NZ Visual Diary - entry 359

phantasmagoria - Wintergardens at Auckland Domain

My wife and I spent several hours the other day at the Auckland Domain. It is one of our favourite places within the central city. It is home to the Domain Wintergardens, a botanical conservatory.

The Wintergardens include an extensive courtyard and sunken pool bordered by two barrel-vaulted Victorian style glass houses.

The first of the two glass houses, an unheated building, hosts flowers and plants suited to a temperate climatic zone. The second glass house is heated to support plants and flowers that require a tropical environment.

Within the tropical building sits a beautiful pond the centrepiece of which is a collection of seven Amazon water lilies. My photograph also captures the reflection of an art installation - two banks of coloured lights suspended from the ceiling. The pond also reflects the glass house’s metal superstructure, adding to the fantastical visual impression.