Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 8 November 2015

I have a new toy ...

I probably should have done this a couple of months ago as extending my travel footprint has been a slow and painful process. Actually, I'm just tired of getting lost. Now I can go places!

So first on the list - Kew. A cold and grey day, but no rain. I took so many photos - more than 400 - that it's taken hours to edit them and decide what's in and what's not. You can thank me later. There is just so much to see. In fact I got tired just going through the pics, no wonder I was exhausted that day! I didn't even get into the main greenhouses - all I did was walk around the gardens and I was there for 6 hours.

Where to start? I headed for the Alpine section. This in an ingenious structure which acts like a cooling tower for the plants inside.

Despite the season, or perhaps because of, there were lots of flowers in bloom ..

The vegetable garden - called "Kew on a plate garden", was winding down for the winter but there was still lots to see including purple brussel sprouts and leftover pumpkins from Halloween.

On to the Woodland Garden. Some of the paths had been closed because it was so muddy but you could still get up to the Temple of Aeolus.

Good views from here but also an amazing roof inside.

Too cold to hang around enjoying the view, so moving on ..

Past the peacock doing what peacocks do - preening without embarrassment.

Past the Chinese Guarding Lions ..

Past Hercules in the Palm House Pond..

It was time for tea and what a selection! I just had a scone. I don't know how this is possible, but I'm heading for overload in the pastries department.

In the restaurant is the most wonderful mural which depicts the storm of 16 October 1987 when more than 1000 trees were uprooted at Kew. The mural was made from the trees that fell in the storm. Strange connection, I remember the floods in Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu Natal that same week. Kate and Dayne were born that week and there was a real concern that we would be on the wrong side of the Dusi.

Fortified, off I went and discovered a Unicorn. He's on an outside wall, hence the need for a chain.

There are a couple of art galleries here.

No cameras allowed so these were snuck in.

Also the Marianne North Gallery. I didn't get any photographs but what an amazing collection. She travelled the world from 1871 for 13 years and painted everything she saw - absolutely astonishing. Even South Africa features.

Onwards - through the (deliberate) ruined arch.

Heading towards the Pagoda built in 1762. It's almost 50 metres high but apparently real chinese pagodas should always have an odd number of floors - this has 10. During the Second World War holes were made in each floor so that Brit bomb designers could drop models of bombs to see how they behaved. Even the Brits "maak 'n plan".

A quick detour to Queen Charlotte's cottage which is under construction, so no delay there. Spring is the time to come back, the woodland floor which surrounds the cottage becomes a sea of bluebells.

Berries everywhere ...

And these beautiful blue berries and pink petals. How can they be real?

I was very curious to see the next part of the gardens - the Xstrata Treetop Walkway. Being familiar with the Boomslang at Kirstenbosch I was interested to see how this one compares. It's impressive. 18 metres high and 200 metres long and it's a circular walkway. It's so much bigger and really hangs out in the treetops. There is even a lift. The flooring is iron gridwork so you can see the garden floor as you walk. I generally have no problem with heights but it is a long way down. A young guy ahead of me had a bit of a panic attack. If you don't like heights, you won't like this walkway.

This is the escape chute. Considering how pernickety the authorities are about health and safety, I wouldn't rate my chances particularly well should use of this chute be necessary!

It will take a lot for a walkway to beat the Boomslang and I don't think this one actually does. We can justifiably be proud of the walkway and most definitely of Kirstenbosch. One of my favourite places in the world!

Underneath the walkway though, is the Rhizotron - a stylized depiction of tree roots. I really liked this exhibition.

Are you still there? I told you there was a lot to see ...

I got a bit lost at this point trying to find the lake. I mean, how hard can it be? But I walked and walked and then I realised I had been pretty much walking around the lake. What an idiot. With sore feet.

I particularly wanted to see the Sackler Crossing - the first bridge built across the lake. It's only been around since 2006 and is built from black granite. It's walls are a series of flat bronze posts which, seen side on, look like a solid wall, but when seen head on, are individual. Really stunning.