That Wānaka Tree

a New Zealand instagram sensation

We have a tree in Wānaka.

The Wānaka Tree. 27th June 2026. 8.28a.m. Morning run. Minus 5 degrees.

We actually have lots of trees. All are beautiful in their own unique way. But one has become a bit famous even though no one ever asked her/him for permission. I do sense this tree has masculine energy.

A group of tourists looking lost, once stopped me to ask where the tree was. I was in an indignant mood that day and directed them to the white blossomed kānuka grove right in front of them. Look around you! I wanted to scream. It’s all here. Don’t spend your entire time walking to and from The Tree looking down at your phone. Don’t just Get the photo. Don’t just Take the shot. Don’t just tick that off your List when you get back on the bus.

My frustration no doubt came from a sense of ownership. Even though she/he is not mine to own. For years the Tree was free from fame. We could admire her each time we passed, as we do all the trees. He/she was not surrounded by tourists lining up to get their photo. My frustration arises from sadness and sentimentality that this formerly quiet little neighbourhood track now houses busy carparks which had to be built to hold the large tourist buses that pile in each day. I feel protective of the tree’s solitude, and my own. I feel pissed off that so many people operate on such surface and superficial levels as they go about their lives on this blimmin’ beautiful planet we have been given to inhabit.
But who am I to tell people how to live. Who am I to tell indeed.
And I am sensing this may be about more than the tree …

There is no doubt that he/she is beautiful. This Wānaka willow started her life over 70 years ago as a fence post. Yet he outgrew that role, changing shape and his destiny as the lake changed around him. There used to be a branch out to the right but some asshole decided it would be funny to cut it off. Assholes always have bad senses of humour.

“Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore unsuitable. I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of praying, as you no doubt have yours.”

Mary Oliver

Occasionally residents here in Wānaka ( usually the ones who don’t live here permanently) have been known to poison trees that block their view. Like the ones down at Penrith Bay. How my heart broke for those trees as I watched their slow decline, before the council had to cut them down for safety reasons. Their cut stumps remain. When the kids were little we would pack picnic hampers, towels and the inflatable dolphin and spend whole days enjoying that little piece of paradise. They’d explore those mossy outcrops, and play hide and seek in the tall dappling trees, the trees someone killed because they were in their way.
But nature is amazing and growth has begun again. Green shoots sprout out of the stumps showing us all the wonder of regeneration and nature’s quiet determination.

Millennium Track. 27th June 2026. 9.01a.m. Run continues. Temp rises -2 degrees.

Thank you for taking the time to read. This is just a very small part of a bigger project I’m working on. It’s about Home. Yeah you guessed it.

Go hug a tree. I’m about to. Everything is covered in a hoar frost this morning and it’s absolutely magical. My tree hug will be a cold one but will warm my heart nonetheless.

Have a beautiful week lovely ones.

Jo xx