Auburn - continued

Cherry Blossom Festival - continued

We spent a pleasant morning wandering around the Gardens.  While we were in the Japanese Garden, we saw several Peacocks strutting around and fanning out their magnificent tails.  I was thrilled to see these fantastic, colourful birds. We then made our way to a billabong, where we sat down on a park bench and watched the waterbirds gathered on a little island in the middle of the water.  By now it was after midday and we were beginning to feel hungry, so we made our way to the food stalls and bought some Japanese takeaway and then a cup of tea at another stall and sat down by the Pool of Reflection to have our lunch.

A beautiful Peacock strutting along the path, happy to mingle with the visitors.  These birds add an exotic touch to the Gardens.  The male Peacocks use their tails to perform mating rituals and courtship displays.

A Japanese Teahouse by the side of the Lake and jutting out over the water.  There were lots of little porthole windows where you could peek through and get a good view of the ducks and geese on the water.  The Teahouse made a nice little garden room with benches along the sides where you could rest or have a picnic.

A Dusky Moorhen walking around on the little island in the middle of the billabong.  There were lots of birds around the billabong and also up in the air and in the trees around the water.

Here is part of the waterfall at the far end of the Lake in the Japanese Garden.  We stood on a little decorative bridge, in front of the waterfall  and watched the water cascading down under the bridge and into the Lake. 

There were plenty of food stalls, selling mostly Japanese takeaway food.  We chose some delicious krispy chicken on satay sticks and also some prawn and vegetable gyozas.  There was also a kiosk selling tea and coffee.

After our lunch, we decided to catch the bus back to the station as the weather was becoming cold and a strong wind was blowing.  We were glad we had been able to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival and found it most entertaining.  The bus trip to and from the station was also interesting as we were able to see all the places that were so familiar to us after living for 28 years in Auburn.  It has certainly changed a lot since we left 17 years ago.