Sonica Botanica Episode 6 offers a sonic journey through Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne's Australian Drylands section.
Available daily and completely free, the audio experience invites Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne visitors to bring their mobile phones and headphones to discover stories, themes and science behind the innovative Australian Drylands garden. Sonica Botanica transforms a standard walk through the gardens into an immersive exploration where sound and landscape merge.
Episode 6 specifically focuses on the Australian Drylands, a section showcasing plants adapted to Australia’s arid environments. Rather than just reading interpretive signage, visitors can hear narratives that unpack the ecological relationships, cultural significance and design philosophy behind this relatively new garden space.
Sonica Botanica – Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
- Where: Australian Drylands, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
- When: Daily
- Cost: Free
- What to bring: Mobile phone and headphones
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Audio experiences in botanical settings aren’t that common in Melbourne, making Sonica Botanica an unusual addition to the gardens’ programming.
Best enjoyed through headphones, the experience allows visitors to move at their own pace rather than following a guide’s schedule. You can pause, rewind, or spend extra time in areas that capture your attention without worrying about keeping up with a group.
Australian Drylands represents one of the gardens’ more recent landscape developments, showcasing plants from Australia’s interior and arid zones. These species often get overlooked in favour of more traditionally lush botanical displays, but they tell important stories about adaptation, survival and Australia’s diverse ecosystems.
Sonica Botanica adds context that static signage can’t provide. Audio allows for storytelling, personal narratives from botanists or designers, and soundscapes that complement the visual experience of walking through the garden. It’s particularly valuable for people with vision impairments who might miss written information.
Being self-guided means you can access it whenever the gardens are open, without checking tour schedules or booking in advance. Just download the audio, grab headphones, and head to the Australian Drylands section. It’s the kind of flexible programming that removes barriers to engagement.
Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne continues finding ways to make botanical knowledge more accessible and engaging. Audio tours represent a relatively low-cost way to add depth to visitor experiences, and Episode 6 suggests more Sonica Botanica content could expand to other garden sections over time.
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