IMAGINATION OVERLOAD...
Whilst away...on a cold and rainy grey day...we headed off for a drive. About twenty minutes out of Queenstown as you head to Glenorchy we happened upon Little Paradise Lodge and Garden.
This place is amazing. The lodge, with not one boring white wall in place, is stunning. You can even be guests here...what a place to stay!
This was created by using paint and sand for texture on the grasses.
The owners, a Swiss man and his wife, have worked hard. Although she claims it is all his work, she simply keeps it all clean and tidy. (There was a lot of garden to keep tidy)
He has built all the bespoke furniture and painted every room.
He created the mosaic on the floors and the wall mural...and the bathrooms!
Real live fish in the flushable water tank. The outside toilet (for the public) also has a water run so that the plants and moss growing on the floor are watered each time the toilet is flushed. Amazing.
But what really inspired us were the gardens. Stunning array of trees and shrubs and the bulbs. Tulips and daffodils in their hundreds.
Then of course, there were his sculptures.
From the front entry and along the path....
to the couple playing near the swing.
This archway marks the 45th parallel...halfway between the equator and the South Pole.
Vicki
This place is amazing. The lodge, with not one boring white wall in place, is stunning. You can even be guests here...what a place to stay!
This was created by using paint and sand for texture on the grasses.
The owners, a Swiss man and his wife, have worked hard. Although she claims it is all his work, she simply keeps it all clean and tidy. (There was a lot of garden to keep tidy)
He has built all the bespoke furniture and painted every room.
He created the mosaic on the floors and the wall mural...and the bathrooms!
Real live fish in the flushable water tank. The outside toilet (for the public) also has a water run so that the plants and moss growing on the floor are watered each time the toilet is flushed. Amazing.
But what really inspired us were the gardens. Stunning array of trees and shrubs and the bulbs. Tulips and daffodils in their hundreds.
Then of course, there were his sculptures.
From the front entry and along the path....
to the couple playing near the swing.
This one was near the fish pond. A figure jumping over the wooden fence from one part of the garden to another.
Another figure meditating near the pond.
A few figures striking yoga poses.
Although this one would be hard to do.
We wandered this garden, not only oohing and aahing over his gardening skills. (You should have seen the monkey puzzle trees)...but his sculptures. Even the signs pointing us in which direction to walk where marvellous creations.
As we left we actually met the man behind all this work. A humble man, who when we said how amazing it all was, simply shrugged and said 'he liked making things that were fun.'
Sadly so many of us don't get the chance to do this...or have forgotten what it was like to use your imagination and simply create. I'm lucky that in the job I do, I get to make crafty things all the time. But I also do so at home...I garden (creatively)...I bake....I knit and sew and make cards and presents.
I also write...although at times I know I have lost that ability to have fun while doing it.
Visiting this garden, and seeing so much creative fun inspired me to get out and about and do more.
More importantly, to have fun no matter what I do.
Vicki
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