The family we were staying with in Perth hosted CG one evening, and one of their friends excitedly showed us photos of her recent visit to the Araluen Botanic Gardens, and told us we HAD to go before the tulips all bowed out.
It reminded me of the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands which I had visited more than 10 years ago. Since we didn’t have much planned that weekend, our host family and us (5 kids in total!) made the 45 min ride to those gardens after church.
Upon arrival, we were quite shocked at how totally crowded the place was! Nonetheless, we still managed to have fun exploring the gardens and streams.
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| Love the buds of spring |
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| Brilliant brilliant sunshine |
Apart from flowers, the 59 hectare garden is also home to Eucalyptus, Marri, Blackbutt, Flooded Gum, Karri, Tuart and Jarrah trees.
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| How does your garden grow? |
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| Train for free rides – but the queue was simply too long! |
Millions of bulbs are scattered throughout the garden every year, and as the website says, they truly “come alive in glorious colour” each spring!
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| Carefully interspersed flowers for variation in height and colour |
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| Splayed out! |
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| The brushstrokes of our Creator – fiery red on translucent yellow |
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| The filler flowers are pretty in and of themselves… |
Apart from admiring the blooms, the kids had a splendid time exploring this stream as we spread a little picnic out on a grassy patch nearby.
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| Rustic looking bridge built with a log beneath! |
The kids, including little B, had fun running to and fro across the bridge, like little billy goats gruff. Thankfully there didn’t seem to be trolls beneath this one…
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| Three friends dipping their toes in the cool stream water… |
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| Girl in the woods |
All in all, it was a good visit. Adults are charged AUD$10 for entry, whilst kids go in for AUD$5, and the grounds are open to visitors from 9am to 6pm daily.
We wished it wasn’t quite so crowded that day, but well, bees do flock to honey, so!
Araluen is gorgeous at this time of year! About time we join the crowd too I think. I always enjoy the beautiful colours and flowers everywhere.
Aralaen, a name for me to remember! If I ever go Perth again, in spring for sure.
Thanks for sharing:).