Saturday 11 April 2015

Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens

I drive past Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens reasonably often but hadn't had time to stop in many years. And boys in the car are always impatient. But travelling back solo from Newcastle Writers Festival recently was the perfect time for a quick stop. I'm so glad I did. 

It was a beautiful day


I only had time for a quick walk about the gardens before lunch. 



The hydrangeas were pretty much done. 




 I was hoping for lots of birdlife, but midday is never a great time. 

The skinks were cool though.

Possibly Yellow-bellied Water Skinks



Pitcher plants

Sadly the only parrot I saw
 The proteas were lovely. 


King Protea. Protea cyanoroides.




 And the dahlias spectacular this day.  







Basalt columns. 
Mount Tomah is a botanic gardens in the lower Blue Mountains west of Sydney. It's at 1000 metres, and sits atop a basalt peak. They have a great restaurant, Tomah Gardens Restaurant, run by Sean Moran from Sean's Panorama at Bondi, it's worth the stop alone.  

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7 comments:

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I'm, of course, a fan of all-things-Australian, so I'm happy you took me along on this little visit. The dahlias are stunning. And it always makes me smile to see a skink; Lizzie, my blue-tongued skink, is fifteen years old this year.

Brona said...

Like you, Louise, I drive by here so often but have only ever visited once, way too briefly.

You have now whet my appetite for more :-)

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

These are beautiful shots! And they are a perfect example of why we should "stop and smell the flowers" more often. Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

Sandra Nachlinger said...

Lovely photos (especially when viewed full screen). I'd like to sit by the water feature and drink in the serenity. Now I'm wondering about the small public garden I drive by often. You've inspired me to stop and take a stroll.
Thank you for visiting my blog today.

Claire Justine said...

Oh wow, this looks beautiful. Great pictures ..

Anne@HeadFullofBooks said...

I've never seen a skink in real-life. I think I would be startled to see one. The garden was lovely. My snapshot Saturday

Ginx Craft said...

What an amazing collection of photos. I really like those treeferns, and the skink of course.