Bowral Tulip Festival.....

This past weekend John and I spent some time down in the Southern Highlands. Like most people I have been before but that was many years ago. We primarily traveled down for the tulip festival and opening of the private gardens however once you enter the Southern Highlands the landscape takes one’s breath away with it’s shear beauty. After all of the recent rains the countryside was lush and green and everything seemed so clean and crisp. The mountains, the valleys and the meadows were rich in pastures and it was such a pleasure to drive through it all.

Bowral itself dates back to the mid 1800’s in fact, the railway was built through there in 1860. One of the first locals that we spoke to took it upon himself to give us a short history of the area lol.

The story goes something like this….many a Sydney-sider traveled on the train down to Bowral for a country style holiday. It became so popular by 1886 that it was considered the major destination south of Sydney. The businesses and residences (many still standing) were made of sandstone and were considered state of art because they had gas and in years later, they even had electricity. The locals paved the streets for the horse and carriages, to prevent a clogmire after any rain.

The local town had a gasworks, a brickwork (sandstone blocks), a milk-processing business and local services for the farming community such as a doctor, a sweet store (glad to hear that the early settlers had their priorities right lol), a grain store, 2 hotels, a restaurant, a blacksmith and a general store.

In order to encourage more tourism from Sydney, the locals grouped together to plant many exotic deciduous trees; these were carried from Sydney in wagons and carts which was pulled by horses. Many of the trees are still standing on both sides of the streets and have grown over and joined across the tops of the roadways. Eventually many bulbs were also planted which are what have multiplied and make up the tulip festival. It was interesting to read that at the end of the tulip display you can take your shovel and help dig up the bulbs. For $15.00 one can take home a bag of 100 bulbs for your own personal use.

We arrived very early and the only rain was several hours in the late morning. Fortunately by the time we met up with my sister and her friend for lunch, the clouds had passed and the sun was shining.










The main display was at Corbett Park but between Mittagong and Moss Vale (Bowral being in the middle) there are many private homes with magnificent gardens opened for viewing. The colours were breath-taking and a photographer's delight. I am still in awe of such beautiful vivid colours which can be found in a single tulip. When one steps back to look the gardens are amassed with colour. Oh to live amidst such glorous grounds lol.

I couldn't imagine Spring being the same without the whole magical feeling one gets from new flowers like these, especially tulips. If you think of springtime a picture of a yellow tulip immediately comes to mind, the gardens then brighten up life after the grey winter.

I made this same remark to one of the gardeners, who stood talking to the visitors roaming through the park. He said that they begin to plant the bulbs five or six months ahead of flowering time. About one to two months after planting a tiny hair-like seedling appears. There are no chemicals delicate enough to control the weeds that grow aroundthe tulip, without harming the seedlings, so he and the other gardeners, remove every weed by hand for the next six moonths (my back was aching in sympathy for them).

It was worth visiting the area just to have a look at some of the old homes; they were absolutely beautiful. I loved the old buildings in Bowral as well. It is so hard to imagine settlers building such exquisite structures with no modern tools or appliances. It was all done with draft animals, wagons, mallets,chisels and the sweat of human muscles. The intricate detail in the sandstone left me wondering whether this has become a lost craft these days. It is so difficult to cull the photos but I have sellected these after shooting over 450...yes 450! Thank god for digital, I would never have afforded that much film lol.

I hope that you enjoy my photos as much as I enjoyed snapping them. I will make mention of Christian Wright, my photography lecturer and instructor, who sugested that I would learn much by visiting the tulip festival, thank you Chris.

Anyway, we stayed in Mittagong on Saturday night and spent Sunday visitinga few more gardens down at Moss Vale which has some wonderful old antique stores and craft shops as well. The afternoon was spent was the footy grandfinals at the club, the locals all supporting Manly lol. Then headed off to Fitzroy Falls early Monday morning. Enjoy!