Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens

I was thrilled to find that Barry O'Farrell had kept his election promise of making all the botanical gardens free entry in NSW.  And there was me thinking that cynically, Mr O'Farrell was just doing the usual politician thing of promising and never delivering.  How very nice to be wrong.

Mt Tomah's one of my favourite places to go... beautiful colours of the autumnal trees at this time of years, combined with crisp blue skies, wonderful wildlife if you're patient enough to wait, plus an amazing drive there and back, past incredible escarpments that are worth pulling over to stop and have a look at.
And now it's free, there's even more reason to go, especially with your children who'll love rolling down the grassy hills, throwing the golden leaves around and following the Brush turkey who comes inquisitively to check out what you're eating for lunch.
Mt Tomah has a great cafe too.
Mt Tomah is the perfect place, I find, to find rest in a busy world and just fill your soul up with all the wonderful scents, sounds, colours and textures. 
Enjoy.  And 'Thank you, Barry.' 

Mt Tomah Botanical Gardens

I was thrilled to find that Barry O'Farrell has kept his promise and made botanical gardens free to everyone in his first few days in office.    I did think this promise was one of those wishy washy things politicians promise and then forget, conveniently, to do as soon as they're elected, but nope.  Mt Tomah, one of my most favourite places ever in the world is now FREE.

Finding that I didn't have to pay the entry fee was a lovely surprise, especially when I have three children to pay for.  We took a picnic and enjoyed a beautiful day. 
I can't quite describe why I love Mt Tomah so much.  It may be the beautiful Autumnal colours that remind me so much of Autumn in the UK, or it may be the wonderful wildlife that flits through the garden that I hold my breath to capture, or it may just be the stunning panorama but whatever it is, it fills my soul up and I feel this wonderful peace.