Auburn Botanic Gardens

Visited December 2012

If you are a Sydneysider and you’re looking for somewhere different to explore, Auburn Botanic Gardens, approx. 18 kms from Sydney CBD, may be for you.
In the middle of suburbia in Auburn, there is a lovely themed botanic garden. A Japanese garden, sunken rose garden, Australian native garden and fauna reserve will ensure it is worth the drive.

The majority of the gardens are wheelchair accessible, level and easy. In the Japanese garden there are a few side areas with stone steps but the whole area is surrounded by an accessible path.

The bird life around the gardens seemed to almost outshine the gardens on the day we visited with the Peacocks putting on quite a show. Cameras were clicking all over the place trying to capture them showing their fancy plumage.

For the kids

There is an ‘Equal Access Playground’ which is a welcome sight in a playground setting. There is a Liberty Swing and a playground which has a ramp access. Once you are at the top of the playground there isn’t that much to do if the child using the wheelchair can’t get out. When our son was younger the ramp would have been a big help rather than carrying him or walking him up the stairs. He would have enjoyed shuffling through the tunnel to the slide.

The Fauna Reserve is a great addition with some Australian animals including Wallabies, Kangaroos, an Emu and a Wombat, who was shy on the day we visited. All of this area is wheelchair accessible.

Disabled toilet facilities are near the Australian Billabong area (check the map that you can get at the entrance). The day we visited it was locked, requiring a Mlak key but it was a quiet day. I took a look inside and it is very roomy and has a change table which is locked and available to use with the Mlak key. I’ve never seen one of these in a public toilet.

There are picnic and bbq facilities outside of the gardens with public toilets. We just took morning tea with us the day we visited.

At only $4 admission (16 years and under are free) this is definitely a budget friendly outing.

 MY TIP

If you don’t have a Mlak key, ask to borrow the garden’s key as you pay for your entry ticket. It is a long way back to the entrance to get the key when you get to the playground and need it for the Liberty Swing.