Land, tree and house-scapes

Having written about the landscape last week, I was very aware as I drove around this weekend of the vistas around me. The weather was stunning, we bought that chainsaw and have been basking in the warmth of our fire, and we saw some lovely places. After running around all day on Saturday, we swung by Kholo Botanical Gardens – simply because it is close and we have never been there. It perches above the Brisbane River with trees and gardens belying the fact that it was only a Bicentennial Project (1988).

The first picture is a distant shot of the Brisbane River. If you can ignore the power pole, the forested hills and river look much as they would have to early settlers making their way upstream.


I don’t know how old this fig tree is, but it is an example of the large fig trees native to this area. Many farms in the Rosewood Scrub still have fig trees in their house yards, often towering over houses. I see them as almost the perfect Swiss Family Robinson tree.


The final two pictures are of a historic building in the gardens that is being restored by the council (and being put out to tender as a function centre). Although some of its features are clearly reproductions (and I’m not sure how authentic the carriage lamps are), you can get a feel of what a colonial house would look like. These are the types of houses built as soon as families had settled into the area and absorbed the local architectural vernacular. The wide verandas are a particular feature of Queensland colonial architecture.