Volunteers at The Illawarra Rhododendron and Rainforest Gardens will offer free guided rainforest walks to visitors every Saturday and Sunday in September.

Volunteer group secretary Vicki Christie says they are keen to share the gardens' delights.

"We really want to educate the community about what beautiful natives we have in the Illawarra and show guests how they can plant natives in a normal garden setting,” she says. 

The gardens are nestled under the escarpment at Mt Pleasant on 14 hectares split across upper and lower sections. In the lower area, visitors can enjoy a collection of exotic rhododendrons, vireyas (tropical rhododendrons), camellias, magnolias and other native plants in a traditional park setting fit for weddings and functions. 

The upper area beyond the deer fence makes up two-thirds of the garden and showcases a natural Illawarra rainforest looked after by the volunteers.

"One of our missions is to preserve the rainforest because it is unique and endangered," Vicki says.

“We’ve also put labels on the plants, so if you want to find out a bit more about one of the plants, you can do it yourself, or come on one of the guided rainforest walks and the volunteers will talk to you about what’s here and what we do to look after them.”

The gardens will host their Spring Showcase during September, when volunteers will be present to help visitors explore the upper and lower gardens. Vicki and her team aim to share their knowledge, raise awareness of the gardens and encourage locals to visit year-round.

“September is the best time to come to the garden – the magnolia, rhododendrons and azaleas are in flower. It’s worth coming here in springtime because you get to see a whole range of beautiful blooms in flower,” Vicki says.

“It’s also good coming in autumn because the leaves change their colours and it’s just beautiful. If you come a few times throughout the year, you'll see different plants flowering and changing. 

''It’s a beautiful asset to the Illawarra, It’s not far and it’s only $5 to get in. It’s cheaper than a cup of coffee these days and it’s a nice place to chill and have a picnic.”

In 1968, the Australian Rhododendron Society (Illawarra branch) met and began working toward establishing the gardens, which were set up the following year by Donald Stanton and Bill Mearns. After his travels to the United Kingdom, Don was told he couldn't grow rhododendrons in Wollongong, and he began experimenting with growing them in his backyard.

“There’s a lot of history on this bit of land. It’s not just the gardens, it’s the history of the area, and it’s just nice to sit and enjoy that,” Vicki says.

The land the gardens occupies was owned by Australian Iron and Steel, and had been the site of the Mount Pleasant coal mine before Don began his park-building project. Don teamed with Bill, who was the first curator of the Wollongong Botanic Garden, to create a site dedicated to plants from the Rhododendron genus. Ever since, the gardens have been maintained by a group of passionate volunteers.

"It's just lovely to be in nature and decompress from the busy lives that people live and build up your mental health,” Vicki says. ''We volunteers don’t need a gym membership – we do all of our exercise working on the gardens. 

“It’s lovely nurturing plants and having fellowship with others who care about the gardens. We always need new volunteers, people who can help with planning, horticulture, mapping the boundaries, documentation, people who can write grant applications and things like that.”

“There are people who’ve lived in Wollongong their whole lives and don’t know that we’re here – they’ve never been here before.”

IRRG is a not-for-profit organisation that works independently on land leased from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. The gardens are funded by a visitor entry fee of $5 as well as donations and grants. The space is also available to be hired for weddings and other functions. Visitors can become a friend of the garden for $30 and come and go as they like year round.

Learn more about the gardens on their website irrg.au and book a free guided rainforest tour on Eventbrite