I saw the pictures last year, and booked the accomodation months ago. This weekend we went. Country NSW.
The trees. Everywhere. I can’t recall any stripes, just trees forever and ever. Country NSW.
I had imagined that I would be taking millions and trillions (even zillions) of photos, even taking a digital SLR camera with me, but alas, it stayed in my suitcase.
What happened?
To be honest, I think I had just built it up too much in my head and therefore felt a little disappointed with reality. Don’t get me wrong, the natural beauty was spot on, you can’t beat that. That never disappoints because I don’t think you can even imagine how great it will actually be. But it’s so hard to photograph, really really hard. I’m just an amateur ‘snap with my phone’ kinda photographer.
My disappointment was with the gardens we visited, the gardens from the pictures I saw years ago…a major reason for our trip. In fairness the disappointment was not with the gardens, but my response to them. I was just expecting more natural beauty, more rugged landscape, more Australia, but instead we found well groomed beautiful gardens, meticulously planned, somewhat English and lavish. I’m not a fancy kind of girl. I can’t keep up! Anyway, I felt a little foolish and a little sad.
Despite the colours and the undulating grassy lawns leading to ponds and stepping stones…(sounds amazing huh?, and it was!), I just found myself (and my family) somewhere that I wasn’t expecting. The introvert and empath within me spoke up and I vocalised that I felt bad that I had imposed this experience on them. They were fine. They said so. And I think they were. My daughter, otherwise known as a wise old women in disguise as a child, said calmly, “Mumma, it’s ok, you got to go to the maze, behind the waterfall and take some beautiful photos” – she was right of course. It just wasn’t quite what I expected – it was 38 minutes lost in a maze, a fake waterfall, and just a handful of photos (but who needs 100’s anyway?)
Anyway, just now, literally just now (back in normal every day life), as I was running and trying to work out how to write this post, my Spotify wouldn’t work. So instead of my usual fast 5k jog playlist I had a schmozzle of random tunes from my iTunes account that I no longer use, and I ran a slower 6k with a fast finish! Never did I expect that today. And never did I expect Joni Mitchell would be jogging by my side, or an REM track would get me through the line, a track that I first owned as a teenager on a cassette tape (copied from a boyfriend) in my bedroom in the north of England…I never expected that today. The whole experience made me smile.
They say expect the unexpected. I’m going home to my daughter what she thinks.
Stripes and Trees x
Stripes & Trees 