A thousand men have a thousand hamlets in their eyes; I think a thousand tourists and a thousand Australia. From Sydney in October last year, follow the easternmost pacific coast highway in new state north to Byron bay (Byron Bay).
Compared with America`s A1, this legendary Pacific Highway is no less than, or even more agreeable to me. Because meeting not only the dream purple spring, but also a lot of interesting and interesting things. Hunter Valley, Port Stephen, Grafton, Byron Bay. The names on these maps may be a little strange to you, but I can assure you, "Red wine, hot air balloons, deserts, surfing, dolphins, kangaroos, jacaranda." These keywords have a unique appeal to everyone who looks forward to traveling to Australia.
This time, let`s start with a purple romantic encounter.
Grafton: a small town of jacaranda
If you want to imagine a romantic scene, 90% of the people will pop out of the "flower"-related content. Gift flowers for girlfriends, flowers for apologies, proposals for marry celebrations, and so on. If you want to think about the typical romantic flower season around the world, a lot of people will still think of Japanese cherry blossoms, right?
What I never thought was that the new state in October turned into a romantic purple ocean because of a kind of flower!
It, hailed as Australia`s most beautiful flower, has a brief bloom every three weeks or so in spring, reminding you that the world around you is so beautiful.
But it, ah, is also the "nightmare" of Australian college students, because every flowering period means the arrival of the college final exam, so the overseas students sadly call it the "test flower", in the eyes of different people. It`s true that angels and demons are different. I didn`t notice it when I was studying in Melbourne, probably because I didn`t have to take exams for my courses.
It, is purple romantic-Jacaranda, jacaranda!
The new state`s best point of view must be the (Grafton) town of Grafton, 620km from Sydney (also translated as Grafton), which is hailed as one of Australia`s top ten most beautiful towns. Or you can call it directly-the small town of jacaranda. First planted in the 1870`s by local seed merchant Volkers, the flowers were not native plants and could have been seeds brought by sea from South America at the time, after all Brazil and South Africa were home to jacaranda. But because of its amazing appearance, the tree has become popular in small towns, making it a famous town of blue flowers and couplets in Australia.
We arrived at Grafton in the middle of the day, sleeping all the way in the car, but woke up as soon as we got out of the car. There are more than 6500 blue-flowered couplets here! It is no exaggeration to look at the purple ocean.
It was noon and the headlight was so strong that it was not the best time to shoot, but since we stayed here for only half of the afternoon, we had to stroll around one or two main streets. It would be beautiful if I could stay for a few days. As far as the eyes are concerned, the beauty of the sky is full of beauty, and the eyes are not enough at all.
At this time, the jacaranda has also begun to wither, the petals fell on the road, like the end of the purple rain. Basically as long as you like, any pose, is an unforgettable photo. The small town, where you can see the flowers, can also get a map from the official website. I share the following, the square-like area in the area, is the most four main roads of jacaranda, our time limit. We took the west and the north for a little while.
Grafton blue-flower couplets
Such a beautiful scene, if you don ` t use the celebration to remember it, sing it, it ` s all about this beauty. Therefore, the people of Grafton are celebrating the purple romantic moment, which is the "Blue Flower" during the period from October 27th to November 4th each year (it is said that there will be a slight deviation every year, but it is not far from ten). This is also the only flower-themed festival in Australia, which has a history of 84 years.
As we walked from the main road to the clock tower square in the center of the town, we could hear the sound of singing and dancing, and when we arrived, we were flooded with small bazaars, happy crowds, rows of diners, street performances, and playgrounds. Among them is the town`s largest bazaar square big stage, is said to have a performance later.
What should be done at such times, like locals, lay out carpets under jacaranda trees, bring out ready meals and drinks, and have picnics on the spot. After having enough to eat and drink, then wander around with the crowd, or buy souvenirs, or play with the children. In short, at this grand event where there are not many foreign faces in sight, You can learn to savor their lives from a local perspective, at least this moment is the culmination of their year`s joys.
