During the time Kay and I lived in a suburb of Sydney for four months, our reveling in the Aussie experience included many visits to the Royal Botanic Garden. The aptly named Bottle Tree was but one unique tree "down under". Our favorite was an old monster with widely spreading twisted branches and a trunk that reminded me of a Banyan. It may have been a Moreton Bay fig tree. There was a strategically placed bench with The Tree in the foreground and The Harbour in the background. While absorbing nature there one day, a feathered creature stalked in front of us. A yellow tipped red beak was followed by a red slash over the forehead, beady red eyes and black feathers, all borne on a pair of stilts. The Dusky Moorhen was unconcerned by our presence and avoided stepping on our toes as it went by (one of our first purchases in Australia was a bird field guide, we unfortunately did not obtain a tree guide). This being an Australian botanic garden I should not have been too surprised at the exhibits of "exotic" trees such as an oak from North America.
To my eyes, the garden abounded with the wildest looking and strangest birds. There was one notable exception. Having lunch at the restaurant in the garden we encountered birds that needed no field guide for identification, English sparrows scavenged for crumbs. Myna birds took the place of our Starlings all over town. In one of the nearby parks we were privileged to witness a flock of Sulfur Crested Cockatoos cavorting around, screeching and dive bombing the ground in play. We had one close call. At another time, elsewhere, in the early evening we came across trees full of Galahs, a different Cockatoo. They were all simultaneously and most loudly discussing the events of the day with each other. The way you cook a Galah is to put it in a pot with a stone and boil for a week. You then throw away the Galah and eat the stone. Search as we might, we never saw a single kangaroo in the botanic garden.
Mrs. Macquarie's Point is on a spit of land projecting from the botanic garden. Her stone "chair" is there where she sat and gazed out toward home, England. Government House is on another extension of the botanic garden into the harbor. A photograph I have of it includes a tall, narrow tree with yellow leaves. Next to it is a tree with red flowers. Hey, I can name several woody shrubs, perennials and annuals that can live in upstate New York. I recognize a Tamarisk tree when I see one. I will also never forget what a Boojum tree looks like even though it can not survive here. Beyond Government House is the famous Opera House and, with the right perspective, the equally famous bridge over the harbor.
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