weekend walks: auburn botanical gardens

Posted on April 28, 2014 Updated on June 17, 2014

For $4 who would’ve thought we would’ve seen kangaroos, brush turkeys, green peafowls and a Japanese Garden. We were running a little bit short of time this weekend, so squeezed in only this little walk. We hadn’t visited the Auburn Botanical Gardens before but weren’t we simply  surprised.

As we entered, the Japanese Garden is the first thing we see. There is traditional landscaping wrapped around the lake, complete with a tea house, zen garden and bridges. The late afternoon sun striking the leaves and the trees made for a beautiful backdrop. For a moment, it took us back to when we were in Japan. The entire Botanical Gardens are serene but this part was particularly peaceful and photogenic.

Walking to the left of the Japanese Garden is the fauna reserve – there we saw wallabies, kangaroos and an emu. There was an enclosure for a wombat but we were not able to spot him. We could spend hours watching animals, especially the way they interact with one another. This particular kangaroo was trying to reach the feeding pan but was constantly being frightened off by a Cape Barren Goose.

As we weave around to our right after leaving the animals, we enter the native rainforest section where we come across our first brush turkey, first of many as it turns out.

Actually, there are so many birds roaming free in these gardens, it was really quite a treat!

Our last stop for the visit was the sunken rose gardens – the roses we did see were all in full bloom and the colours as striking as ever but unfortunately there weren’t too many left in the bushes. The rest must’ve been pruned only recently.

Our biggest surprise was seeing the Reflection Pool. The signage states that the tree at the far end is a progeny of the original Lone Pine from Gallipoli in 1915. We found that fitting for us to be able to visit on ANZAC Day*. Another very peaceful place in the gardens for us to stop and reflect: Lest We Forget!

The Auburn Botanical Gardens is about 19km west of Sydney. It is open 9 am to 5 pm (and until 6 pm on weekends).

* ANZAC Day is the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli back in 1915 during World War I. It is the day when Australia and New Zealand remember those who served and died in military operations.