Royal Botanic Gardens / Kew Gardens

I hadn't managed to take any photos for 3 weeks while I was getting used to my new job and time schedules. So I made a point of getting out of bed on one of my days off. I had said to myself that if the sun was out then I'm going to The Royal Botanic Gardens (which I ride past everyday).
Seeing as the sun was out and the clouds weren't building up too fast, I packed my camera, battery, memory cards, put my huge jacket on and walked out the door. I was going to use this trip for a photo project too. Shooting on my 70 - 300mm all the time. I had packed my 18 - 55mm kit lens just in case, you never know when a totally awesome shot is going to jump out and hit you. One doesn't wanna be unprepared.
When I got to the gardens, I've gotta admit that I was a little shocked to see that there was an entry fee. In SA all botanical gardens are free. So I stood by at the entrance wondering if I really wanted to pay £12 out of the £20 that I had left til payday (4 days down the line). I decided to pull my socks up and do it. So I whipped out my £20 to pay and was pleasantly surprised to find that the fee was only £9.50. Yippee, I was feeling good already.

I was greeted by a most amazing sight, a green floor peeping thru in patches, between a whole stack of purple and white flowers, Crocuses. I was truly in awe, I've never actually thought of spring as a season until now. Of course I took pics of those and the pigeons that were walking about. I tell you what the pigeons are huge here!!! They are the size of a baby chicken the you pay R90 for in a restaurant.
I received a nice little map with my receipt of entry so proceeded to read it and find out where I was to go first. Off to the glasshouses that I see everyday on the way to work and so desperately what to go into. I was side tracked on the way how ever, by The Palm House and the beautiful gardens surrounding it, not to mention the statues of animals representing different countries. click click click and click .
Seagulls were flying about and my attempts to capture them in flight were terrible so those were deleted.
Going into The Palm House is a whole nother experience! It's sunny outside, yet still unbelievable cold and inside it's hot humid and just like home. I seriously wanted to whip out my bikini and just enjoy the heat. My camera didn't enjoy it too much thou, from being at about 8 or 10 deg C outside to being instantly warmed to about 30 excluding humidity was, well a wet experience for my camera. My glasses, the lens, viewfinder and LCD screen were all misted up. I didn't wanna risk damaging my cam so I went outside in a split second.
Now to find my glasshouse... But again I was distracted, I saw this view point atop a hill, it was so secluded and peaceful that I had to go and see what pics it would yield. The Temple of Aeolus was it's name, it was beautifully placed, I really enjoyed sitting there and looking around, just smiling to myself while taping my foot to my music. I reckon I looked like a right nutter...
Finally, to the Princess of Wales Conservatory. This place was awesome. As you walked in you could unzip your jacket and stop chattering your teeth as th first climate you hit was a semi-arid one. Filled with cacti and plants that live in those conditions I spent a good 20 mins taking pics of just that section. And the sunlight was streaming in making for a photographers dream with backlight plants and sun streaming onto prickly surfaces. I found myself again, just smiling and enjoying every moment of this experience, my £9.50 seemed to be paying itself off already.

Hunger was starting to set in so I went to a converted manor built in 1791 to get something to warm me up. Sitting on the bench outside, enjoying the sun a seagull flew up and stood in front of me talking, asking for some muffin... At £1.50 a muffin, there's no ways I'm going to give him any. I even drank my latte with no sugar coz I totally forgot. It was organic coffee thou so it tasted very good never the less. After taking some pics of Kew Palace I wondered off to the Temperate House.
This is the largest, oldest still free standing Victorian glasshouse today. it's realy pretty big and the outside is just wonderful. There is a whole wing dedicated to plants in South Africa. Do you know that SA holds 6 or the 8 different climates that plants can grow in and we have the largest amount of different species at 22000 different kinds!!! Amazing, no wonder we keep on winning the International Flower Show at Chelsea (32 years running now). So we can't play rugby but we can grow flowers...
I then stopped of in the Evolution House. This building is dedicated to showing the evolution of plants from 300 million years ago. It was then off to the Japanese section of the gardens but not before stopping off at the Pavilion Restaurant to see what snacks they had. The Japanese section has a huge Pagoda and this giant sized zen garden hosting display to the Japanese Gateway which is part of a gift to the Japanese from one of the kings in the 1400s. The gateway is made out of two of the original doors to replicate the original gateway built. The original gateway is 5 times the size of this replica.

I was walking towards the river walk when I spotted these stunning birds eating under a tree. The were brilliant red with fan like tails and feathers that they lifted to spread around their beaks. I snuck past them to get a good place to photograph them, I felt like a spy. Once I had my 300mm lens back on cam I was focusing and the birds were attracted to the noise. They started to surround me 7 - 10 males. I honestly at one point think they thought I was food and were going to attack, so I stopped and just admired. The day was turning out to be so brilliant.
While I was waiting for the sun to set I walked to Queens Chorlotte's Cottage which was built late 1700s as a place for the Queen to take her guests to picnic and have tea, what a life. It was then off to the Badger Sett and Minka House to see how badgers and Japanese ppl live and how their houses are constructed respectively.
After walking thru the Bamboo Gardens I then went to the Palm House again and sat down on some stairs waiting for the sun to set. Low and behold , what should happen? nothing other than a swan swims up to me and talks, asking for food. I opened my hand to show that there was nothing in it and he starts pecking at my fingers. It was really soft, I was so shocked and he stayed by me for about 10 mins just to make sure I wasn't holding out on him.
Unfortunately I didn't get to see the sun set as the gardens closed at 17.30 and the sun was only due to set at 17.40.
All in all thou, I filled both of my memory cards and had a better time than I expected for 6 hours. I would say photo project and great day out complete. I was really surprised as to just how many ppl there were and how many ppl had really great cameras, lots of like minded ppl here. The best thing when you're lying on a bench to get shot, no one looks at you funny, they just acknowledge and don't think you're wierd.

Acceptance with no prejudgment.