Bus Trip to ‘The Shambles’ garden and Maleny, May 2015
What a fantastic time we had on our bus trip. The sun was shining, a crisp breeze kept us alert (and wrapped up) and a lovely time was had by all, appreciating ‘The Shambles’ garden and the many delights of Maleny and the surrounding countryside, which is just beautiful at this time of year.
Our first stop was at Burpengary for a lovely morning tea and then we soon found ourselves at The Shambles being welcomed by owners Kyleigh and Michael Simpson. Their garden was an inspiration, with meandering paths, garden ‘rooms’ and nooks everywhere you looked. Plenty of benches were to be found, where you could sit in peace and enjoy the surroundings. A quaint little cabin was found at the bottom of the garden that felt like you were transported to an earlier time in history. Beautiful blooms everywhere you looked and in particular, some stunning Red Hot Pokers which stole the show. There was something for everyone in this garden and it was also interesting to note that apart from when they first plant in a species, the garden was never watered and relied purely on rainfall.
Our next stop was at a lovely gift shop, café and nursery called “The Garden Maleny”. I believe quite a few of us spent a little cash here! We then took a break for lunch at Mary Cairncross Park, which had an awesome view across the hinterland and some delightful bush walks.
Our next stop before heading home was the township of Maleny where we were able to spend some free time browsing through the shops and indulging in ice creams, fudge and coffees.
As with all such trips, there is always a lot of effort that goes in to its planning, so a warm thank you goes out to everyone who helped on the day and prepared refreshments and food. A special thank you to Mavis and Faye for the organisation of the trip, Trevallan Lifestyle Centre for the lucky door prize gift vouchers and to John, our regular bus driver who kept us all safe and well entertained!
- Our first stop for the day – a delicious morning tea at Burpengary.
- Roadside garden of ‘The Shambles’
- Tom giving me the hurry up! 😉
- Listening to Kyleigh and Michael Simpson welcome us to their garden and giving us a brief history of how the gardens came to be.
- This sign took my fancy 🙂
- Interesting garden features everywhere
- Admiring a cultivar or trying to decide what it is?
- Another quaint ‘nookery’
- look closely to see the statue hidden amongst the foliage
- A lovely hideaway at the bottom of the garden
- This sign gave us all a giggle!
- Enjoying the bits and bobs inside the hideaway.
- Inside the hideaway and feeling as if you’ve time travelled back to a long ago era.
- Tom and Mavis Wakefield enjoying the garden.
- Something to see, everywhere you look.
- Thankfully, many of the plants were labelled to help us identify them
- These red hot pokers were the show stopper of the day.
- Two beauties… and the flowers weren’t bad either 😉
- Lots of colour, overgrowing fences – a wonderful effect.
- Lots of areas to sit and take in the garden
- This stunner really stood out. Purple Berry, Callicarpa Bodinier
- We stopped off at “The Garden Maleny” – a beautiful cafe and nursery with giftwares and a gallery
- “The Garden Maleny”
- Some lucky birds live here
- The quaint and cottagey entrance to ‘The Garden Maleny’
- Camellias in bloom
- Enjoying lunch at Mary Cairncross park
- A perfect lunch spot at Mary Cairncross park
- The lookout at Mary Cairncross park – what a view!
Previous Bus Trips
Buderim Bus Trip 2012, See video
Stradbroke Island Bus Trip 2011, See video