Birkenhead: Going native on the North Shore

Fernglen Gardens in Birkenhead. Photo / Kelly Lynch

Family ties to Fernglen enhance the pleasure of a stroll in its dappled light.

The clue we are going native in Birkenhead is in the road names — down Kauri Rd, just before it turns into Hebe Place we arrive at Fernglen. Just as you might expect there are kauri, hebes and ferns growing rampantly, but there is also a whole lot more.

With our 5-year-old daughter, Amelia, we go through Fernglen's large iron gate, a giant koru swirling below its name. The only sound, except the distant hum of traffic, is the crunching of our shoes on the metal chip paths. Native grasses and plants spill from enormous pots. In one terracotta tub a brilliant red flower shaped like a poker extends from a Poor Knights lily.

The shrubs are no taller than chest height so I can easily keep an eye on Amelia as she inspects a rock pool and moves between islands of plants, a gazebo, information centre and alpine house.

Down the track, one of many interpretive signs bears a photograph of the scene ahead; it identifies a few of the fine, sturdy trunks: matai, kahikatea, totara, rimu and nikau.

A wooden bridge takes us across a small gully and sun rays filter through the high canopy. The beating wings of a kereru can be heard before we see it and tui croak from a tree fern. Among the lacy fronds of a fernery Amelia likes the scary water feature — a round moko face from whose lips water falls.

I delight that my daughter dances in the fernery, mainly because it was my grandfather Bill Fisher's favourite place. He created it. His father, Frank Fisher, bought the land in in 1888 and, with his children, collected native plants around New Zealand to replant at Fernglen.

Fernglen gardens. Photo / Kelly Lynch

My grandmother, Muriel Fisher, a botanist, conservationist and author of books on gardening with New Zealand plants, also shared this great passion with Bill and together they sourced and grew an impressive collection.

Today, Fernglen, a park of just under 5ha, is open to the public and its bush tracks are popular with school groups.

Taking the track downhill, we pass kauri trees, hundreds of years old. The track splits and to the right behind cascading ferns and delicate spider webs hang glow worms. In the daylight they look like tiny diamond studs. At the track's end is a large, oval pool covered in moss. Here, in the early 1900s, Frank Fisher taught local children to swim and do bushcraft.

For wee ones like Amelia - and for adults too - Fernglen has a mysterious fairy tale feel. Photo / Kelly Lynch

In the other direction, down robust stairs and over a stream and a carpet of parataniwha plants, we climb to Ben's Ridge, named after a friendly old neighbour.

The area opens to a grass area surrounded by larger native trees, and bush. We sit on a park bench in the sun and enjoy the view of the Waitakere Ranges. I came here with my grandmother, my mother, and now come my daughter and love that it is a park for all to enjoy. It's a secluded, informative, bush walk in a suburb of kauri.

IF YOU GO

The entrance to Fernglen is on Kauri Rd Extension after No. 29. The metal chip paths are in good condition and there are handrails.

For energetic visitors wanting a longer walk, Kauri Park is opposite. One entrance is further down Kauri Rd Extension to the beginning of Hebe Place. A track leads in from your right.

You can exit Kauri Park at Rangatira Rd, walk to Verrans Corner, stopping at Verrans Espresso & Food, 12 Birkdale Rd, before doing a loop back down Kauri Rd and back to Fernglen.

Birkenhead's Highbury shops have an impressive number of bakeries (OTT Patisserie, 2 Birkenhead Ave is my favourite, and food can be taken away to eat at the park).