Friday 27 November 2009

Cowra to Tannachie

November 23

Cowra has an ambitious rose garden in front of their visitors' centre. There is even a little brochure explaining its origins and listing the roses planted. They're not my kind of roses, but they were making a fine show.



On close inspection, I thought the flowers were either small for the varieties listed, or pale. This is 'Just Joey', which is usually a warm apricot colour in my recollection.



Cowra also has "the largest Japanese garden in the Southern Hemisphere". It is beautifully maintained, and there are great views from a convenient knoll, incorporating a waterfall.




It's a lovely contrast to see the formal green shapes in the foreground against such a traditional Australian country landscape behind.



I liked the fresh spears of Agapanthus backed by a large chunk of terracotta rock.



After leaving Cowra, we went directly to our friends who live on 640 acres of land outside the country town of Orange (which, incidentally, is famous for its apple orchards.)

November 24

Piers and Patricia have a lovely house with a great walled vegetable garden and a sandstone terrace with clipped parterres. From our room we could look down on the terrace,





or further afield over their rolling pastures.



We went for a walk over some of their property, combatting the flies as we went.
Patricia and I protected our heads with fly nets, and I felt rather like a lady of Edwardian times with a demure veil over my face.



Fortunately, the flies preferred our backs to our fronts, as you can see from Piers and Patricia



and me.



We had a lovely time there, very restful, and particularly enjoyed Patricia's cooking and the bottle of 1980 Grange Hermitage which Piers chose to accompany one meal.

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