Monday, October 29, 2012

Ripponlea estate yesterday

I must have walked about three hours yesterday - to and from public transport and around beautiful Ripponlea Estate. Of course, if I had got off at Ripponlea station, which was quite close to the historic mansion and grounds rather than getting off at Elsternwick as I did, I would have reduced my walking time by about 20 minutes. Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny Melbourne day and it was blissful looking at all the beautiful plants and flowers. You wouldn't know from the photographs that the main picnic ground area was filled with people as it was  'free kids' day. Here are some of my favorites photographs, which don't really reflect the immensity of the estate, which would rival the Royal Botanical Gardens.  I especially loved the lake, which mirrored on its watery surface all the amazing trees and plants growing at its edges.

Of course, there were many beautiful areas of the estate, including the rose garden, the fern area which was enclosed in a dome like, rusty iron sculpture and a watermill to collect valuable water for the gardens. But scattered everywhere was clusters of flowers in bloom, displaying Spring at her best.

I didn't take any photographs of the mansion per se, but you can just see it in this photo I took from inside the pagoda.
 

I had a tiring, but inspiring time. Later on my friend Shaun came over and made me dinner. All in all, it was a wonderful Spring day.

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