Source: Press Release Service
Auckland’s own Fairy Tree, nestled in the heart of the Domain, is currently languishing in last place in the 2025 New Zealand Tree of the Year competition—but there’s still time for a fairy-tale comeback.
The towering Moreton Bay fig, with its sprawling buttress roots and sun-dappled canopy, has been a place of wonder and imagination for generations of Aucklanders. A natural playground and daydreaming spot, it’s a tree that’s been climbed, hugged, picnicked under, and whispered about for more than a century.
“Some trees are admired—this one is experienced,” says Brad Cadwallader, Trustee of the NZ Notable Trees Trust. “If every visitor who’s ever paused to admire this tree voted, it wouldn’t just win—it would win by a landslide.”
So far, the early frontrunner is the Chook Tree—a hen-shaped macrocarpa from Otago. But supporters of the Fairy Tree say it’s time for Tāmaki Makaurau to get behind its leafy local legend.
“There’s no shortage of passion for trees in this city,” says Cadwallader. “Now’s the time to show it.”
The Fairy Tree is one of six national finalists in the 2025 Tree of the Year competition, and the only one from New Zealand’s largest city.
Voting is open to everyone—one vote per person—until 30 June 2025, at
www.treeoftheyear.co.nz
Will the Fairy Tree get the fairy-tale ending it deserves, or will the Chook Tree steal the show?
Media Release 13 June 2025.
