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Carnival of Flowers - Toowoomba

Hi lovelies,

Yesterday we played tourist in our town.


Toowoomba is well known for it's gorgeous gardens in the spring and the town and surrounds celebrates with 10 days of activities and floral splendor.



This is the first time in many years we have ventured out to see any of the gardens and considering the drought I was pleasantly surprised at the beautiful display.


Rob, Sarah and I set off with our first stop being the Queens Park Botanical Gardens. 



The walk through these gardens is nearly all flat and so great for everyone,  We did offer to take another friend and push her around in a wheel chair, but she declined.  Perhaps she did not trust me to keep her on the path. 😉


We wandered through the flower beds, where there were magnificent displays of snap dragons, pansies, tulips and poppies and even kale to add colour and texture to the display. 


We took a slow walk up the viewing platform to see the display near the cenotaph.  The theme for this area this year seemed to be Aussie back yards.  It had displays that included water tanks, a Hills Hoist and a thunder box.  This even had the shoes showing from under the door. 😄



From there we wandered back to grab some tickets to take the Ferris Wheel ride to get a birds eye view of the gardens.  We were trying to work out what the theme was for the rectangular beds.  We are still unsure, just know they were stunning.
 


We were not disappointed by the view offered from the ride.  We even managed to see a very rare "football" flower in one of the trees.  Now I know that the photo is not very good (the bloom is in the upper right hand corner), but these blooms are so rare you can nearly miss them as you zoom past. 😂 It was well spotted by Sarah.


We then went of to see the fountain, and to take the standard face in a hole photo.  What lovely blossoms these ones are.


Next it was off to Laurel Bank Park.  We managed to snag a park that was being offered by the Scouts, and the payment was well worth it for a secure park with a short walk.


This year there were a number of hedge sculptures on display.  We had fun trying to work some of them out, and to be surprised when what we thought it was from a way off turned out to be completely different.  What we thought were a couple of elephants standing, turned out to be a giant spider, eeek.  (No photos of spiders, but did you really expect me to have one 😨)



There were a number of world landmarks, a few people standing in the shade, Thomas the Tank Engine, and a number of animals. 



Another trip up a viewing platform and the theme for this area was the Commonwealth Games.  Again the gardeners had done an amazing job and depicting displays using flowers of different colours and types.


 I was pleased that there was a display board at the bottom as I was still not high enough to get a good shot.  Favourite scene was the swimming, where the competitor was being chased by a shark.  I bet he set a world record. 😊


While we were at the park there was a band playing.  The dance floor at the front provided a great time for mums and kids to shake some moves, and we were blessed to see a more mature couple show us how it should be done.



I am ever so pleased we were home for the Carnival this year.  It was wonderful to be able to take time to stroll and admire the work of the gardeners.  I wonder if they would consider doing our garden while we are away.

 


All for today lovelies.

Have a great day.
Rob and Lizzy

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