The Sydney Tropical Centre in the Royal Botanic Gardens, comprises of this Pyramid glasshouse and the Arc Glasshouse. The Deutshe Bank Place building is the skyscraper that rises in the background.
This carving, completed in 2011, has been made on the trunk of an old Forest Red Gum which had grown in the Royal Botanic Gardens for over 200 years. “Yurabirong” was carved by Aboriginal artists Glen Timbery and Vic Simms. Yurabirong, which means “People of this Place”, acknowledges the Aboriginal ancestors of Australia. The six different patterns on the tree, represent different tribal groups across central, western and north-western New South Wales. A representation of five Aborigines was carved into the lower half of the tree The sulphur-crested cockatoos that live inside the hollows of the tree were undeterred by the work. NAIDOC week, which this year runs from 3rd July to 11th July, is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in various fields.
The Venus Fountain statue sits in the Main Pond of the Royal Botanic Gardens. The original sculpture was erected prior to 1880, leading up to the International Exhibition. The base of the fountain was surrounded by weathered rocks and large clam shells, which were later replaced by a sculpted crocodile. The badly deteriorating statue was removed in August 1990 and cast in bronze. It was installed in the pond in September 1994 but the original was lost in the process.
‘Winter’ is a Victorian era sculpture located in the Royal Botanic Gardens. It is one of the ‘Four Seasons’ statues that adorn the Palace Gardens Steps. They were shipped from Italy in 1883 from the studio of Charles Francis Summers, an Australian-born sculptor living in Rome. The statues were originally located here but then were separated and distributed around the gardens where some lost vital body parts and adornments. Australian sculptor Jacek Luszczyk restored them by recreating the missing parts and the restored statues were unveiled in their original location in 2010.
A brilliant blue winter’s sky above the Conservatorium Gate of the Royal Botanic Gardens, close to Macquarie Street and beside the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. The surrounding bushes in bloom are adding a bit of colour at this time of year.
This wooden lattice footbridge over the Twin Ponds is one of many throughout the Royal Botanic Gardens. The water hen was contemplating going down the ramp into the pond.
The Queen Elizabeth II Memorial is a sandstone wall in the Royal Botanic Gardens which was built to commemorate the location where Queen Elizabeth II first set foot on Australian soil in 1954. It was erected by the governments of the Commonwealth of Australia and the state of New South Wales. I suppose it shows how much the queen and the royal family were held in high regard in those days. It stands beside the Fleet Steps which were constructed in 1908 to welcome the Great White Fleet, American Navy’s cruise around the world as a diplomatic mission of peace.