The Wintergarden is found in Auckland, New Zealand and was built in commemoration of the Auckland Industrial Agricultural and Mining Exhibition of 1913-14
It was designed in the early 1900s in the style of the famous English partnership of Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jeckyll – my favourite designers of the English County Garden style.
The building was opened on the 12 October 1921 for the benefit and pleasure of the public.
The two barrel-shaped Victorian glasshouses face out onto an open courtyard with a pond and mosaic fountain. Marble statues were added in the 1920s and 1930s and pergolas around the courtyard are covered in showy climbers.
One glasshouse is full of exotic flowers: gingers, orchids, palms, Heliconia and other rare plants. The other is for temperate climate plants such as the gorgeous blue delphiniums in the photos.
As usual my attention was drawn not only to the flora, but also the architecture of these buildings and in particular, the windows. Although the glasshouses need a little attention (well so would you after 100 years) the curved ends and decorative leaded windows are still beautiful.
The complex is completed by New Zealand ferns growing in a sunken scoria quarry to the rear.
there was a secret garden for fairies in the forest along the road to Potato Point. I kid you not…
(Potato Point is a village in the Eurobodalla Shire lying on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. The Yuin are considered to be the traditional owners of the region.)
An enchanting gum tree decorated with toadstools, butterflies, dragonflies and flowers amongst the discarded eucalyptus leaves.
and a little doorway for small people to enter.
have you ever seen anything like this before?
This post is dedicated to two intelligent, hard-working, inspirational and beautiful Bookfayries, Siri and Selma, who spend their time flitting between Norway, Germany and magical Cley-next-the -Sea. Time to pack those cases and head for Australia girls?
Cape Town. The Mother City. Crouching beneath the majestic backdrop of Table Mountain in the south-west corner of Africa. Once a tiny stopover for fresh supplies along the trading route between Europe and the Far East, now a buzzing metropolis where the Rainbow Nation welcome visitors with open arms and huge smiles, lots of good food and great wine. You haven’t been there? What are you waiting for?
What do I love most about this city ?
1. The Views
View to Cape Point
whether it be the sensational all round city and peninsula views you get from taking a cable car ( or climbing if you have the energy) up to the top of Table Mountain, the dizzying view of the coast from the impressive 9km Chapman Peak Drive, with its 114 curves, where you literally hang off the cliff or the wide-open view of False Bay from Boyes Drive down in the Cape Peninsula, you cannot get enough of the scenic landscapes that this city has to offer. It must be one of the most scenically situated cities in the world.
2. The Beaches
Table Mountain from Bloubergstrand
now personally I can think of nothing worse than lying on a beach and baking in the sun, but I know many people do like to do that and Cape Town has the most incredible beautiful beaches all around – it is on a peninsula – so you get northern beaches where the wind whips the sand into a frenzy, so perhaps best suited to wind-surfing than sun-bathing; the western beaches which are on the frigid Atlantic coastline so these attract the ‘in’ people who strut their stuff along Camps Bay or Clifton, occasionally playing Frisbee, or volley-ball or more likely be supping bold espressos in the bars lining the beachfront (that’s if you can get parking) OR the fabulous Indian Ocean beaches where the water is warmer and when the surf is up is filled with surfing dudes, wind-surfers, kite-surfers (they stay on the sand not the water) and people like me, who just want a long beach to stroll along. And then there’s the penguins. Now tell me, where else in the world can you visit a beach with resident penguins? And not freeze.
3. Nature
Ostriches at Cape of Good Hope
even in the heart of the city you will find the Company’s Gardens. Once literally an allotment where fruit and vegetables were grown to feed the visiting traders, now a little oasis in the city bowl. A serene place to wander through, full of trees and plants, European squirrels and native birds. And the view of that mountain behind you. No-one should come to Cape Town and not wander through this garden. And if you are not a fan of gardens then this is where you will find the ‘Tuynhuys‘ which is used by the President on state occasions (and not open to the public), the ‘Delville Wood Memorial’ and the ‘Rutherfoord Fountain’. This area is known as ‘Museum Mile’ in that the vast majority of Cape Town’s museums are concentrated into the same small space around Government Avenue including the South African Museum and National Gallery and The Iziko Slave Lodge which lies just outside the entrance.
Cheeky Grey Squirrel
A little further south is Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. A must see. And you can climb up to the top of Table Mountain from here up through Skeleton Gorge. If that is too much, then feel free to wander around the acres of native flora – proteas, restios, pelargoniums. Did I tell you that the Cape is home to more than 9,000 plant species? No? Well it is.
Table Mountain from Kirstenbosch
And finally, the Cape Point reserve. Where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet and the waters surge and crash together making it one of the world’s most dangerous routes to navigate round. The reserve is full of the fynbos that the Cape is known for, it is also home to ostrich, kudu and sable antelope, and baboons. Watch out for the baboons!
Baboon at Cape Point
So that’s that. My favourite city and three reasons why I like it. No make that LOVE it. Cape Town. The pearl in the African Crown.
Accor Hotels are running a competition to find your favourite city. Cape Town is mine. Which one is yours?
Final week on the Garden theme so if you want to join in this month with your garden bench you have until next Saturday to post your photos 🙂
Not one, but three benches this week in a lovely garden in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. Logan Botanical Garden is one of the most beautiful and interesting gardens in the UK and not what you would expect to find so far north. If you want to see more then please click on the link above.
And if you like the idea of a ‘Bench’ photo challenge then take a look at my Bench Series page for details of how to join in.
Create your own post and title it Bench Series: January
Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in WP Reader
Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new bench theme comes out on the first Sunday in February
I look forward to resting my feet all around the world!
Last week I was taken to some lovely gardens:
Sylvia visits Edison Heritage Gardens in Fort Myers Daily Musings takes us to The Lois Blonder Sculpture Garden
Aletta shows us a curved bench in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa Pauline is sitting amongst the peace lilies this week in Townsville Cathy has several benches in a seaside garden in New Zealand and there is a charming drawing and poem from ladysighs and a bench that had to be re-built by Jennifer. Priorhouse blog on the other hand combines benches with a story. With a bench in it, of course! Debbie finds a tranquil spot in Paris.
and Julia has one with a tribute. Elaine joins in with a couple of gardens bringing back memories of summer!
and you can sit and smell the lavender from this pretty bench from Dawn.
Finally a serene bench with Spanish moss dripping above from Isadora.
The complex is completed by New Zealand ferns growing in a sunken scoria quarry to the rear.
TRAVEL WORDS 