Cornwall Park is a 172ha landmark and one of New Zealand’s largest, busiest and most treasured urban parks.
This year it was named a Garden of National Significance after receiving five stars from the NZ Gardens Trust.
This beautiful park has been operational since the early 1900s when it was gifted to New Zealand by Sir John Logan Campbell and is now run by a trust.
Independently assessed by experienced horticulturists and landscape architects, the New Zealand Gardens Trust has established a nationwide network of outstanding public and private gardens, recognising excellence in presentation, design and year-round plant interest.
Its respected star-rating system provides visitors with confidence that they are experiencing some of the country’s finest gardens.
If travelling around New Zealand, you may like to check out some of the other 5-star gardens, which include the Wellington Botanical Gardens, the Christchurch Botanical Gardens and Dunedin’s Olveston and the Winter Garden.
Every autumn, more than 10,000 bulbs are planted in Cornwall Park, making an exquisite display that almost gives Monet a run for his money.
You will be in awe of the three stands of kauri, with thousands of other majestic trees, including 350 species. Between 25,000 and 35,000 annuals are planted per year; it really is a sight to behold.
While the park is surrounded by premium central city suburbs like Epsom, Ellerslie and Royal Oak, and attracts a conservative estimate of more than 2 million visitors a year, the park is overlooked by rather large Simmental cattle which, because of their docile nature, pay no attention to passing visitors.
What makes Cornwall Park so unique is that 73ha of it is an actual working farm, carrying a herd of 62 Simmental cows and a flock of 250 Perendale ewes.
This year Cornwall Park will hold its first on-farm bull sale at noon on September 2 and will be offering 18 Simmental yearling bulls with uniquely tested temperament.
“Having previously sold Cornwall Park yearling bulls privately, the enthusiasm around beef makes this a good time to test the market and hold our first on-farm sale,” farm manager Peter Maxwell said.
“A placid nature is in most farmers’ top two or three selection criteria, and Cornwall Park bulls certainly pass that test.”
The farm employs two full-time farmers and an apprentice, who manage the cattle and sheep and, like any other farmer, they have to farm for their environment.
This includes having to deal with a huge number of visitors that are constantly coming through the park, not to mention town dogs, bikes and traffic at saturation levels.
The herd has more than 30 years of breeding, so selected genetics have equipped the stock to manage all these conditions.
Waikato-based PGG Wrightson Livestock genetics representative and auctioneer Cam Heggie is managing the sale.
He is a familiar face when it comes to bull sales and brings with him his own auctioneering style and knowledge to match.
The on-farm auction will also be streamed via bidr; the bulls will be available for viewing in the morning, but there will be no catwalk for these boys; instead, they will be shown on video to the gallery, which will assemble in the Cornwall Park woolshed.
“Cornwall Park is strongly motivated to achieve high standards, and while Cornwall Park follows conventional management practices, they pay particular attention to detail,” Heggie said.
Attendees will be treated to a cuppa and a freshly baked scone, but if you don’t want to battle the Auckland downtown traffic, bidr is an excellent alternative.