Botanic Gardens - Urangan

Next to the Kondori Resort I was staying at in Urangan ($50 for the cheap rooms) are the Great Sandy Region Botanic Gardens.

The main entrance. It's a bit off putting being so plain.

It starts off like most botanic gardens but soon you realize the vegetation is tropical.

There is a lake fed by a small stream / canal affair.

A couple of pandanus pines.

The garden designer must have been to Monet's Garden at Giverney. It's not an exact copy of the Japanese Bridge, but reminiscent.

The more I saw of this garden, the more I liked it. It was an overcast cool afternoon but it was a pleasure to stroll around.

The trunk of one of the palm trees.

Some pond scum.

Since it was a cold gloomy afternoon, I had the place to myself.

A large part of the park is accessible by the kind of dirt path you would find in one of the national parks.

You could easily think you were in a rain forest, yet it is only 200 yards to a supermarket.

The more typical garden view.

I enjoyed this set of gardens more than I expected and I'd really like to see this place again on a sunny day.

Pialba to Point Vernon

It's about five kilometers from Pialba to Point Vernon at the northern end of Hervey Bay and it's quite different to the southern half of the bay.

The path to the beach at Pialba which used to be the most important town at Hervey bay. It still is because the 'strip' is just outside town on the road to Maryborough, but essentially, the old part of town is dead.

The tide was in so the beach was narrow.

A water park. It was closed but looked inviting.

This caravan park has always been popular in winter and it still is.

The pathway goes past the caravan park on the way to Point Vernon.

I really like the leaves on these bushes which my mother grew on either side of our front gate in Maryborough. My sister sent me a message saying that it is a Fijian fire bush (Acalypha wilkesiana ).

The beach heading north.

An interesting tale about the above three photos. I asked a council worker what was the story behind the poisoning. She indicated by a quick nod that somebody in the block of units on the right poisoned the trees and bushes on the foreshore to open up the view. May that person rot in hell.

The interesting part of the beach on this walk is the lack of sand for most of it. The underlying rock is exposed and in parts, mangroves are growing.

Playgrounds for children are so interesting in Oz. Sometimes I wish I was five again.

I found this house interesting fore the curved roof and also the sign below.

Some who view this will immediately think 'Gabs and Bags', an inside joke.

Wattle, the national flower. Winter is usually the best time to see it in Oz.

The vegetation is constantly changing along the foreshore.

Finally, the small park just before Point Vernon.

The rocks at the Point.

There is some sand at the Point, but it is very course and not the squeaky fine sand at the southern end of the bay.

A pandanus pine with it's curious root structure.

The fallen leaves.

There is a boat launching ramp.

Of course, some are more serious than others.

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And you have to wonder about a sign like this one.