Cambridge

Today we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens. It was a cloudy morning, but quite warm. It was about a 20 minutes walk from here, and the Google maps told us the best way to go, so we obediently followed instructions. The gardens were quite extensive, and we didn’t attempt to cover the whole area, but we had a very enjoyable walk around. There was a lovely water area, with lots of ducks and other water birds. Wok was sitting on a bench having a rest, when a man nearby asked him if he could identify an unusual bird swimming past. Wok said he didn’t have a clue, and the fellow said he thought he might have been one of those bird-watcher people because of the hat he was wearing. He was obviously not only ignorant of bird species, he also didn’t know what twitchers looked like, because Wok was wearing his Virgin Airways bucket hat that he’s had for years.

There were also extensive glass houses with noticeably different climatic areas inside. We were surprised to find them open, as on the gardens website it said they were closed. There were lots of orchids, which made a beautiful display, and they were the most spectacular. But of course other rooms were of equal interest in their own right.

I was surprised and quite proud, as though I was personally responsible, to see a Wollomi pine specimen growing. It was labelled as endemic to NSW, but I thought they could have given it a lot more interest if they’d told the full story.

There was also a nice place to eat, and it was while we were there, under a big umbrella, that we noticed a few spits of rain. We decided it would be prudent to make for home, and the weather held beautifully for us until we were the warm and safe, before a nice heavy fall of rain came down. I confess I didn’t hear it, because I’d nodded off while reading, but Wok told me about it!

Tomorrow we plan to take a train trip to a nearby village, called Ely.Læs mere