Out And About

Oh I do love hot weather. I love all encompassing warmth, and I love having breakfast outside, which to be fair I did quite a lot last year at home.

I start my day with breakfast on the balcony reading and enjoying the view.

Last Thursday my daughter read about a market in the city, unfortunately it was mostly a food market, which we weren't really interested in because we were still full up from breakfast. 

After a walk along the river we went to the City Botanic Garden 

The site of Brisbane City Botanic Gardens was selected as a public 

garden in 1828 by New South Wales Colonial Botanist Charles Fraser.

Originally the garden was planted with food crops to feed the convicts. In 1855, a portion of the land was declared a 'botanic reserve' and Walter Hill was appointed as curator. It incorporates Brisbane's most mature gardens and features many rare and unusual species of plants.

This Banyan tree was planted in the 1870s, during Walter Hill's curatorship, and is the largest Banyan Tree in the gardens. My photos don't really do it justice. 

The species is originally from India and can cover many acres when very old (500 to 600 years). The aerial roots enter the ground, forming new trunks. In this way, the huge branches can extend further and further away from the parent plant. With over 20 species of figs, the City Botanic Gardens holds one of the largest collections of figs in Australia. This tree has the largest and most impressive aerial root structure in the gardens. With a circumference of 49 metres and enormous aerial root structures it is believed to be the best known example of its species in Australia.

I don't know what this was, it was quite impressive and was as still as a statue. I did wonder if it would suddenly lurch at us, like the small dinosaurs in Jurrasic Park - must learn to control my imagination!!

Starting to feel hungry we headed to the CBD for lunch. All the restaurants here ask for proof of covid vaccination to enter. We finished our day with a bit of retail therapy.

Elsewhere, this is a local shop which at first sight I thought was a charity shop, but it's a private business. I don't know how she makes any money though, everything is piled so high you can't seen anything underneath. I did walk through but was concerned about knocking something over! 

∼ Be safe and well∼

Polly x