Sept 12 and it’s spring in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Azaleas are in bloom in the Japanese Garden. The Water Dragons on the prowl since it is mating season. They slip out of the shrubbery and look about then suddenly rise up on all four feet, puff up their head and jut out their chin.
Lorikeets, birds so colorful you can barely believe they are real, are gorging on the berries in a flowering tree. White Ibis with their long curving beak prance about on their long legs, pecking in the soil for bugs. Mud turkey with a beaver brown tail, and a collar of caution yellow and red light feathers dig in the compost creating a hole to lay their eggs. White cockatoos scream as they fly overhead.
All around are stands of giant golden and black bamboo. The ancient Woollemi pines line the road up to the lookout point. From there the skyline of Brisbane reveals itself against a blue sky.
This is a garden of incredible varieties of Eucalyptus, bromelaids, succulents, and aloes, in great form.