory play equipment built into the layout, alongside firm, level surfacing that makes it easier for wheelchairs and prams to move between zones.

History and Cultural

Wellington Botanic Garden was established in 1868 and had grown to 28 hectares within three years, one of New Zealand's oldest botanic gardens, holding five star Garden of National Significance status. Before European settlement, Ngāti Te Whiti hapū of Te Āti Awa gathered and grew food on this land, and in 2019 Taranaki Whānui gifted the garden its te reo Māori name, ki Paekākā, meaning a perch for kākā. A planned second stage will add a māra hūpara nature play space built with mana whenua.

Practical Info

The play area sits at 101 Glenmore Street, Kelburn, reached on foot from the upper Cable Car terminus via a downhill route past the Rose Garden and Begonia House. It is fully fenced, a safer stop for families with younger children exploring the garden on the same visit.