It’s holiday time and while Melbourne rushes to the beach, I rush to the city. The days between Christmas and New Year see beaches and shopping centres crowded, but the roads are free of school traffic so moving around is easy. There’s a laid-back summer vibe in Melbourne that I love. Cricket at the “G”, picnics along the Yarra river and tennis fans anticipating the start of the Australian Open.
It’s been a hot night and I’m cranky. I need a coffee but I’m cutting back. Tea for breakfast. But the supermarket teabags taste like wood shavings. I need to buy tea from a great teashop that happens to be in the Dandenong Ranges, an hour away. Marvellous. Any excuse to get out of the city for a few hours, perhaps drop in on my favourite garden in Olinda and let mountain air work its magic on my ho-hum mood. As Emerson said, “The Earth laughs in flowers.”
As I climb through the hills the outside temperature steadily falls to a pleasant 24 degrees. The huge mountain ash, neanderthal tree ferns and gentle winding roads seem to calm and soothe the soul and I’m excited to find my favourite tea shop Tea Leaves in Olinda.
I wish I could say that I’m a connoisseur of tea, but sadly Russian Caravan tea is as exotic as it gets. But I stock up on English and Scottish breakfast tea. and the odd teapot and a tea caddy for the new blends.
This shop has wall to wall tea. Blended, single origin, herbal, white tea, black tea, green tea, chai, Pu-Erh (?), Matcha, broken leaf teas, whole leaf teas. Teas from China, Sri Lanka, India and yes Australia! Perhaps you’d like a licorice mint tea? What about Nettle tea, or Calendula? There’s tea for sleeping, waking up, slimming, calming and snoozing. And if that’s not enough there are blended teas like Earl Grey Lavender tea, Apricot Peach tea, Strawberry Cream, Macadamia Nut and Spiced Christmas tea. (which I doubt will replace mulled wine!)
After a lovely chat with the salesperson about how to live on the wild side with my tea choices, I strutted with my bag of teas as if I had just had a Gucci experience!
Next stop Cloudehill Gardens, just a little further down the mountain in Olinda. My husband and I lived in this area for 16 years. In summer we would picnic and listen to jazz in these gardens. The evenings in mid- summer always started warm but by nightfall the cool evening wind sent us scrambling for woolies and blankets. It’s a magical setting.
The gardens were originally woodland and flower farms in 1890’s. The soil is magnificent and rainfall plentiful. It can snow here in winter and some days the fog doesn’t lift off the mountain. This is a cold climate garden.
In 1992, landscape designers Jeremy Francis and Valerie Campbell-Wemyss bought the 5-acre property on a steep hillside and began the task of terracing and creating their vision. It’s a magical place with planting for all seasons- the perennial borders, lily pond, peony pavilion, wildflower meadows that gush with awakening bulbs in spring and Japanese maples that explode in colour in autumn.
Walking around this paradise I’m struck by the design elements- terraces, architectural structures, sculptures, urns, the open space of the theatre lawn, and the tightly clipped topiary and choreographed landscaping of the more formal areas. There are places to sit, breathe and notice the detailed colour palette of the borders. It’s designed but not over designed. There are wild meadows and narrow untamed walkways that provide a sense of exploration- I wonder what’s around this corner?
Framed vistas abound with hedging, focal points and pathways leading the eye forward.
Why do we visit gardens? I feel surprise, awe and gratitude for seeing a vision translated into such abundance for everyone to enjoy. Creating a great garden requires patience, knowledge, skill and a creativity beyond that described in books. I’ve created gardens and knew the joys and back-breaking work required to create such a dream. It’s also the most satisfying creative force that I have experienced.
If you get the chance, visit a beautifully designed and curated garden soon. At its most basic it will give you ideas. At its most ethereal it will calm the mind and heal the soul. Oh, and stop and buy some tea along the way!
words and images by Nora Vitins
cloudehill.com.au
tealeaves.com.au