Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Wet and Aggressive Corella challenges Magpie

Thursday 10 August 2017

Japanese Gardens

The Smaller Portion has been telling me for a while 'We never go anywhere, we never do anything.'  He is right.  Guilt got to me this week and I agreed to go on an outing with him.

He chose to go to the Japanese Gardens at Cowra, some two and a half to three hours drive away.  We have been there before years ago and both liked it.

The gardens were established to recognise and build on a relationship between the people of Cowra and the people of Japan - a relationship which has its origins in the Prisoner of War Camp which housed Japanese Prisoners or War during World War II.

In 1960 the Japanese Government decided to bring their war dead from across Australia to be re-buried in Cowra.  

The Japanese Gardens and attached Cultural Centre support and advance the friendship between Japan and the town of Cowra and promote Japanese design, culture and crafts.

Choosing to go to gardens in winter might seem odd, but we thought that we would see the bones of the garden.  And we were right.  There are some things in bloom, but we revelled in the shapes and structure of the gardens.

The gardens were beautifully laid out.  Most of the pathways were wheelchair accessible (well over 90 per cent), you could hire a wheelchair or an electric scooter and there was plenty of seating to sit, look and dream.

As always, many, many photos follow.





































116 comments:

  1. Still beautiful. You're right, lots of shapes in the trees and rocks.

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    1. Alex J. Cavanaugh: We thought it was very beautiful. And loved the sculptured look.

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  2. Love the waterfalls and how you have flowers blooming and greenery in winter. Still enjoying summer here :)

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    1. mshatch: Spring is rushing towards us now, and I suspect that in even a couple of weeks there will be more colour. I loved the greenery though - which we enjoy for most of the year.

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  3. Something beautiful came from the horror of war. You were right, the bones are wonderful!

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    1. Marie Smith: I will freely admit that I prefer memorials which are green and growing to statues and graves. And I am glad that you enjoy the bones of the garden too.

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  4. Stunning. We have a very small Japanese garden here but it appears that nobody is looking after it.

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    1. Birdie: This garden obviously gets a LOT of care and attention. While we were there there was a man waist deep in the water pruning the overhanging branches. It was a lovely day but I suspect he felt the chill.

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  5. It's a lovely place, but, two and a half to three hours in the car? Yikes!

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    1. only slightly confused: Two and a half hours - each way. Which made for a very long day.

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  6. A lovely day out by the look of it. From your photos it must have been spectacular.

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    1. Denise in VA: I think the gardens are spectacular, and doubt that the time of the year would alter that.

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  7. Wow! This place is massive and beautiful. Thank you for giving us such a generous look around.

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    1. Martin Kloess: Thank you for describing my excessive photos as generous. It is a lovely place and my fingers kept clicking. And clicking.

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  8. Hi Sue,

    What a wonderful place to visit. Reminds me of the Japanese gardens I used to frequent in Vancouver out at the University of British Columbia. Thanks for this and the lovely photos.😃

    Gary

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    1. klahanie: Gardens are havens of beauty aren't they? Peace, serenity (and a lot of work).

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  9. Truly lovely. And, it's only winter.

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    1. Joanne Noragon: When the azaleas are in bloom the gardens will blaze. I do love it now though.

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  10. It is a beautiful garden to visit. I am sure that in the summer is even more beautiful.

    And I see an inuksuk on the thank you sign!!

    Greetings

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    1. Caterina: I expect it is lovely in all seasons. I had to look up the meaning of inuksuk - and then could see EXACTLY what you meant. Thank you.

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  11. Just wonderful! They are beautiful in winter and I suspect even more beautiful in summer. But your pictures show a place filled with serenity and beauty today. Thank you for sharing the place with me. :-)

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    1. DJan: I have now seen them in summer and winter. I would be hard put putting a favourite label on either season - and expect they are a joy in spring and autumn as well.

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  12. What a wonderful place, everything is beautiful.

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  13. I am amazed at the biomorphic topiary --something I always tried to incorporate in gardening public places. It is calming and meditative where strictly geometric design is not. I learned this from high school students who noticed the difference and sought me out. I took my cues from them.

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    1. Geo.: They did a beautiful job didn't they. I loved those rolling curves and meditative is exactly the right word. I would love to see photos of some of the gardens you worked on. Do you have any to share?

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  14. Really beautiful. The greenery is so lovely and peaceful.

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    1. Alexia: I thought so. And lovely the splashes of colour too.

