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Hi,

we had a reconnaissance visit at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens this past weekend. Curly and I were there for about 2 hours and didn't come close to covering the whole gardens.

Also plenty of native birds, mostly honey eaters, wetlands area and koalas if you are lucky.

We can spend a good part of the day at the gardens. Get there early, catch the nice light, have lunch and continue after lunch with more photography for those interested.

There is a nice coffee shop where they serve sandwiches, cakes, hot/cold drinks, etc. There is also some nice picnic areas for those wanting to bring a picnic.

A number of you had expressed interest in a spring visit so I'm trying to organise one for October. The Saturdays in October are 7, 14, 21 and 28. Earlier in October is probably better for the wildflowers.

Website for the gardens:
http://www.huntergardens.org.au/

Admission is by gold coin donation.

Gardens open at 9am and close at 4pm.

The Gardens are just off the Pacific Hwy close to Raymond Terrace, so it is an "easy" drive from Sydney. There is plenty to do in Newcastle for the Sunday for those wanting to spend the weekend with the rest of us Novocastrians

Just reply to this thread if you are interested or have any questions.

Cheers,

André

hi andre sounds good to me, im interested.
cheers pa

I'm interested André and any time in October is fine by me.

Andre,

Defintely interested.

Committed to going to Floriade (Canberra) this year for a couple of days when the displays are at their best (have some friends in Canberra who will let me know when that is). Floriade is from 16/9 - 15/10.

Thats the only impediment for me at this stage

Ray

count me in, unless there's something else on I don't yet know about

Jenno wrote:Andre,

Defintely interested.

Committed to going to Floriade (Canberra) this year for a couple of days when the displays are at their best (have some friends in Canberra who will let me know when that is). Floriade is from 16/9 - 15/10.

Thats the only impediment for me at this stage

Ray

This was another item I was thinking about as well.

I'm interested. I might camp up at Mungo Brush for the weekend. Will know if I can make it and what dates are OK closer to the dates. Will be nice to meet a few more people and get some tips.
Cheers,
Mick

I am interested.

hi andre again. after viewing the web site you posted,it looks like a great place to spend a day.plenty of photo ops.
cheers pa

Hi,

just so people can pencil this event in their diary and also that it can appear in the calendar section of the website, I suggest we settle on Oct 7th. We don't want to leave it too late for the wild flowers or to get too hot.

The plan would be to meet at the kiosk at 9am so we are ready to get going by 9:20.

There is plenty to do at the gardens, we can gather for a picnic lunch around 12:30 and continue after lunch for those that have the energy. The kiosk also sells drinks and sandwiches.

You will need to take some insect repellant, sun cream, a hat, water and of course any camera gear you may need. If you have a tripod, this is a good place to use it.

Cheers,

André

Thanks André. I've added it to my diary and to the calendar on the front page.

Sounds great. I also have it pencilled in my diary and am still planning to camp up that way in my van for the weekend.
Cheers,
Mick

In the diary

Hopefully it's not as hot as the day we went to the wetlands with Stubbsy (40degrees)!

7 of oct sounds good to me,i'll be there.
cheers pa

Oscar wrote:Sounds great. I also have it pencilled in my diary and am still planning to camp up that way in my van for the weekend.
Cheers,
Mick

Let's know where you're thinking about camping, always a good time

Sheepie,

sheepie wrote:Hopefully it's not as hot as the day we went to the wetlands with Stubbsy (40degrees)!

Certainly shouldn't be that hot in early Oct

But I haven't figured out how to adjust the outdoors climate control, yet.

André

Okay,

back from holidays, can't wait till the next one Good thing a long weekend is coming.

Just want to confirm numbers for this outing. See the first page of post for details but in a nutshell:

What: Hunter Botanical Gardens Meet
Where: said Gardens just past Hexham along Pacific Hwy going north
When: Saturday October 7 2006 - 9am
Duration: as long as you want

Those that showed interest in this were:

radar - confirmed
stubbsy - confirmed
sheepie - confirmed
pa
jenno - confirmed
oscar - confirmed
nito
huynhie

Anyone interested, please confirm your attendance and I'll send you a PM with my mobile number in case you need to contact me on the day.

cheers,

André

André

Just confirming I'm up for this. In my diary already and looking forward to it.

yip - bed booked and looking forward to it also

I'm in

I'm still keen to get up to the gardens but not sure on transport now. Will confirm shortly.
I was going to go camping up that way but my wife has the van for the next week - taking my daughter visiting the relos - so this has fallen through.
My current plan is to be able to use my sons car (if available) and travel up on Saturday morning. I'm going to the night shoot in Sydney after work on Friday (I work in the city) and should still be up there in time to get to the gardens for the meet - I hope.
Cheers, Mick

Mick,

Oscar wrote:I'm still keen to get up to the gardens but not sure on transport now. Will confirm shortly.

I'd be able to pick you up/drop you off at the Broadmeadow train station if you would also like to use the train. Unfortunately, on weekends, there isn't much to choose from in early morning. From Strathfield, you would have to get the 4:58 train that gets you in Broadmeadow at 7:40. We could go for some early photography around Newcastle before the gardens or just grab a coffee.

Let me know if that option suits. On the way back, the options are better as there are faster trains to take you back to Sydney.

Cheers,

André

Oscar wrote:My current plan is to be able to use my sons car (if available) and travel up on Saturday morning. I'm going to the night shoot in Sydney after work on Friday (I work in the city) and should still be up there in time to get to the gardens for the meet - I hope.
Cheers, Mick

I'd be able to take you up Friday night, but you have other arrangements

Forecast for Saturday
Fine. Mild day. Light and variable winds with afternoon seabreezes.

Newcastle: Fine. Min: 13 Max: 24

Just confirmed. Oscar has wheels for Saturday!! Hopefully I will not sleep in. Cheers, Mick

I had another great outing today with great company to boot. Thanks for organising the outing goes to Andre. And thanks to all who came along. I really enjoyed myself, learned a little more and even got a couple of good shots IMHO. It was worth the drive.

Thanks again. Cheers, Mick

Certainly was worth the drive Mick!

and even got a couple of good shots IMHO

Dont be shy...Lets see 'em

My thanks also to Andre (how to you do the little roof over e? ) for organising the meet. Good location and good company.

Ray

Thanks to everyone that came on Saturday, I had a great time.

I don't think I got too many keepers but learned lots. Macro photography is not easy.

Cheers,

André

Jenno wrote:(how to you do the little roof over e?

You méan liké this?

It's réally véry éasy.

(Copy and pasté is your friénd.)

Thanks for organising a great day André. It was good to see some of the Sydney members along for the fun as well.

Jenno wrote:(how to you do the little roof over e? )

In addition to what Gary says you can hold down the ALT key and type 0233 on the numeric keypad to get the é since 0233 is the ASCII code for the é character (who says I'm a nerd)

Oh and the "little roof" is called an acute accent

stubbsy wrote:Oh and the "little roof" is called an acute accent

And we think that you have a cute accent as well, Peter.

The stuff you learn on this forum...simply amazing ...é..I did it.. whoa hoo.

Thanks gentlemen