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Showing posts from 2016

Mount Wilson Gates 15

I guess you are getting tired of gates by now.  This is the last one.

Mount Wilson Gates 14

Even more austere gates look good to me.

Mount Wilson Gates 13

You've got to love a red gate.  Many of the gardens also have great mountain views.  You can just see the blue view peeping through Autumn tree here.

Mount Wilson Gates 12

If you look hard you will see it says Turkish Bath in this gate.  There is a Turkish Bath (now a museum) in the grounds of Wynstay.  That is a photo of the Bath House below. .

Mount Wilson Gates 11

Wynstay is so posh it has a gate house, though the properly looks a little run down these days.

Mount Wilson Gates 10

This gate says Applebury, former Post House.  The once humble house is looking really swish now.

Mount Wilson Gates 9

And here's another one with a hat.  It leads to the rather special church nestled among the tree ferns.

Mount Wilson Gates 8

Hey, here is a gate with a hat.

Mount Wilson Gates 7

I've always like the gates of Withycombe because of the metal leaves on the gate and because the name is in the gate and because I like the sound the name. That's the house below. Apparently the Patrick White's family owned this place in the 1920s and 1930s.

Mount Wilson Gates 6

A nice metal gate is a very classy I reckon.  What is the purpose of a gate I wonder, to keep people out or invite people in?

Mount Wilson Gates 5

This is Nooroo. Like many of the gardens it is open to the public,  It's famous for its Wisteria collection but I really like the camellia hedge near the gate.

Mount Wilson Gates 4

Some of the gates are more humble, but how majestic is that tree.

Mount Wilson Gates 3

Ooo some of these gardens are posh.  They must need an army of gardeners to keep things clipped and tidy.

Mount Wilson Gates 2

We are strolling down Church Lane.  The gardens nestle among lush native rainforest where there are tall tree ferns like the ones behind this gate.  That's Church Lane below, I love the rock walls.

Mount Wilson Gates 1

It was a glorious Autumn day so we decided to go on an excursion to Mount Wilson, a delightful and quite remote mountain village blessed with perfect soil and conditions for cool climate gardens.   Let me take you for a walk past the gates of the grand gardens.

Historic Hartley

Hartley is a great little spot with lovely old buildings.  I have shown you some of them before here ,   here and here .

Lunch

Another day, another lunch out enjoying the beautiful weather. @ Old Hartley Post Office Cafe, Hartley

Sculptures

Here is one of the sandstone sculptures that are placed around the lake. I have shown others here  and  here @ Wentworth Falls Lake, Wentworth Falls

Extended Summer

With the magic summer weather continuing into Autumn it's perfect for a picnic. @ Wentworth Falls Lake, Wentworth Falls

Season Change 4 of 4

The acorns are forming too.  There are no squirrels to collect them in Australia. @Honour Avenue, Lawson

Season Change 3 of 4

The pine cones are ripening and providing extra sport for the Cockatoos. @Honour Avenue, Lawson

Season Change 2 of 4

The Liquid Ambers (Sweet Gum) are dropping their spiky pods and the cockatoos are up to their usual sport snipping off twigs. ç

Season change 1 of 4

I spend too many hours at my desk and rarely seem to get out and about in the mountains, other than a quick walk up to the end of the street to get some exercise.  This is one of the vistas I see on my stroll. The greens will change over the next few weeks -- already there are signs of the new season along the path. @Honour Avenue, Lawson

Farmland

And we end this short jaunt with another view of the farmland and cliffs.  Very pretty and very green at the moment since we have been having quite a lot of wet weather. @Megalong Valley

Pastoral

This is the view from the Tea Rooms.  You will see we have descended through the rain forest out into open farmland flanked by the mountains @Megalong Valley

Tea Rooms

There are old fashioned tea rooms down Megalong Valley Road, a good reason for taking this lovely drive. And as it happens to be on Theme, a perfect opportunity to post for this month's CDP Theme Day. @Megalong Valley Tea Rooms

My kind of track

The other day I was wondering which type of track was best ... an avenue of exotic trees or a dirt track through native forest.  I actually think neither of those (through they are both beautiful). I reckon the very best type is a winding road through rain forest. This is going through an area called Mermaid's Cave Recreation Reserve, beats me why since we are nowhere near the sea. @Megalong Valley Road

The view

There is quite a nice picnic area down the end of the track with a view similar to what we saw at Hargreaves Lookout. @Mt Blackheath, Blackheath

Two styles one track

Still not quite ready to head home we took the side track out to Mt Blackheath.  On the way you encounter both exotic and native trees.  Mmm which is best? @Mt Blackheath Road, Blackheath

Rock wall

There is a rock shelter out at Hargreaves Lookout.  I am always amazed at how they manage to get something as variable as stone to fit together so well. @Hargreaves Lookout, Blackheath

Hargreaves Lookout

It was such a lovely day, sunny but not hot, we decided to take a drive before going back home.  Following the road along Shipley's Plateau from Blackheath ends at Hargreaves Lookout which has nice views to the west where mountain wilderness begins to give way to farmland.  Rain was beginning to fall in places. @Hargreaves Lookout, Blackheath

Glee

We are lucky to have a Gleebooks shop here in the mountains.  Another place where I am sure to find something to enjoy reading.  They have a good poetry collection that I find hard to resist.  And I love looking at the beautiful garden books -- but don't buy them because no amount of dreaming is going to transform my garden.  But what's with all of the adult colouring books filling the shelves in bookshops these days? @Gleebooks, Blackheath

Mural

This is a part of the mural designed by Jenny Kee on the wall of Victory Theatre.  It is quite a landmark.  We are on our way around to the bookshop. @Victory Theatre, Blackheath

Sunny lunch

I Making the most the last weekend of our holidays.  Lunch in the park over the road from the Blackheath fish and chip shop before going for a bit of a stroll and drive.     @Blackheath   

In the clouds

Went down to Sydney where it was warm and sunny and came back to mist -- couldn't even see to the end of the street.  Life in like that in the mountains. @Lawson

A change of view

This is a favourite spot for me to work while I am waiting for hubby in Katoomba. It has a great view out the window. @Katoomba Library, Katoomba

Cathedral of Ferns

The Cathedral of Ferns is always a top spot for a short walk when visiting Mount Wilson.     @Cathedral of Ferns, Mount Wilson