Tag: Trees

P: Pioneer Park

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Pioneer Park at St Arnaud, Victoria is full of history. It was created on the grounds of the old Lord Nelson Gold mine. And was designed by Edna Walling in 1947. At the time Edna was one of Australia’s most influential landscape designers and she did it for free. Because her friend asked her to. Today, Pioneer Park is the only public park remaining designed by Edna.

As part of her design 200 trees were planted from 36 species in a giant working bee of the town’s people. As I wondered around what remains of the park today I was surprised to see some very different trees. My favourites were the Atlas Cedar and the English Oak. Both looked magnificent and it was exciting to see tree types I had never seen before.

The Atlas Cedar (above) is native to Morocco and the English Oak below is said to be common in Australian parks but was a first for me.

Behind Pioneer Park is the remains of the old gold mine. Some of the locals tell us that the pool of water or pond was a place the children of the town swam. Whilst today the remains look highly polluted they say that when they were swimming there no-one got sick they just had a lot of fun and kept cool. The shelter in the photo below even states

“Presented to the children of St Arnaud by Frank Bray Esq in memory of Dr S.R.Bray accidently killed 1943.”

For us Pioneer Park was also another exciting place that we happened upon. We didn’t understand its true significance until we started wondering around.

Gnarly Adventures

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One of my favourite things to do in Australia is to go on a bush walk. I love communing with nature and getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Everytime I go bushwalking I am reminded of my childhood and weekends with my family. We would spend hours exploring different areas with dad pointing out and explaining even the smallest detail. Gnarly trees were always special and we would often stop and study them. I found them fascinating. The knots and growths of the old trees often looked like the tree had a face and was trying to tell us something. It is interesting how a group of people can look at the same gnarly tree and see completely different things.

The following gnarly tree photos were taken whilst on a long bush walk at Bundanoon in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The walk was one of many in Morton National Park and didn’t disappoint.

Thanks to Cyranny for today’s Word Of The Day Challenge inspiration – Gnarl

Interestingly in Australia gnarly is also a slang word that has been used since the 70’s to mean very good.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Time

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Shaolin Temple 2-9-13 145

Shaolin Temple 2-9-13 144

This tree in the Shoalin Temple, China is the oldest living thing I have ever seen. Our guide told us it was 1500 years old, which initially left me speechless. I struggled to understand the changes that would have occurred in it’s time. However, once I grounded myself, I enjoyed spending several minutes in this grand old masters presence mindfully connecting with both past, present and future. I love trees, they give me energy, especially those that have been around for a very long time.

What is the oldest living thing you have seen?

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/time/