The story of Botanikos starts on the South Island of New Zealand in a town called Timaru, having just said a sad goodbye to my family and hometown of Melbourne. I had secured my first academic position and was excited to unite my great loves: research, science and natural therapies. The weeks flew by and on one particularly demanding day, feeling homesick and exhausted, a nursing colleague took pity on the lone “Aussie”. Lounging on the veranda of her serene Canterbury Plains property, she administered my medicine in a twinkling Collins glass…