Garden sights in Australia
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Kings Park & Botanic Garden
The green hilltop crown of Kings Park & Botanic Garden is set amid 4 sq km of natural bushland. The garden boasts over 2000 Western Australian plant species, which bloom during the September Perth Wildflower Festival. The architect-designed Lotterywest Federation Walkway (admission free; 9am-5pm) is a broad 222m-long, glass-and-steel structure that allows you to walk among the treetops – it’s a highlight.
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Chinese Garden of Friendship
Built according to Taoist principles, the Chinese Garden of Friendship is an oasis of tranquillity. Designed by architects from Guangzhou (Sydney’s sister city) for Australia’s bicentenary in 1988, the garden interweaves pavilions, waterfalls, lakes, paths and lush plant life. It’s too serene for words (so shut up and be still).
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City Botanic Gardens
The spacious City Botanic Gardens is a regular chill-out spot for CBD workers and students craving fresh air and beautiful views of the Kangaroo Point cliffs. Set alongside a curve in the Brisbane River, the gardens form Brisbane’s oldest park and are filled with walking trails, green lawns, bamboo gardens, bunya pines, macadamia trees and Moreton Bay figs. The pretty Mangrove Boardwalk, a wooden walkway skirting the riverbank on the eastern rim, is lit up until midnight, affording good opportunities to spot possums.
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Botanical Discovery Centre
The small yet beguiling Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, located near Tasman Bridge, was established in 1818 and features more than 6000 exotic and native plant species. There's also an outstanding conservatory and the Sub-Antarctic Plant House. After wandering through the 14 hectares of flora, you can explore their world in more detail in the Botanical Discovery Centre, which also houses a gift shop, kiosk and restaurant.
Some paths are suitable for wheelchair-users.
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Royal Botanic Gardens
The Royal Botanic Gardens was established in 1816 as the colony’s veggie patch. The attitude is relaxed – signs say: ‘Please walk on the grass. We also invite you to smell the roses, hug the trees, talk to the birds and picnic on the lawns’. Go exploring, take a free guided walk, or jump on the trackless train if you’ve overdone things.
Highlights include the rose garden, the South Pacific plant collection, the prickly arid garden, a rare Wollemi Pine (an ancient tree only discovered in 1994 in the Blue Mountains), and a colony of bats. Management periodically tries to oust the bats because they destroy vegetation, but they just keep hanging around… The Sydney…
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Brisbane Botanic Gardens
At the foot of Mt Coot-tha are the lush Brisbane Botanic Gardens, which extend for 52 hectares and include over 20,000 species of plants. It’s a wonderful spot for a picnic (there are shaded areas and toilets) or ideal for simply wandering through the many gardens. Highlights include the fragrant plant and herb garden, tropical dome and bonsai house.
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Castlemaine Botanic Gardens
Enjoy a stroll in the gardens, just north of the town centre; it's one of the oldest and best in regional Victoria.
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Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
The excellent little Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, established in 1818, showcase more than 6000 exotic and native plant species. Explore the flora in detail at the Botanical Discovery Centre, which also houses a gift shop, kiosk and restaurant.
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Fitzroy Gardens
The city drops away suddenly just east of Spring St, giving way to Melbourne's beautiful backyard, the Fitzroy Gardens. The stately avenues lined with English elms, flowerbeds, expansive lawns, strange fountains and a creek are a short stroll from town.
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sculpture garden
An eclectic sculpture garden with ‘art' and some leftover props from the film Pitch Black.
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Symbio Wildlife Gardens
Meet and greet a Tassie Tiger at Symbio Wildlife Gardens.
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Botanic Gardens
Townsville's botanic gardens are spread across three locations: each has its own character, but all have tropical plants and are abundantly green. Closest to the centre, the formal, ornamental Queens Gardens are 1km northwest of town at the base of Castle Hill.
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Adelaide Parklands
The city and ritzy North Adelaide are surrounded by a broad band of parklands. Colonel William Light, Adelaide's controversial planner, came up with the concept, which has been both a blessing and a curse for the city. Pros: heaps of green space, clean air and sports grounds for the kids. Cons: bone-dry in summer, perverts loitering and a sense that the city is cut off from its suburbs. A statue of Colonel William Light overlooks the gleaming city office towers from Montefiore Hill.
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Palmetum
The Palmetum, about 15km southwest of the centre, is a 17-hectare garden devoted to just one plant family - the humble palm. More than 300 species are represented here, including around 60 that are native to Australia.
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