Maire Nui Gardens & Cafe

18/08/2026

Magnificent Monday in Paradise. We have been busy giving our pathways some love, tidying up rock edges and replanting mondo grass as it makes a garden edge look so elegant. 🌿💚

16/08/2026

Our Mana Tiaki Ariki made front page of the Cook Islands News paper this weekend with a feature article on page 6. Thank you so much for taking the time to interview our mum and wanting to write a story on her. Thank you for building this beautiful garden for all to enjoy. You are so amazing mum ❤🌺

Thank you to all those who have helped our mum over the 30years in her garden, from working and or volunteering... all the hands that have helped, your hardwork doesn't go unnoticed. We see you all, appreciate you and forever grateful. 🙏❤

Hinano Macquarie has dedicated three decades of her life to transforming a swamp into a beautiful slice of paradise she now shares with people from around the world. There is still more work to be done, she says.

12/08/2026

Visiting Maire Nui Gardens, you will meet Hinano at the entrance this week. She's still working hard in her beautiful gardens. The garden is 30years old this year. She started this amazing dream of hers in 1996 and still going. Come say Kia Orana to our Mana Tiaki Ariki 🌿

11/08/2026

Magic Monday in paradise today! We started working on our main entrance today, pruning and trimming. It's such a wonderful time to trim while it's cool temperatures before spring starts. 🌿

31/07/2026

24/07/2026

We have been busy putting energy and time into our compost system, making compost and harvesting old compost to feed back into our garden. We use all the cafe food scraps from the kitchen, leaves both green and brown from within the garden.

We collect Azola and water lettuce from our ponds which are used in our compost and also around the garden. Eggs shells and egg cartons, plus coffee grounds donated by a variety of coffee houses on the island. Cardboard (with the plastic tape removed) is something we use too. We add comfrey and Moringa to the compost layering also.

We make a comfrey potion (tea fertilizer) for on our plants 🌿

We also dig food scraps back into the garden to feed our plants (fruit trees, heliconia flowers etc)... it has been a success and means no scraps go into the weekly rubbish collection bin.

We also have worm farms, we have donated worms to Te Ipukarea Society - TIS for their worm farms .. since covid we had to shut down and that was one of the areas in our garden that had little attention. So we hope to get our hands on some more worms and start up the farm again. 🪱 It's a great way to use up those kitchen scraps, composting and worm farming.

Just a little recap of what we have accomplished over the last couple weeks before spring kicks and it's time for planting. Our compost should take 4 - 6 weeks to be ready to use.

11/07/2026

There is something magic about the colours blue and yellow ( blue sky and yellow flowers )💙💛 In Winter we still have colour in our garden. We call this beautiful flower "Candle tree flower" but the plant is actually called "Senna Alata".

If your visiting us while on holiday, come check out this beautiful flower. The petals are waxy like candle wax.. very elegant and unique.

03/07/2026

3 Queens of their time, a beautiful friendship which spanned generations. Today on Ariki Day we celebrate them and the legacy they left behind. From left to right: Makea Nui Teremoana Ariki of Rarotonga, Princess Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa of Hawaii, Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu of New Zealand.

16/06/2026

Happiest Birthday to our Beautiful Mana Tiaki Ariki 👑💚🌺 Wishing you a fabulous week in your beautiful garden 🐝 🌻💐 If you see Hinano in her garden during your visit this week, be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday xx

Happy Birthday to this amazing woman. The lady who looked at a swamp full of weeds 26 years ago, and saw what it could become.

Because of you, today we have these amazing gardens. A place of peace, and a space for nature lovers to enjoy. But most importantly, a place where you are slowly educating our younger generations on the importance of conservation, sustainable planting and the benefits of organics, so they can protect and preserve our beautiful island for the generations to come.

We are absolutely in awe of the work you have done and continue to do, and we are grateful for you everyday. Thank you xx