My trip to London over the weekend wasn’t just for me… It was also the perfect opportunity for Explorer Beastie to catch up with an old friend! Garcia Beastie left his skis behind for a day to join us at Kew Gardens for a spot of horticultural exploring… as you shall see.
Luckily for us, the Great British weather decided to show its finer side! We got one of those perfect early autumn days for our visit – warm, bright sunshine with just a hint of coolness in the air. Lovely stuff! Also, it turns out Beasties get into Kew Gardens free of charge! But of course, it wasn’t long before they were up to mischief…
I turned my back for five seconds, and the pair of them were halfway up one of the gnarly old olive trees in the Mediterranean Garden! Since they were so intent on climbing, I thought they’d enjoy the Xstrata Treetop Walkway…
Up here, you can stroll around in the treetops to your heart’s content! Explorer Beastie scaled the barriers to make sure he got the best views…
…And he did get to see some surprising things!
Sweet chestnuts growing at the very top of the tree, and an unusual bird having them for lunch! Kew Gardens is full of these green parrots, which are actually wild – they’re the descendants of escaped pets. We saw several large groups doing fly-by displays during our visit, and they’re hard to miss… they’re pretty noisy! The scenery up there wasn’t bad either…
Back on dry land, we made Beastie-sized tracks towards the Pagoda, a 10-storey Chinese-style folly that has been standing in Kew since 1762!
The building is doubly impressive up close…
…And there is also a Japanese-style gate and zen garden nearby!
But we couldn’t stop for long, because there was plenty more exploring to do! Our next port of call was Queen Charlotte’s Cottage, where Garcia Beastie helped out a lady who seemed to have lost her head over something…
And then, a spot of lunch.
Suitably refuelled, we took in some of the Intoxication Season exhibits…
… had a wander around the Princess of Wales Conservatory…
… explored the world of underwater plants…
…And took a trip to the top of the Palm House!
As the light began to fade, there was just enough time to take some final pictures with the rather imposing Plantagenet Falcon, one of the “Queen’s Beasts”. These ten heraldic-inspired sculptures line the path outside the Palm House, and are replicas of statues that stood outside Westminster Abbey during the Queen’s coronation in 1953. Perhaps I should arrange something similar along the street outside Beastie Towers…
And so ended another monster day out! More London-based Beastie adventures next time!
It seems that Explorer Beastie had much ompa cfun in good company…. 🙂 🙂 🙂
oh,i made some mess with the above text…. so here I am again… :
It seems that Explorer Beastie had much fun in good company…. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Ah yes, autocorrect… Always finding new ways to make us all look silly! Thanks for your comment, a great day out was had by all!
WOW how on earth do you keep up with such energetic Beasties ? it looks like you all had a fantastic time, do you have a Mountaineer Beastie that helps with all the climbing or do your guys ascend & descend all by them selves ? Can’t wait to see more of your adventures 🙂
Haha! You get used to it! There are definitely worse jobs out there than Beastie Wrangler in Chief. As for the climbing, the Beasties are pretty adept climbers without equipment… I’d probably have a real time trying to coax a mountaineer Beastie back down to sea level from whatever lofty peak he or she decided to scale! More Beastie mayhem soon, thanks for stopping by!
Ooooh Can’t wait for the next instalment of Beastie Mayhem
Another awesome Beastie adventure! This really puts Kew Gardens on the map…
Why thank you! You’re absolutely right, Kew Gardens was just a regular suburban park until it got its own population of migrant Beasties passing through…
I love looking at your pictures
Thanks… I have a lot of fun taking them! Cheers for stopping in 🙂