Feasting On Flora At The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens In Hobart

Australia has lovely botanic gardens everywhere and the example in Hobart is top notch. A relaxing setting, rolling hills, a long history, some theme areas. All worth a casual stroll.

Plants everywhere, kind of expected. Also, a nice pond full of lily pads and a convenient viewing platform.

An old, red brick wall brings a little Colonial era patina to some flower beds. Funky Huon pine sculpture, dedicated to early French explorers on their Antipodean voyage. There will be a history test later.

Ohh, Asia calling. There's a perfect Japanese garden area, complete with iconic red bridge.

More themes. Inside the Subantarctic Plant House, stuff that grows where few people dare to venture. Because it's freezing! A raised bed community garden, cranking the tomatoes. 

Back to the stately Victorian era for a classy greenhouse conservatory. So refined, no muddy shoes.

Riding Rails At The Lachlan Valley Railway Heritage Centre

Does every small town in Australia have a railway museum? That's a rhetorical question. Cowra still has an open, working small train station and an old roundhouse museum a few blocks away. Best of both worlds for any train buff.

Facade of the train station, designed in the usual Gothic Rail style.

Down at the Lachlan Valley Railway Heritage Centre, Rosie is hanging out. If you get de-railed by all the interesting engineering the mighty Harman crane can assist.

Cool car, a mobile classroom for training train techs. Know your connectors!

Ye olde time travel. The number of your sleeping compartment. Alas, only a ceiling fan, no cool A/C. First class with big, leather seats.

Roundhouse turntable and future projects. The typical train museum is always a labor of love of a few volunteers in a race against the rust.