WINERY’S PAST ALL BRITS AND BUSHRANGERS

David Ellis

THREE British Army officers serving together in India seem an unlikely genesis for what would become one of the great success stories of the Australian wine industry.

Much the same as a young 16 year old simply under the guidance of his dad would go on to become one of the greatest winemakers this country has ever known.

And a wine he created in 1937 would make history just last month as the only Australian white wine ever to be made unchanged from its original style for an extraordinary 75 consecutive vintages.

Chuck in a bushranger for contrast, and you've a great yarn in Aussie corporate history.

It was in 1836, just a few years after the official founding of Western Australia, that those Army officers bought a block of land to grow wine grapes in the fledgling Swan Valley, after one retired in Perth. They named their property Houghton after the senior of their trio, Lieutenant-Colonel Richmond Houghton.

Strangely, however, neither Houghton nor another partner, Ninian Lowis ever ventured to their investment block, leaving it to the third of the trio, Thomas Newte Yule to run the place for 23 years and dabble in making wines for his own enjoyment. In 1859 the trio sold up to a Dr John Ferguson for 350 British pounds, the doctor immediately making Houghton's first-ever commercial sale – 114 litres to several Perth hotels.

And while it was to be another 21 years before Houghton Wines were to receive any kind of official recognition (an Order of Merit at the 1880 Great Melbourne Exhibition,) their haul of wins from Australian and international wine shows since then now tops 200-plus trophies and over 3,700 medals.

Go back to 1922 and 16 year old Jack Mann gets an apprenticeship at the Houghton Winery to learn winemaking under his dad, George who is Chief Winemaker. Young Jack has no formal training in chemistry, but his uncanny ability to understand the chemistry of winemaking, and hands-on skills he learns about handling the grape under his dad, quickly sees him go beyond the norm in winemaking techniques.

Such a sponge of knowledge is he that at just age 24 he takes over from George as Houghton's Chief Winemaker, and sets about creating wines that many consider ahead of their time – and remains at the company's winemaking helm for 51 vintages. One of his wines, based largely on the Chenin Blanc grape, is so different to others when entered in the "Dry White Table Wine" category of the 1937 Royal Melbourne Wine Show, that judges are taken aback by its boldness in flavour and character.

And when one likens it to the great White Burgundies of France, Houghton seizes upon the opportunity to label the wine Houghton White Burgundy.

Jack Mann meanwhile is striving to convince Australians to drink more wine, rather than beer which they had largely done back at home in England. "It is quite pardonable to drink beer where the grape doesn't grow to advantage," he once comments. "But where the wine grape does grow to advantage, wine should be the national drink."

Houghton White Burgundy is subsequently credited with seeing more Australians turn to the enjoyment of wine than any other, although in 2006 it had to be renamed as Houghton White Classic after European Union rules prevented other countries using such European regional names as Burgundy on their labels.

It proved only a minor hiccup for Houghton, and today its White Classic, still made basically to Jack Mann's 1937 style the biggest selling dry white table wine in Australia. And interestingly the company's Chief Winemaker, Ross Pamment somewhat followed Jack Mann up the winemaking ladder, having begun his wine industry career as a cellar hand with Houghton.

Certainly his and Jack Mann's careers were more fortuitous than that of gaol escapee and bushranger, Joseph "Moondyne Joe" Johns who broke into Houghton's cellars in 1869 to help himself to a midnight drink while on the run. But then-owner, Charles Ferguson (Dr John's son) had been helping police recover the body of a drowning victim nearby, and invited them to the winery for a 1am rewarding drink.

Hearing footsteps, Moondyne Joe bolted from the cellar – to his surprise straight into a policeman's waiting arms, and back to gaol.

 

                                                            ……………

 

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] HISTORIC picture captures Houghton Winery in its earliest days.

[] ORIGINAL home of Dr John Ferguson built like a Scottish crofters homestead from handmade bricks still stands today.

[] THOMAS Newte Yule – original driving force behind Houghton vineyards.

[] LEGENDARY Jack Mann, made 51 vintages of Houghton's wines from 1923 to 1974.

[] CLASSIC drop: Jack Mann's Houghton White Classic (originally Houghton White Burgunday) still made today to Mann's original 1937 critieria.

[] HOUGHTON Cellar Door today: bushranger "Moondyne Joe" Johns was captured here helping himself to a tipple in 1869.

