We DO have white sheep in Australia.

Today we travelled to Cowra for the Cherry Blossom Festival and a walk around the Japanese Memorial Gardens. Unfortunately, a couple of recent unexpected frosts halted the blooming of the cherry trees in their tracks and set them back a couple of weeks. Normally they would be in flower now but we only spied one little flower. However, the gardens were beautiful, as always. We will probably wait until our cherry tree blooms and then take another trip over to Cowra, and Young as well, to see the blossoms. After a few years (although it seems like forever) of only seeing brown paddocks, it was wonderful to see the grass so green, the crops growing and the dams full to overflowing. And I can honestly say I have never seen so many WHITE sheep in Australia in one day.

The last comment harkens back to 1993, which we spent in England. I couldn't work out why I noticed all the white sheep so much. After all, we have sheep here, but I never seemed to notice them. A few days after returning to Australia we took a drive down to Victoria and, just outside Canberra, came upon a paddock of sheep. Ah, the penny dropped, so to speak. In England the sheep are clean and white due to the rain and the fact that the grass is green all the time. Here, the grass dries off and the wind blows the dust into the oily wool, turning the fleece the same colour as the grass or dry ground. They just blend into the background and you never notice them. But today, the grass was green and the sheep were white, and didn't they look beautiful.

Below is a series of photos of the Japanese Memorial Gardens at Cowra. Excellent use is made of water, rocks and sculptured plants. Shrubs close to the lakes are pruned down to a metre in height so that overall views of the gardens are not impeded.















On the left is gardener trimming the Diosmas so they don't flower as they attract too many bees for such a public garden.





Group of Bonsai maples.


Bonsai pine.