Queenstown, New Zealand: Gardens

It didn't take the European settlers long to pick a good spot for a public garden. The town leaders looked at a peninsula that jutted out from the land of Queenstown - not too small but not too big either. The views of the area were good too. Only few years after they arrived, the gardens were started (1866). Within no time, interesting and exotic trees were planted on the grounds.

By the 1900s, the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts were busy promoting the garden as a destination internationally. And by the 1960s, a rose garden was in place. 

It's a great place for a visit on a nice spring day. People were walking, hiking and running around the grounds, while children were frolicking on a playground. Someone was even playing disc golf on the first such course in New Zealand. The views of the town's waterfront were superb. 

By the way, the Gardens do contain a small memorial to the members of the Terra Nova Expedition. They were part of the British exploration of Antarctica of 191- who died on the way back in 1912. Colonel Robert Scott receives a bigger and more personal tribute with a statue in Christchurch.