I had the most wonderful morning today in the Royal Botanic Gardens, arriving there at about 7.30. Although I’ve been in the general area at that time of the morning, especially around the Opera House and around Circular Quay, I’ve never actually been inside the gardens at such an early hour. Mostly, it’s a Saturday or Sunday afternoon when I’m in the gardens. By then the noise of the day has taken over, with weddings and family groups competing with birdlife to see which can be the noisiest.

But at 7.30am, nature is well and truly in charge, with the birds and the bats loudly declaring this was their home. Even the well-arranged plants seemed a little wild, falling just short of taking on “triffid-like” qualities. In the midst of the concrete, sandstone and water that characterises the environment of Sydney’s CBD, it was nice to find somewhere just a little “wild”. Yeah, I know it’s not the Daintree, nor is it Tasmanian Old-Growth, but it’s the closest I get to nature in my neighbourhood. And what a view!