Bundaberg Botanic Gardens

27-hectare gardens with Australia's only public peanut butter tree

Address Mt Perry Road, Bundaberg North

The Bundaberg Botanic Gardens cover 27 hectares of low-lying ground north of the river — themed gardens (rose garden, fern dell, rainforest patch), large lawns, a Japanese garden, and several lakes with resident pelicans and ibis. The plant collections are unexpectedly worth a serious look: a substantial palm collection, hundreds of named plumeria and crepe myrtle, and the famous edible plants section with peanut butter trees, miracle berries, sapodilla, and rollinia.

The grounds also include the Hinkler Hall of Aviation (separate ticket), the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens Café, and the small Fairymead House Sugar Museum. Free entry. A good half-day, especially with kids.

things to do sight garden
A story
The peanut butter tree (Bunchosia armeniaca) is a South American shrub whose fruit, eaten ripe, tastes uncannily like creamy peanut butter. The Bundaberg gardens have grown them since the 1990s and visitors are encouraged to try one in season — there are very few public collections of edible curios like it anywhere in Australia.