Going to Newcastle

Paperbark in the Wetlands.
Hunter Botanic Gardens (just out of Newcastle)


Angophoras & Banksias. Hunter Botanic Gardens.


Wetlands. Hunter Botanic Gardens.


Went to Newcastle on the weekend. It took far longer than I had anticipated to get to Fassifern from the Williamtown airport, and of course a great deal longer because firstly our aircraft was late, secondly having been loaded aboard, the plane was not fit to fly and hence we were loaded into buses, zoomed around the airport and came back to where we started, to an almost identical plane and by this time Qantas was desperate to beat the curfew at Williamtown...... A long, long journey. I left the University at 3.15, got to Rob's by midnight.

On Saturday, in the rain, we drove up to the Hunter Botanic Gardens, which I had wanted to see. They were very different from most botanic gardens, for the most part we were walking on paths which looked to wind through the wilderness. They were lovely in the rain.

(The wetlands almost look to have been specifically created, with all those drowned and dead trees.)