01-29-2020: Japanese Garden

This morning we walked around Lou’s neighborhood. There is a chemist (pharmacy) at the end of the main neighborhood street that we visited so Lou could get a prescription filled. We then walked down to Brisbane Water to enjoy the view. The street down to the water was lovely as there are huge gum trees that attract all sorts of birds. Also, one of the residents feeds the birds so we watched a bunch of crested cockatoos on the railing. Cockatoos are squawky birds; they make such a ruckus coming and going. The Rainbow Lorikeet are beautiful when you see them fly by.

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I wish that I could attach an olfactory clip. Everywhere around the neighborhood the jasmine was beginning to bloom and the smell is ambrosial.

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At the chemist shop we chatted with Suzanne and told her about our day at Mt. Penang. She recommended a Japanese garden to us and Lou knew exactly where it was, so after lunch, off we went to the Japanese garden in East Gosford.

The Edogawa Commemorative Garden is a beautiful peaceful space located in the Gosford Regional Gallery precinct.   Gosford formed a Sister City Agreement with Edogawa, Japan in 1988. A gift from Edogawa, the Garden was officially opened in September 1994 and has been designed in accordance with the original principles of the Japanese Heian (700AD) period. Extending over 4,000m2 (just about one acre), the garden is based on a traditional ‘shuyu’ (strolling style) garden, incorporating Japanese features. With meandering pathways, a roofed Japanese pavilion overlooking the Koi pond, raked dry stone garden and traditional Japanese teahouse, the garden offers a tranquil setting in which to relax and enjoy art and nature. It is a beautiful layout in really a very small space, but it doesn’t seem small.

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The Japanese garden is really wonderful. It is a very small space, but it feels so relaxing, soothing and so much larger than it is. There are all sorts of decorative Japanese ornaments along meandering pathways.

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The Koi Pavilion would have traditionally been used to catch fish. Today it is a viewing platform to watch, feed and appreciate the beautiful Koi carp. The pavilion design is reminiscent of the style of building used for festivities in ancient times. The Koi were huge and beautifully colored.

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The Dragon’s Tail waterfall takes its name from the movement of water to and fro across the rocks as it tumbles into the pool that feeds the lotus pond. It refers to the imagery of chi or living spirit that inhabits all living things.

There are several lantern-type sculptures throughout the garden. The large kotaji lantern is said to bring good luck and fortune to young couples in love. With one leg in the water and one on land, it represents the bridge between two worlds.

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Turtle Island is comprised of large hand-selected rocks. The turtle is raising his head from the water. Turtles are said to fly into Japanese gardens on the backs of cranes. A crane in the garden represents one thousand years of good luck whilst turtles symbolize ten thousand years of longevity and good luck. Turtle Island represents the isle of the blessed, an ancient symbol of good fortune, where the soul travels to and resides after death.

There is a dry stone garden or Karesansui. Three stones are displayed in a sea of raked gravel. The rocks represent islands within the ocean of life and are a modern interpretation of the traditional sanzon arrangement of three rocks symbolizing heaven, earth and man. Heaven, represented by the tallest rock, is adjacent to earth, the horizontal rock. Man is shown as a diagonal rock, separate from the others representing modern man’s quest for meaning and relationship within his environment.

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In a Japanese garden, the changing seasons are illustrated with plantings to highlight the passing of time – the cycle of birth, death and re-birth. In spring and summer the lotus and water lilies bloom in the koi pond and the wisteria is in full fragrant bloom. In autumn the maples and cherries turn orange and gold. In winter the beautiful hedge of camellias bloom behind the dry stone garden. I could imagine what the garden looked like in the different seasons, especially in springtime. Many of the smaller shrubs are azaleas and so the garden would explode in color when the azaleas were in bloom. Even though we didn’t see much color at this time of year, the garden was just beautiful.

After the garden, we wandered through the galleries. There were some really interesting paintings, a few quite powerful by Chris Bates, a local artist. Her exhibition, Slipping Away, is a poetic suite of paintings lamenting the looming devastation of climate change. Harnessing the power of art for social change, this series was conceived to counter the threat of inaction on the environment. Her paintings contrast the great beauty of natural elements with menacing suggestions of ecological disaster. Some of her paintings really punched you in the gut.

We enjoyed our time at the garden and gallery and returned home to rest before going to dinner with Alex and Gloria. They picked us up and we went to the Central Coast Leagues Club. Licensed and registered clubs are not-for-profit, member-based organizations that exist to provide infrastructure and services for the community, and further a core purpose, such as the promotion of sporting activities or veterans’ welfare.    This club is somewhat similar to where we went to meet Alan and Marianne, but was fancier. It, too, is a casino and gaming club, but the draw for us was a spectacular buffet. There was every kind of food you could imagine. Alex said the buffet is available every night, 365 days per year. I don’t know how this would be profitable, but I guess the food production is offset by the casino. We stuffed ourselves on the most amazing selection of food and goodies.

After dinner we went back to Alex and Gloria’s beautiful home and sat out on the veranda enjoying the quiet evening and the jasmine-scented air. Christine and Gloria are two peas in a pod and they enjoy each other so much. They laugh and laugh. Alex gets in the act, too. We had a delightful evening.

Another fantastic day! We’re off on another trip on Friday. Thursday will be a day of rest, laundry and getting ready to head north to Lou’s brother Tony’s place near Coff’s Harbor. Tony saved his house but lost 80% of his timber in a bush fire. It will be interesting to see what that area looks like as it was hit hard by fire.