a giant pear tree

When Penny and I walked in Banksia Park yesterday, we admired the old cherry orchard and then headed off along the walking trail. I stopped to read this sign...

(Click on the photo and the sign will 'biggify' so you can read it.)

What old pear tree, I wondered. I looked around. No pear tree here. Only this giant tree I'm standing under...

I looked up. Oh, wow!

Omigod! Is that how big my little backyard pear tree will grow? We don't generally see big deciduous fruit trees in Melbourne, because European settlement only dates from about the 1840s in this area. This would have to be the oldest pear trees I have ever seen in Melbourne.

I had to convince myself it was indeed a pear tree. I still couldn't believe they get so big. So to Penny's mystification I climbed onto the nearby seat to examine the blossom. (She looked away from the horrible sight of me peering down at her.)

Yes! Pear blossom!

Penny and I will be back early next year to see if there's fruit for the picking.

Cherries and a dog park

While most of the family were at the MCG watching Hawthorn Football Club become the AFL 2013 Premiers, Penny and I walked at Banksia Park.

For me it's the park of last resort, because to walk around it briskly takes only three minutes. Three minutes! I guess it's somewhere different to go, with new smells, and when you're not feeling very energetic you can stroll around a couple of times and at least know you've taken the dog for a walk.

However, when I looked up info about the park, just now, I realised it's a park aimed at older dog owners, or ones with a disability, so I can see that it's a good resource for the area, because it's well fenced and has open areas for dogs to chase balls - a handy place for humans who can't walk well.

Looking over the fence, I noticed an old orchard of cherry trees, so I had to go and investigate, seeing I'm keen on edible gardening. I read on this site that the orchard is called The Japanese Cherry Orchard, because it was planted when the Japanese Prime Minister visited. I'm keen to find out moreabout this visit and about the age of the cherry trees, but will have to research it off the Net, because I can't find any information online.

Because the place was deserted - everyone else watching the big footy finals, I suppose - I thought it would be okay to break the rules for once and investigate the orchard with Penny off-lead. (The grass was too long for me to cope with her on lead.)

While I admired the blossom...

Penny ate some delicious grass.

DWTDS and Heide Museum of Modern Art

Penny had a quiet day today, while I sat at the computer looking at the THIRTY-ONE entries for Honey's dancing competition - Dancing With The Doggy Stars or DWTDS.

However, there was still time enough for a walk, of course. I couldn't decide which of the many lovely places to visit, so I thought I'd just head off towards the Yarra and see what nice spot we came across. And we got lucky! I headed down into Banksia Park, thinking we would have to walk on lead, and noticed a sign pointing to a 'dog friendly' area at the rear.

It was quite small, but beautifully designed, with one looping path, strong fences all around, and clumps of undergrowth to break it up into smaller areas so the dogs wouldn't have to be all in one place.



It even had a special entry with double gates, like a kind of 'air lock', to protect the dogs from the cars in the car-park,



and drinking bowls with taps.



After we'd walked around for about thirty minutes, I gave in to Penny's wishes - she had headed to the gate each time we passed it. I thought she must be tired. However, once I put her on lead she seemed to get a fresh lease of life and we headed off to explore, even though it was getting dark.

To my surprise I discovered we were just behind the Heide Museum of Modern Art and dogs were allowed into the gardens.



We wandered around, Penny using her nose to explore, and I using my eyes to enjoy the massive sculptures, and then we even went into the kitchen garden.






By this time it was quite dark, which by the way explains the terrible quality of the photos. Also, I only had my phone. Next time I'll take my camera. We will definitely be exploring this spot again.