Saturday at the Botanic Gardens

October 28th was our 11th Saturday in Sydney. We finally went to the Royal Botanic Gardens which is only a short walk from the Opera House. Not only does it have lovely green lawns and beautiful trees, but it has picture postcard views of the Harbour bridge framing the Opera House. Shami was in heaven taking pictures, although he wants to go back on a day with a bluer sky. He acutally put down his camera a few times and let me take some pictures of him.

The Jacaranda trees are in full bloom right now, and are breathtaking with their canopies of purple. There are several outside the condos on our street, but not as grand as this one.


Shami took a break from photographing the Opera House long enough for me to snap this picture of him in front of the Sydney skyline.



A passerby offered to take our picture with the classic Sydney backdrop.




Here is Shami sitting at Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. In the early 1800's the former governor's wife had a seat carved out of stone at Mrs. Macquarie's Point, where she would sit and enjoy the view.




Did I mention the bats? The gardens have become a permanent home to thousands of large bats, or "grey-headed flying foxes." Wing spans can be over 1 meter. They may be cute, but unfortunately they are damaging the trees. Getting rid of them is not easy, though, especially since they are classified as a "vulnerable species." Walking under the trees was an impressive thing to see, hear, and smell. We will have to be there at dusk one day, to experience them leaving for the evening to feed on all the flowering vegetation of Sydney. Shami took these pictures.