Destination New Zealand 2025. Attending the international ISA conference and visiting Australia and New Zealand

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Destination New Zealand 2025. Attending the international ISA conference and visiting Australia and New Zealand

Dec 11, 2025

In October 2025, the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) held their annual conference in Christchurch, New Zealand. I have been in the horticultural and arboricultural profession for over 4 decades and have attended several international conferences but never one overseas. Having just turned 60 years old, I decided it was time, so this year I attended the Christchurch conference.

It seemed kind of silly to travel halfway around the world just to attend a three day conference so I decided to sign on to a 19-day tour of Australia and New Zealand in the weeks leading up to the conference. The tour was not specifically a horticultural tour but our tour guide was very kind in helping me to find nearby botanical gardens. We had one other certified arborist, Anne Moran from the New England ISA chapter, in our tour group and I was able to compare notes with her as we traveled around. For some reason we were both distracted by the trees. Imagine that!

Sydney waterfront — The Royal Botanical Gardens lines the waterfront of Sydney, Australia, leading over to the iconic Sydney Opera House with the iconic Harbor Bridge in the background. The skyline of Sydney rises above the botanical gardens.

Sydney harbor and the Sydney Opera House as photographed from the pylon overlook and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. — Sydney harbor and the Sydney Opera House as photographed from the pylon overlook on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophyla subsp. macrophyla) in the Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens.

Chinese Garden of Friendship in Sydney, Australia

Urban tree plantings in Sydney were healthy and uniform with visible root flares. I was impressed.

Tree root flares were on full display in Sydney, as it should be.

What would Australia be without a croc? This one in a wild animal park.

Koala bears in a wild animal park near Cairnes, Australia

Alice Springs, Australia in the outback.

Uluru (Ayers) Rock in the Outback, the largest sandstone outcropping in the world.

Panicum the camel (and me) overlooking Uluru Rock in the Outback.

Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia

Rubber composite material used in urban tree cutouts which accomodated tree growth without cutting into root flares.

Our first view of the snow capped New Zealand southern Alps.

New Zealand's snow capped southern Alps rise over the Queenstown Botnical Gardens

Springtime (October) blooms of cherry trees and rhododendron.

There are 4 sheep in New Zealand for every person!

I ran into Cincinnati arborist Tim Back in Queenstown and we spent part of a morning in the botanical garden.

California giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) at the Queenstown Botanical Gardens

At 12,218 feet, Aoraki/Mt. Cook is the tallest peak in New Zealand.

The historic stone chapel at Lake Tekapo is the iconic Church of the Good Shepherd, built in 1935 on the turquoise lake's shores as a memorial to the Mackenzie Country's pioneers, famous for its stunning backdrop of the Southern Alps, its distinctive large window, and nearby collie dog statue, making it one of New Zealand's most photographed buildings.

European purple beech (Fagus sylvatica atropurpea) in che Christchurch Botanical Garden

Azaleas in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.

Maori children's choir to open the 2025 ISA conference.

ISA Executive Director Caitlyn Pollihan addressing the ISA conference.

ISA Certified Arborist Sprout Weinberger speaking on the ground breaking work she is doing to induce positive wound closure responses in fire adapted tree species with fire.

PhD physicist Frank Rinn from Heidelberg, Germany, speaking on dendrochronology.

See you later. This trip was an amazing opportunity to see parts of the world I never thought I would see, to interact with some of the top people in arboriculture, and to learn and grow. — This trip was an amazing opportunity to see parts of the world I never thought I would see, to interact with some of the top people in arboriculture, and to learn and grow.