Dreamtime Garden

In October I’m off to Australia for my first visit – with the Melbourne Botanic Garden as one of my top destinations – so I’ve been following the preparations for their Essence of Australia garden with particular interest. Their Best in Show, Gold Medal winning garden is a wonderful taster of what I will be seeing with indigenous plants in a largely silvery-grey palette, bubbling billabongs and a path that sinuously winds through the garden to represent the Rainbow Serpent, a dreamtime creature from Aboriginal culture. It also encompasses modern Australia – every time someone tweets #EssenceofAus the waterholes bubble as if the serpent has awoken. It’s a great collaboration between the Botanic Garden and Trailfinders who are offering visitors to the show the chance to win a trip to Australia. Tourism Victoria and Trailfinders have both been fantastically helpful in tailoring my own trip (not a press freebie) so I’m sure that the winners will have an equally good experience.