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  15. It looks plenty beautiful to me in the winter! Best of all, no crowds. :)

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    1. River Fairchild: No crowds is always a winner. No crowds and beauty? Double bonus.

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  16. Just wonderful. It surprises me that the eucalypts work so well as a backdrop for the gardens.

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    1. Andrew: The eucalypts and the quintessentially Australian lichen covered boulders worked beautifully didn't they? Which surprised us too.

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  17. What a beautiful place. There were a couple of shots where the boulders reminded me of persons in prayer. It is such a serene garden.

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    1. Anne in the kitchen: It is serene. And calming. We happily wandered through it for several hours and felt little need to talk - just to soak up the beauty.

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  18. Such perfection. The creek with the little waterfalls has stolen my heart. If I ever have need of a landscaper (ha ha) I'll hire someone Japanese.

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    1. River: When you add in the sound of birdsong, and the scent (on this visit) of rosemary it IS close to perfect. And how I would love a creek running through the yard...

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  19. How beautiful! Well worth the drive there and back. Thanks for taking us with you, EC. :)

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    1. Lee: It is lovely, but after the last excursion I won't go back in summer.

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  20. It's very tranquil looking b ut of course thats a statement of the obvious for a Japanese garden!

    I didn't know the war dead were all brought to one place, it makes sense.

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    1. kylie: I suspect the total numbers of war dead were small which made it possible, but I think it is a lovely idea.

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  21. Hi EC - amazing to see ... and I had read the history when you posted last ... I think it's a lovely thing to do - to have one place of memorial. It certainly gives us an air of Japan via the vistas in the garden ...

    A return visit later on to see the changes would be interesting to see ... thanks for sharing with us ... cheers Hilary

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    1. Hilary Melton-Butcher: It is a lovely peaceful place and I really like that neither Japan nor Australia dominate. The eucalypts look 'right' with the formality of the japanese landscaping.

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  22. How beautiful and serene ... too bad it is such a long drive because I have a feeling you would enjoy having it much closer for return visits. Ah, well, it is within reach at least. And you have pictures! Wonderful pictures. Thank you for sharing them.

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    1. jenny_o: It is only just a day trip as far as I am concerned, but I am not sorry we went. I think I will agitate for a return visit in autumn.

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  23. Amazing rock formations. And the sky is so blue, I could look at it for hours.

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    1. Olga Godim: We were incredibly lucky. It was the only blue sky day that week. And I also love the rock formations. And the curves of the plantings.

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  24. A beautiful, peaceful place. I'm glad you had that outing!

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  25. Beautiful! I wish we had something like that nearby. I can really appreciate the Japanese aesthetic.

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    1. Jono: We are very lucky and have a lot of beauty nearby. I love the Japanese aesthetic even if I would not/could not try and recreate it for myself.

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  26. Sounds like a lot of meaning was behind the building of the gardens. I'm glad you had a nice time out

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    1. mail4rosey: And the gardens are glorious even if you don't know any of the history.

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  27. I love these pics and imagine the hard work that goes into maintaining this beauty. Your photos make me feel as if I was right there with you. Keep sharing!! Hugs...

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    1. RO: Thank you. I do worry that I put up too many photos about my obsessions/interests/outings.

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  28. Definitely a place to visit no matter the time of the year. Beautiful, thanks for sharing.

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    1. Mason Canyon: I am still blown away by the planning which results in year long beauty.

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  29. Thanks for posting more pictures. You have so many people comment on your blog I often wonder if you miss me when I'm gone:-)

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    1. Granny Annie: I do get a lot of comments. And am grateful for each and every one (except the spammers who I delete). Some people comment on most posts, some occasionally. And I accept that they have a life to live away from the blogosphere. Just the same if I haven't either heard from someone for a while (here or in their own space) I worry. So yes, I miss you when you are gone.

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  30. Dear EC
    It looks a very calm and contemplative place, but that is part of a Japanese Garden, isn't it? My favourite things are the 'hummocky' shrubs.
    Thank you for sharing your visit.
    Best wishes
    Ellie

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    1. Ellie Foster: I suspect you would like the hummocky shrubs even better when they are bursting with bloom. Some at least of them are carefully sculpted azaleas.

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  31. It is a beautiful place and nice way to remember the young men and boys doing their leader's bidding and losing their lives.

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    1. donna baker: It is. And I suspect that remembering lives lost through living beauty is the way to go.

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  32. I love the Japanese Garden, full up but plenty of room.

