Stewart Island Halfmoon Bay from Moturau Moana Native Gardens

Moturau Moana on

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

is New Zealand's southernmost public garden. It was gifted to the government of New Zealand by

Noeline Baker Isabel Noeline Baker (25 December 1878 – 25 August 1958), known as Noeline Baker, was a New Zealand suffragist, wartime women's labour administrator, gardener and peace educator. Biography She was born in the Christchurch suburb of Opawa, N ...

in 1940 and is today administered by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

History

(1878–1958), who was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, lived in England from 1896 to 1930. She returned to New Zealand to write her father's memoirs and spent time on Stewart Island. According to her biographical entry in the ''

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography The ''Dictionary of New Zealand Biography'' (DNZB) is an encyclopedia or biographical dictionary containing biographies of over 3,000 deceased New Zealanders. It was first published as a series of print volumes from 1990 to 2000, went online i ...

'', she purchased the of land clad with bush and overlooking Halfmoon Bay at that time, but during a speaking tour in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in April 1940, she appeared to imply that her father purchased the land for her at her birth. She had a homestead built in 1934–35 in a Dutch colonial style and called it Moturau Moana, which is

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

and means "islands of bush above the sea". Baker drew inspiration from an acquaintance, British garden designer

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...

, and created a garden based on New Zealand flora. She used a list compiled by botanist Leonard Cockayne based on his 1907 visit to Stewart Island to grow all the island's indigenous plants in her garden. Baker tried to gift Moturau Moana to the University of Otago and the Canterbury University College, but both organisations declined due to the ongoing maintenance costs. In November 1940, it was reported that Moturau Moana had been given to

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

as a botanical research station. were designated as a scenic reserve a month later just before Christmas. At Baker's request, the reserve was named in her father's name. Baker continued to live in the house, but on 7 December 1948, she handed the keys to her house to the minister of lands,

Jerry Skinner Clarence Farrington Skinner (19 January 1900 – 26 April 1962), commonly known as Jerry or Gerry Skinner, was a Labour politician from New Zealand, the third deputy prime minister of New Zealand between 1957 and 1960, and a minister from 1943 ...

, in an official ceremony. For her botanical work at Moturau Moana, Baker was awarded the

Loder Cup The Loder Cup is a New Zealand conservation award. It was donated by Gerald Loder, 1st Baron Wakehurst in 1926 to "encourage and honour New Zealanders who work to investigate, promote, retain and cherish our indigenous flora". The Minister of Co ...

in 1949. Baker had another cottage built for herself on Stewart Island, but she later purchased a house in Nelson where she stayed over winter. She died on Stewart Island in 1958. Her homestead, for a long time a major tourist attraction, burned down in 1967. Moturau Moana was at first administered by the Department of Internal Affairs, followed by the

New Zealand Forest Service The New Zealand Forest Service was originally established in 1919 as the State Forest Service. The State Forest Service changed its name to the New Zealand Forest Service in 1949, at about the same time that the Forests Act of 1949 passed through ...

, and upon its disestablishment in 1987, by the

Location

Moturau Moana is located on the north side of Halfmoon Bay. Near

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

References

{{Reflist 1940 establishments in New Zealand Gardens in New Zealand Protected areas of Southland, New Zealand Stewart Island