At the beginning of winter, on the weekend called Queen’s Birthday Weekend in Australia, we enjoyed the company of brothers and sisters and undertook a small bushwalk on the New South Wales central coast just north of Sydney. Twisted, gnarly Angophora costata trees are found in abundance in this area, rising above thick undergrowth, lifting…
Category: Out and About
Magnolia
A recent walk provided a new discovery. Obviously this magnolia tree has been in situ for many years, but until this spring I had never noticed it. What a revelation! Standing tall and dignified at the edge of a garden it displayed an abundance of magnificent pale amethyst and alabaster flowers. I’m amazed we haven’t…
Trimmed or Tortured?
I first have to admit that I own a Bonsai. It’s a Chinese elm, Ulmus parvifolia, and I’ve owned it since 1993. I won’t be showing a photo of it because, well, it looks a bit down-at-heel. Of course, it’s winter here, so my tree has bare branches just now. However, even when it was…
An Outback Journey
A feeling of being closed in, a disinclination to travel to Sydney just now and warmer weather saw us (Mr MG and I) setting off on a hastily organised and whirlwind road trip to north-west New South Wales last week. I love the feeling of being on the road and as soon as we drove…
Illyarrie
March 23 was National Eucalypt Day in Australia. Each year, those who wish to can place an online vote for the Eucalypt of the year and the winner is announced on Eucalypt Day. The winner for 2020 is Eucalyptus erythrocorys, or Illyarrie, the name given to it by the Noongar people of Western Australia. It…
SoS: February 22nd 2020
It’s been a while since I posted. The summer has been trying, to say the least, but a couple of weeks ago we received some rain and it was remarkable the change that was wrought in the garden in a very short space of time. The lawn greened up as though it realised it had…
Wellington NZ. SoS December 14, 2019
‘A ruffian wind is bliss, a blind man’s comfort station. When I get tired of walking around it, I can always lean against it.’ James McNeish, 1931 – 2016. These lines of poetry are part of the Wellington Writers’ Walk and amongst others, can be found displayed around the pedestrianised wharf area that skirts Wellington Harbour. ‘Ruffian…
Mt Arapiles
Protruding from the Wimmera Plains in Victoria, like a whale breaching the waves, Mt Arapiles is a mecca for rock climbers from all over the world and it’s easy to understand why this is so. Its crags, chimneys, bluffs and labyrinths of gullies provide many challenges for anyone who is mad enough to put themselves…
A Temple to Demeter
During the Second World War, there was a glut of wheat in Australia, and for obvious reasons there were difficulties in the exporting of it. As well, hessian sacks and corn bags (also used for wheat) were in short supply and the need for somewhere to store an enormous amount of grain became urgent. It…
Japanese Gardens Cowra.
We are recently returned from another touring holiday of Victoria -extended distances again, and a sense of freedom on the long day drives. On our first day, on our way south to Canberra, we stopped at the Japanese Gardens in Cowra, New South Wales, for a horticultural treat. During WW2 there was a Japanese PoW…