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    1. Bob Bushell: Lots and lots of room. Room to breath, room to revel in the beauty.

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  33. Oh my. It just beckons doesn't it?
    Thanks for sharing:)

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  34. A truly honorable, serene place to rest.

    Thank you, EC.

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    1. Rawknrobyn: I didn't see anyone who looked anything but relaxed. Not the visitors - or the staff. Which is rare.

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  35. What a lovely place!!

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  36. These gardens are amazing and are fascinating because plants usually have latin names, its very easy to identify them with someone who hasn't a word of english.

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    1. Spacer Guy: I am woeful at remembering the latin names for plants. And sometimes even the common names. Some days I resort to descriptions. Whatever the names I think that growing things speak to a lot of us.

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  37. By my maths two and a half hours each way = five hours!

    A long drive, but your photo's show it was so worth it.
    What an amazing place, such lovely gardens.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Lowcarb team member ~Jan: It was a little over five hours. Tiring (very) but I am still glad we went.

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  38. The gardens look beautifully kept. Such nice photographs too it must have been a great day trip (even if it took 3hours to get there). The photos must have been a good memory of your day there. It's an immaculate place to have gone.

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    1. Treey Stynes: The gardens are kept beautifully - and I suspect it isn't easy. I am glad we went. And today we had another outing.

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  39. I can hardly tell its winter by the look of it but in spring I would guess a lot more color and flowers and flowering shrubs?

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    1. Strayer: You are right, there would be more colour in Spring. And probably a few more people.

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  40. great to see how the gardens have matured. It would have been a long day there and back but great weather so why not.

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    1. Anna: I imagine the gardens will be beautiful still in another fifty years. It was a long day, but a good one.

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  41. What a beautiful place. I've never heard of it before.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Janie Junebug: It is lovely and I am not surprised you haven't heard of it. Even in Australia I suspect most people don't know about it.

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  42. So serene! Love the bridge.

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  43. Absolutely, definitely worth the drive from Melbourne. I especially like the idea of different cultures sharing something so beautiful

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    1. Kim: I hope that some day you can visit them. They are lovely.

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  44. Just beautiful. Thank you for this wonderful, colorful tour of the Japanese Gardens.

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    1. Lady Fi: Thank you. They are both of those things.

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  46. What a beautiful place to visit. I am sure it is lovely when flowers are in bloom, but the winter can show such peacefulness.

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    1. Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe: I thought it was perfect just the way it was - which doesn't discount it being also perfect at other seasons.

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  47. I truly love Japanese gardens. They're really amazing taking gardening as an art.

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  48. It's gorgeous now, so it must be breathtaking in the springtime. I hope you get to go back then when everything's in bloom. Then again, there may be a larger crowd visiting then, and you'd lose some of the bare-bones serenity the gardens has to offer now.

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    1. Susan: The last time we went it was mid summer. It was also beautiful but there were many more people about...

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  49. Don't you just love walking bridges in gardens? Always so enjoyable to just stop in the center of the bridge and watch the water.
    YOU, have a wondrous weekend.

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    1. Sandra Cox: I do love bridges. And water - moving or still. Have a wonderful day.

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  50. The pruners must be working around the clock to keep all that vegetation in shape. Very pretty.

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    1. Sue in Italia/In the Land of Cancer: I suspect that several people are employed full time. And work hard. They do an amazing job too.

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  51. Wow - now that's a wonderful garden. So peaceful - and gosh, do I like those boulders. One or two in my garden would be just right!

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    1. Carola Bartz: Some of those boulders were huge - and I lusted after them. And feature some more in today's post.

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  52. It is years since I have been to the Japanese Gardens. They are just beautiful. I have really enjoyed catching up on your posts.

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    1. CountryMum: Thank you for going to the trouble of trawling through back posts. It is years since we have been to the gardens too and I agree. They are beautiful.

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  53. looks amazing, and you don't need a passport and lots of money to get there.

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    1. catmint: It is lovely -at any time of the year. And how right you are. No passport - and the entry fees were very reasonable.

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  54. Beautiful! What a treat for us that you visited in winter because you are right, we can see the bones of the garden. I love seeing the structure of it all. Just gorgeous. Thanks for sharing. :)
    ~Jess

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    1. DMS ~Jess: They are elegant and beautiful bones aren't they?

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  55. That looks like a beautiful place. I felt peaceful just looking at your pictures.

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    1. Rick Watson: It is - and we all need more peace.

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