How to see the Royal Botanic Gardens the easy way
No Comments »12th October, 2007; Category: Botanic Gardens, Holidays, New South Wales, Parks and Gardens, Sydney
Trackless Train tours, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
The Royal Botanic Gardens in the heart of Sydney are quite extensive. These beautiful gardens are an excellent place to visit for a relaxing walk or picnic while in Sydney. The gardens cover about 30 hectares and for those who tire easily there is a great service. You can take a tour through the gardens on the trackless train (see photo above). These run every twenty minutes from the Opera House and cover a large part of the gardens. It stops several times along the way. There is a charge for this service.
Guided walks, however, are free. These are conducted daily (currently 10:30am). The restaurant and cafe is an excellent place to buy food and drinks and recover from all that walking. The Gardens Shop has an excellent range of plant related items for sale.
For more information, go to the website of the gardens by clicking here.
Walking around Artarmon, north Sydney
Garden flowers in Artarmon, Sydney
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
While we were staying with our son and daughter-in-law in Sydney we did quite a deal of walking around the nearby suburbs. This seemed easier than driving in an area that is not all that familiar to us. Walking is good for our health too, and this holiday was an opportunity to get out walking on a regular basis.
Garden flowers in Artarmon, Sydney
While in Artarmon for ten days we walked into Chatswood several times. This is about a twenty minute stroll from our son’s home. Everywhere we walked we took great delight in looking into people’s gardens. We delight in this activity wherever we go. It is very cheap entertainment and the exercise is good for our health.
Garden flowers in Artarmon, Sydney
Around Artarmon we were constantly amazed at what people had growing in their gardens. Many of the plants we saw would be very hard, if not impossible, to grow in the much harsher conditions at home here in Murray Bridge in South Australia.
Garden flowers in Artarmon, Sydney
We even struck up a conversation with several people, and one kind gentleman gave my wife some orchid flowers.
More photos of flowers can be seen in my photo gallery (click here).
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, St Ives, Sydney
No Comments »1st October, 2007; Category: Birds, Botanic Gardens, New South Wales, Parks and Gardens
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Gardens, St Ives, Sydney
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
One of the places we wanted to revisit during our stay in Sydney was the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Gardens. These gardens are in St Ives, in the northern parts of Sydney. They abut the Ku-ring-gai National Park, another great place to visit for the wildflowers, birds, bushwalking and picnics.
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Gardens, St Ives, Sydney
On arrival we had a picnic lunch in the grounds of the gardens near the Visitor Centre. Two Laughing Kookaburras kept a close eye on our lunch, we kept a close eye on them. We didn’t share any with them. The bird watching was a little slow during our visit but I did see a few good species. I have good memories of a visit seven years ago.
Laughing Kookaburras
After looking at the displays in the Visitor Centre we spent several hours wandering the various paths around the gardens. Many of the paths are paved roads making the walking easy. There are many other dirt tracks linking the paved roads and these take a little more care. Some sections are a little steep but most reasonably fit walkers would negotiate them with ease.
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Gardens, St Ives, Sydney
While there were quite a few plants in flower for us to admire and photograph, it was a little disappointing. We estimated that we were about three to five weeks too early for the main spring flowering time. Despite this, we still enjoyed our time there. In fact we spent so much time in the gardens we ran out of time to visit the nearby national park. We will leave that for our next visit.
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Gardens, St Ives, Sydney
Images of Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens
No Comments »27th September, 2007; Category: Botanic Gardens, Holidays, New South Wales, Parks and Gardens
Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens, NSW
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
Today I have included more images of the Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens. These gardens are in the blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens, NSW
Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens, NSW
Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens, NSW
Click on any photo to enlarge the image.
See more photos on my photo gallery here.
Going botanical – more about Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens
No Comments »26th September, 2007; Category: Botanic Gardens, Holidays, New South Wales, Parks and Gardens
Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens, NSW
Our holiday in New South Wales
September 2007
Yesterday I wrote about our visit to Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens. These gardens are in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. These extensive gardens are landscaped into the side of the mountain. The walking tracks, however, are not too steep. In fact many of the walking tracks are suitable for wheelchairs.
Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens, NSW
The gardens also include a restaurant, bookshop and visitor information centre. We didn’t try out the food but the bookshop stocks an extensive range of book, cards, paintings and other items related directly to things botanical.
Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens, NSW