Mayfield Gardens

What an extraordinary day today! We headed west to visit the Mayfield Gardens which are only open to the public for a very short window during autumn and again in spring.

I had hear rumours that this was an amazing estate but honestly, nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed today. Inspired by the grandeur of English country garden estates, the Hawkins family and their passionate team of gardeners and artisans have spent many years shaping 160 acres of Mayfield's 5000 acre property into a natural wonderland of incredible beauty. It is reputed to be one of the largest privately owned cool climate gardens in the world.

I have agonised over which of the dozens of images I took today would be the one!! In the end, I have chosen an image that for me summed up my experience. This image was taken in the water garden, a vast expanse of magnificent ponds and waterfalls that exhibited some of the most exquisite water plants and cool climate trees. It was such a hard task I decided to add some images to my blip folio. I really encourage you to take a short tour of Mayfield Gardens and wherever you can view the LARGE image.

The property is a working farm and one of the images on my blip folio shows some of the fantastic produce that they grow in one area of the farm.

We spent nearly four hours in the gardens which give you a pretty good idea of the vastness of the estate. Driving through the countryside today was an absolute joy as it's as green as Ireland at the moment and would you believe it we found ourselves at the Tarana Pub before we knew it. The best T bone steaks in Australia were beckoning!!