Of course, the festival is the best time to take pictures with foreign friends, each of whom is enthusiastic and shows us the hospitality of the host. There are two stilts sisters at the scene of the eyeball and height of Mount Everest, everywhere everyone applauded.
An affable couple hovered among the crowd on the lawn, everyone around them greeted them, and, alas, it was the mayor of Grafton! Hustling a picture of the mayor around the neck of a large green necklace, I would like to borrow to wear it. Forget it, you can`t go too far.
Meet Boy Scouts, see their astringent appearance, , deliberately pulling a picture, they shy words do not know what to say, just do not stop nodding.
The breeze came, and the petals filled the sun with an indiscernible aroma. With the music on the main stage of the market square, the joyous festive atmosphere reached its climax in the afternoon. A well-dressed "actor"-in fact, a self-employed government staff member of the local residential and town hall-began singing and dancing on the stage. Singing and dancing is not the point (not professional), the lively atmosphere is the purpose of the carnival.
Looking at their happy appearance, suddenly thinking about taking pictures with all the actors and actresses, so brazenly went to the side of the stage to inquire about the person in charge, the result everyone agreed! I guess I was probably the first Chinese man in the history of jacaranda to take pictures with all the actors and actresses.
Unexpectedly, when I was holding up gopro and taking a picture with you, I was captured by the journalist of the town newspaper. The next day, I made the headlines of the newspaper. For the first time in my life, I went to a foreign newspaper for the first time. It was rare! So why didn`t anyone send me the last interview on Dubai TV? Ha ha.
See enough fun enough, don`t leave easily, in a row of shops near the clock tower there is an old ice cream shop called I Scream, which sells purple ice cream, like the color of jacaranda. There was a constant stream of people coming to the door for a taste. But I think there is also an important reason for the Internet celebrity store: welcome the little sister at the door.
Look, there`s a wall inside the ice cream store, full of beauty photo, dressed in American costumes, different in history, feeling like Miss World`s wall of historical retrospectives.A: no, no. Turning their heads and asking others what it was, they said, "it`s all `Queen of Jacaranda`. Haven`t you heard of it?"
"well, forgive me for my new arrival, unheard of."
So insider explained to us: the town will hold beauty pageants during the blue-flower couplets, divided into three groups: adult group, juvenile group and early childhood group. The winner will be named "Queen of Jacaranda" in this age group, namely, "(Senior)", "(Junior)" and "most Beautiful Baby". At the same time, there is also the title of "Princess Jacaranda". Queen Jacaranda will have some kind of tour arrangement to participate in various local community activities, just as Miss World will be associated with many public welfare events after she is elected. With the help of the local tourism bureau, we were given the opportunity to meet Queen Jacaranda alone!
In the middle of the picture is Queen Jacaranda of 2018 and the leftmost one of them is the Young Queen. This one on the far right is not the queen. You have the right to be the "manager or agent" of the queens, who is responsible for organizing them to participate in the activities. Queen Jacaranda and the princesses are not all decided by their appearance. Well, I guess you can see that there are a lot of factors behind the selection, but in the end they all need to serve the residents and the community of the town.
The following is the pure and delightful young queen of jacaranda in 2018:
When I bid farewell to this purple romantic encounter, I forgot to ask you, do you know what the flower language of jacaranda is? "waiting for love in despair."
. This slightly sad feeling does not sound like it at all, ha.
I also wish you all happy, happy and romantic regardless of whether you are single or have company.
mode of transportation
Self-drive: about three hours south from Brisbane, or seven hours from Sydney. It`s not a short drive.
Flight: the fastest is the plane. There are direct flights from Sydney to Grafton every day to, Qantas, Jet Star and Virgin Blue to, Coffs Harbour Airport at Ballina/Byron Airport every day. Then you can find a bus or hire a car from these airports.
Train: you can choose NSW Trainlink from Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Byron Bay or Moree aboard train to Grafton. Train Station is located south of Grafton.
Bus: all major transport companies have cars on the Pacific Highway and stop at Grafton. For example, these two:
- www.greyhound.com.au
- www.premierms.com.au/newhome/home.asp
Author:Huang Liang, travel photographer
