Tuesday 8 April 2014

Down Under in Australia - 24th February


Our first day dawned bright and early with the cacophony of bird sound.  While Mum sat out on the verandah drinking a cup of green tea I went and introduced myself to the natives...

Mum's friend Tania had several things planned for us today, but unfortunately two of them, the Japanese Gardens and Animal Park were closed.

We went to see the Woodlands of Marburg which is a beautiful old estate that is now a conference and wedding venue.  It has beautiful gardens with lots of photo opportunities.  When I heard the words conference and wedding I was a bit dubious, but actual it was lovely there and I enjoyed exploring.



Here I am at the entrance way to the grand house.  Inside were lovely wood panelled rooms and pretty tea services...or at least Mum thought they were pretty, me, I wasn't bothered one way or another, but did hear that they did yummy food there sometimes...unfortunately the tea room wasn't open today.


A bit too pink for my liking but I am sure some of my sisters and friends that are girls would like it...oh and maybe Frances would as well as he is into all that fancy stuff...like poetry etc...

The gardens were great for exploring in.









The chapel was sweet.






Cool cart - you could imagine using these back in time when horses worked the land.




Lots of rocks and plants to investigate.


Unusual seed pods.


They were huge!



These plants collect and hold water.


More carts adding to the rustic air about the place.



I wanted to explore in this ramshackle old building but I wasn't allowed!


Although the Animal Park was closed we did get to see the bats - they were really noisy!





On to Ipswich River Heart Parklands.


We enjoyed a walk along the river bank.


I spotted a white Heron in the river.


Information board showing the history of the area.


The old town road bridge...


The new one


An amazing lizard that was as big as me!  There were lots of these just lounging around.


This was a water feature, but the water doesn't show up in this photo.




Mum's school friend and riding buddy Tania.




A pretty house in Ipswich that Tania thought my Mum would like as she loves blue and white things.


Later in the afternoon we took Peppi to the park...


Just sitting around with friends.


Riding Peppi...


Oops, hang on there Peppi, I am nearly falling off!


Oh Rory, look at this, a frog!  You would have loved riding this.

In the evening we went to see if we could see some kangaroos, we were not disappointed.



The evening ended with a lovely roast pork dinner at the local pub.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Henry

    We are trying hard not to be envious. Those BATS!!!! Wow, we'd like to have seen them. They make the little pippestrelles that live between the stone walls on the outside of our bedroom look like little specks. (not sure how it's spelled and Yahoo spell checker think it should be 'pinstripes' but we mean those teeny bats you sometimes catch a glimpse of in the corner of your eye on country lanes here.)

    We didn't know you were a dog wrangler! Not to mention you being a frog wrangler too. Peppi looks like he's enjoying it as much as you are.

    Roast pork... mmmm ... yummy. Quite worth having to look at tea sets first if you had such a great dinner after. Wren and Holly say that that is the prettiest tea set they ever saw. We used to follow the blog of a Gregor in Australia who collected tea sets but he was a really boyish boy in everything else he did, so it seems to be OK to like tea sets but we agree with you, that stuff is really for the ladies. Then again, it was your Mum's holiday too, so you had to accommodate her interests too, being the generous fella you are.

    Looking forward to your next post. Oh and thanks for the beautiful post card. We were ever so excited to get it!
    Rhodri and Harri x

    PS I had an adventure in South Africa but it wasn't much fun. I was kidnapped by girl pirates, held captive for months and ill-treated. SOOOOO glad to be home, even if I did have to travel back with no clothes on!
    Rhodri

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    Replies
    1. Hi Rhodri! So glad you are back in the UK after your scary kidnapping experience. I bet you are pleased to be home again. I wonder what they did with your clothes??!!

      Hi there Harri!

      The bats were really amazing, I had never seen any that big before and they were really noisy.

      Ha ha, I am not so sure about being a dog wrangler...I didn't try the same trick on my Nan and Pop's dog Sophie - she was a bit BIG!

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  2. Wonderful Henry, what a good dog Peppi is letting you ride on him and I'm so glad your saw kangaroos in the wild too. I loved the bats, so much bigger than our ones in England, almost as big as you!

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