Bowral and Surrounds -- Mon., Nov. 12

Bowral, New South Wales is a town of 11,200. Today Bob and I explored it in our own ways.

Bob walked to the International Cricket Hall of Fame. He's a little confounded by the game of cricket. It's very complicated. Cricket games can last five days! He's been reading about the game, talked to a local man who gave him a quick what's what on cricket, and then spent a few hours today at the cricket museum. He hasn't mastered the concepts yet and wishes he could play the game to learn more about it.

I ventured over to Crocket Gardens which is touted as a main attraction in Bowral. I was expecting a huge estate filled with plantings ala Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Ha! What I found was a one-block area with a few large trees and some circular-shaped displays that were between plantings. Currently in bloom were three rhododendrons, pansies, roses and a plant I didn't recognize. (See below.) I was disappointed. A gardener was on site and I was able to ask him about some flowers they had in their garden that I had seen in Sydney at Hyde Park. I didn't know what they were. He informed me they are Oyster Plants. The gardener told me they're very invasive and hard to control.

Corbett Gardens looking sad...in between plantings.

Oyster Plant--photo from Hyde Park in Sydney.

From Corbett Gardens I walked along Bendooley St. where a number of the towns older buildings are. I saw more flowers in bloom in yards than I did at the gardens. Flowers in full bloom are lavender, roses, rhododendrons, bottle brush plants and some I didn't recognize.

After walking in town, I decided to drive to the top of Mt. Gibraltar--"The Gib" to locals--which is in Bowral's backyard. There are picnic areas and lookouts all around the mountain. The sky was blue with swirly, wispy clouds; a great day to overlook the area.

Mittagong Lookout on Mt. Gibraltar, Bowral, NSW.

I then headed back to our room to work on yesterday's blog and wait for Bob to return from the Cricket Museum to see if he wanted to go with me to Burrawang, a historic district. He was worn out from hours in the museum, so I set off for a 15 mile drive to Burrawang, not quite knowing what to expect.

The town was very small (100 inhabitants), perched on top of a hill overlooking two reservoirs. I thought maybe I'd find a cafe and have some cake and tea for my afternoon snack. There were only about six businesses in the town. The general store/cafe did not look open. A number of people were milling about outside the hotel in town. I didn't know if there was a pub there or a restaurant. There was no sign indicating an eating establishment. Oh well. I drove the neighborhood, saw the view.

On the way back to the timeshare, I stopped in at the old cemetery and snapped some photos. The cemetery was divided by religion: Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Independent, etc. The oldest headstones were Catholic and Anglican.

All in all, I had a relaxing day and saw Bowral. Tomorrow we're off to see Canberra, Australia's capital city.

Travel Bug out.