Ju Raku En Japanese Gardens

Further along on  our trip to the Darling Downs, we went to these lovely gardens who'se name roughly translated means "to enjoy peace and longevity in a public place".  Ju Raku En was only just beginning to awake from its winter slumber, so we saw many things in bud or just beginning to flower. As yet  it's still quite a young garden, maintained by the University of Southern Queensland, where it lays on part of their Campus.  You can find more about it here .

I loved the peace and quiet there, even though there were a lot of visitors strolling about.  Tranquillity pervades the gardens and it's all quite serene.

 I would love to return one day, deeper into Spring, when the wisteria and all the cherry blossoms are in bloom and the banks of irises are in full flower...

I have always had a softness for Oriental themes, and loved the streams and waterfalls created in miniature here.

 We took quite a few photographs overall and thoroughly enjoyed the stillness, broken only by the ducks and ibis that frequent the lake and streams; it felt as though one could sit for hours and look out over the water, absorbing as if by osmosis, the gentle but  precisely manicured areas of camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, cypresses, rolling lawns and budding fruit trees.

I hope you enjoy our pictorial reminiscence of this gem tucked away on part of Australia's Great Dividing Ranges...we came home tired and happy from a great day out, having seen new things and new places  :)

This signpost stands just inside the entrance to the Gardens and I feel it's a lovely note to end on... a symbol of two cultures united by one botanical voice.

Spring Bluff Historical Railway Station & Gardens

 

On 29th August this year, Sid and I went on an excursion with our local seniors' group to some parts of the mountains in the Great Dividing Range, which, incidently, runs most of the length of Australia's eastern coast   We had a lovely day out, the first place we visited being Spring Bluff, near Murphy's Creek, on the way to Toowoomba, at a lower part of the Ranges.  It was a beautiful morning and we had set off early in our touring bus and arrived at the Bluff in time for morning tea.  Needless to say, I took a lot of pictures, as the gardens there are just so pretty and blooming with annuals and cherry blossoms, amongst other things.  I hope you enjoy the pictorial journey with me  :)  Here is how it used to look in the early days of construction...

As you will see, it has changed and developed a great deal.  You can check out its history here.  I loved all the flowers as you will observe and they were just coming into their first Spring flush of blooming...

Primulas, petunias, statice and pansies were just a few on offer, plus begonias and cherry blossoms just beginning to bud...

Looking happy beside a blooming embankment, were Sid and I....morning tea was being prepeared as we prowled with the camera!

A view of the Cafe

Another view of the Cafe and Station

I hope you enjoyed sharing part of our morning on the Darling Downs...there will be another post soon of the Japanese Gardens in Toowoomba as soon as I finish editing the photos  :)