Hunter Valley Gardens

We think these are called Angel's Trumpets

Frangipani blossom

We've forgotten their names but Stephen thought they looked like dandelion clocks

There be dragons

Mad Hatter's tea party

We spent Friday morning at Hunter Valley Gardens. I hope that the pictures will convey something of its variety and beauty. It was arranged into a series of themed gardens. Formal, Oriental, Rose, Chinese etc and included a Storytellers Garden with many Nursery Rhyme characters. As it was very hot and that was the furthest away from the entrance we had intended to give that one a miss, but did in fact get there and were pleasantly surprised to find that it was worth the effort, which is more than can be said for the café, but it did at least provide us with shade and some cool drinks.

Elaine writes: It’s hard to describe the beauty of the gardens. There were so many interesting and unusual plants to see. I loved walking past the orchard and seeing peaches and nectarines, oranges and other unusual fruit growing happily in the sunshine. After the sleek, ordered vineyards, the gardens were a riot of colour. The Rose garden was just past its absolute best but still the fragrance and beauty of the roses was very enjoyable. There was one lovely rose named after the famous cricketer, Don Bradman. I thought we might try and get one in England to remind us of our visit. Stephen has been reading Don’s biography here and found it a good insight into Australian life. I’ve been reading Sister Mary Mackillop’s biography which gives you quite another insight.

We travelled back to Sydney via Terrigal one of the central coast beaches. We were suffering from the heat by then, but food and a paddle in the sea soon refreshed us and we were home in time to enjoy some of Thursday’s purchases of cheese and wine for supper and a few delicious chocolates.