Hunter Region Botanic Gardens

Four Bucks for parking - and we're in the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens. A grey Saturday with soaking rain, it was perfect for the girls to try out their new umbrellas. So we headed off in the direction of the arrows and just explored our way around. One thing you know about the HRBG - there are plenty of signs and maps and arrows around the place, so there is no chance of getting lost.

A typical garden room scene

the tree fern room

the grasses have colonised after the lantana was removed

the cacti garden is huge, (in mid winter during rain)

the bromeliad greenhouse

The Botanic Gardens is sited in 140ha just north of Newcastle on the Tomago sandbeds, with wetlands to the north and south. The soil is sandy and supports an open dry forest, which is planted under with various themed rooms. Celebrating 21 years in 2011, the Garden is proudly maintained entirely by volunteers, who have regenerated the native forest from lantana infestation.

As far an attractions go, the Gardens might lack a slick marketing budget, plastic merchandise and over priced entry tickets, but I'm sure that's not the volunteers aspire to. What is in abundance is space, wide walking paths, thick old trees and wildlife.  You can't go past feeling the genuine care and effort that the volunteers put into the gardens.