Chelsea Australian Garden – Dandenong Botanical Gardens

03 Sep Chelsea Australian Garden – Dandenong Botanical Gardens

It was such a beautiful day here in Melbourne today. The sun was shining and it seemed too good to waste. I pondered over a few destinations outside of Melbourne and came back to the idea of the Chelsea Australian Garden in the Dandenong Botanical Gardens.

Although this garden has been in the works since 2013, I believe that it only opened this year. And yes, it was quite busy (although not unreasonably so). If you are patient, you might be lucky to get a park in the car park next to the gardens.

A spontaneous trip

I probably should not have been there alone, but I did need to get my head around what taking day trips outside of Melbourne involves. And in retrospect, perhaps I could have invited a friend to take a spontaneous trip today!

The drive was actually fun. I avoided the tolls so I found myself cruising along some very rough and ready unsealed roads that reminded me of my childhood. And my car is such a delight to drive. I love small manual cars for that reason (and particularly mine). It can be so fun taking the turns and shifting up and down the gears. It was about 12 pm when I burst out into a little town, which may have been Olinda, but I am not sure, because there was another larger town a few km up the road which seemed to be Olinda, perhaps.

Ethical Coffee Roaster Cafe

I saw a man with a red shirt on a bike stopping at the Ethical Coffee Roaster shop and thought I would take the opportunity to grab some lunch,in case there was nothing in the gardens. It was such a lovely accident to come out into the world at that cafe. They had a brie and sundried tomato quiche, which was exactly what I was craving. And with the tomato relish they gave me, it was so delish! (Even if there was no salad with it!)

After lunch (and a delicious coffee), I started exploring the little town and found a Whole Foods grocery store, where I bought some eggs. It was so funny, because all that I needed to buy today was eggs and mushrooms, and I had travelled over 40 km to get the eggs (and the mushrooms were also available at a local supermarket there!)

Dandenong Botanical Gardens

A short drive later, I found myself in the car park of the Dandenong Botanical Gardens. It is notoriously hard to get a park here, but I saw some people leaving the gardens and walking into the car park. I thought maybe I would wait for an opportunity. And one wasn’t so far away! Yay!

At the entrance of the Dandenong Botanical Gardens is a lovely nursery and gift shop. Then further down the hill is a cafe and right at the end of that path are some public toilets, which are very handy. From there I started walking down to the Chelsea Australian Garden. It was such a wonderful space to enjoy. And I started to soak up the green, lush, natural environment into the core of my soul. It made me realise just how much I miss this natural environment living in the city all the time. Even after an hour or so in the Chelsea Australian Garden I still didn’t feel like I had soaked up enough nature to really get me back to a baseline. But my blood pressure did feel like it had dropped, and it was definitely a wonderful space to be in. Lots of lovely seating arrangements to sit in the sun and contemplate the sounds of the waterfall and the frogs and the waratah sculpture.

History of The Chelsea Australian Garden

In 2013, Phillip Johnson, Wes Fleming and the Trailfinders team’s ‘Australian Garden’ display became the first ever Australian entry to win at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show. The display was toured by the Queen and Prince Harry and was unanimously voted ‘Best in Show’ by the judges. Now visitors can experience this stunning design through a re-creation of the display at 20 times the size of the original.

Parks Victoria

I didn’t realise that it was a life-sized installation of a horticultural display. But it was definitely a lovely space to be in.

After soaking up this natural environment for some time, I started to explore the rest of the Dandenong Botanical Gardens. It is a wonderful time of year to do this because the Rhododendrons are blooming, as are the daffodils. As I wandered up and down the paths within the gardens, there were many plants and flowers that stopped me in my tracks with their beauty.

Finally, I found a view that opened my soul like a wonderful breath of fresh air, and I started to understand what it must be like to hike up mountains and see an expansive view from the top.

After wandering in the gardens for another hour or so, I made my way back to the exit (but not before showing some support at the gift shop!) and got back into my car for the trip back to Melbourne.

It was an intensely refreshing experience, even just for a day. And I came back to my house feeling rejuvenated and a lot clearer than I did when I left.

Such a beautiful day for it!