The morning of Thursday, 19thMarch 2009 was a beautiful Melbourne Autumn day and perfect for a short trip down the freeway to Werribee Park. When we arrived we divided into two groups to explore both the rose garden and mansion.
Our group started with a tour of the Chirnside Mansion, a 60 room Italianate mansion built from 1874 – 1877 for the Scottish squatters Andrew and Thomas Chirnside. The property remained with the Chirnside family till 1922, was bought by a grazier, who owned it briefly, before being purchased by the Roman Catholic Bishops in 1923 for use as a seminary.
In 1973 the Victorian government acquired the property and began the enormous task of restoring the mansion and 400 hectares to its former glory. The entire property is now managed by Parks Victoria.
We spent about an hour exploring the mansion and all its rooms; the attention to detail is amazing! Especially fascinating is the delightful display in the laundry where May, the laundry maid, gives a detailed account of life during the Chirnside era.
As is all too often the case, time was racing and we had to make our way over to the State Rose Garden. We would have to return another day to explore the mansion gardens with its lake and grotto, the adjoining farm complex and sculpture walk. We did however, have a fabulous view of the entire estate from the upstairs verandah.
The rose garden is designed in the shape of a Tudor Rose and was officially opened in 1986, and contains over 5,000 roses in four distinctly shaped designs. The five petals of the Tudor Rose feature Hybrid Tea and Floribunda Bush and Standard Roses, each bed a different colour. Rambling and climbing roses are displayed on arches and tripods, and as Weeping Standards. The Heritage Rose Border was added in 1997 and opened in 2000, and features 250 types of old and species roses and separates the rose garden from the formal gardens of the park. The Australian Federation Leaf also opened in 2000 features 50 beds of Australian bred roses introduced in the last 100 years. The last section to be opened in 2001 is the David Austin Bud featuring 267 roses of 58 cultivars.
The day was becoming very warm, particularly in the rose garden, so we were happy to head back to the bus for the short trip into Werribee for a delicious lunch at the Commercial Hotel.
After lunch we returned to Werribee Park for a visit to the open range zoo. We filed onto the large bus and spent the next hour on a safari tour, driving through grassy plains and the sweeping river terraces of the Werribee River viewing the vast array of African animals who reside there.
All too soon it was time to head back to Melbourne. Thank you to Anne-Marie for organising such a fantastic day.