 

(Images: Houghton Wines)

 

 

World's Longest Golf Course

FOUR DAYS FOR 18-HOLES A  BIT ROUGH

david ellis


YOU'VE got to have a pretty good explanation when you saying you're going out for a game of golf and you don't come home for four days.

But that's the average on Australia's newest course, Nullarbor Links where every hole of this 18-hole track has a 19th attached to it, but which alone is not reason enough for your tardiness.

Rather it's the tyranny of distance that's the major obstacle in getting home on time from this one: because from where you drive off in the direction of the first hole, and through to the 18th, is anything but your average 6500-yards or so.

This par 72 course stretches an amazing 1365 kilometres across two States including the seemingly endless Nullarbor Plain, and when opened in October last year wrote itself into history as "the world's longest golf course."

So unique is it that American, European and UK television networks have given  prime-time air space to it, with show hosts musing over obstacles from that daunting distance, "to wandering camels, obstinate wombats and bounding kangaroos."

And in just two months when the course opened, its website received 7,600,000 hits, including from twenty-seven non-English speaking countries.

Nullarbor Links is the idea of the Eyre Highway Operators Association whose members runs service stations, motels and roadhouses along that great stretch of bitumen from Port Augusta in South Australia to Norseman just south of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

Three members in particular, Bob Bongiorno, Alf Caputo and Don Harrington were the principal drivers, seeing the golf course as a unique way of publicising the tourist route, while also breaking up the monotony of the long trip across the vast and arid landscape.

Not that you're expected to tramp that 1365km from first to last hole.

Each hole is in fact located at a different town, village or way-station along the Highway between Ceduna in SA and just-off the other end at Kalgoorlie, at mostly "one-hole courses" – plus the obligatory 19th within easy coo-ee.

And on average they're around 80km apart.

Over 1000 golfers from the serious to once-in-a-lifetime hackers wanting to record playing "the world's longest golf course" have already paid the $50 for a scorecard at whichever end they began their cross-Nullarbor journey, had the card stamped at the local roadhouse at each subsequent hole, and at the 18th received a free certificate of their achievement.

So popular has it become in the few months that its been opened that Nullarbor Links is now sponsored by the Federal Government's Department of  Tourism and a half-dozen major corporations.

Only three true golf courses are involved (2-holes each at Ceduna, Norseman and Kalgoorlie,) with artificial greens at the others. Fairways could, at the most kindly, be referred to as "rough," and to date only one player has carded a hole-in-one.

And of course there's no need for artificial bunkers – Mother Nature has provided ample at no extra cost.

Holes have been given typically Aussie-vernacular names such as Wombat Hole at Numdroo, Dingo's Den (Nullarbor Motel,) Brumby's Run (Madura,) and 90-Mile Straight (Frazer Range.)

One of the most famous is The Nymph at Eucla: according to local legend, back in the 1970s a beautiful blonde who'd gone feral could on occasions be seen romping near-naked in the sandhills out of town.

When word got out, photographers flocked from around the world hoping for a million-dollar snap of The Nymph, who'd allegedly lost the ability to communicate in anything but animal-like grunts; most failed, but in 1972 a Melbourne journalist and photographer said they'd tracked her down and even managed a blurred pic before she fled back into the dunes.

That "rare photo" is now held in the National Archives in Canberra – but those of the era who've seen it, say it bears an uncanny resemblance to a barmaid the journo and the photographer befriended at the Eucla Roadhouse during the search for The Nymph…

Another famous hole is Skylab at Balladonia which was showered by debris when America's Skylab space craft broke up over the little settlement when crashing back to earth; President Jimmy Carter phoned the-then owner of the roadhouse to apologise for the debris on his roof and in his carpark.

If you're tempted to play "the world's longest golf course" go onto www.nullaborlinks.com



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IMAGE CAPTIONS:


[] LONG way between drinks: Nullabor Plains provides "world's longest golf Course."

[] HELPING hand – local Nadiju dancers get the spirits on side for a crack at the Brumby's Run hole at Madura.

[] BIT rough: no need for artificial bunkers here.

[] DRIVING force: Alf Caputo (l) and Don Harrington were two of the three "main drivers" behind Nullarbor Links.

Happy Birthday Air Canada

Click to view anniversary edition of enRoute

In the new skies of the 21st Century, experience speaks volumes. Roderick Eime looks back.

The mighty radial engines splutter to life on the tarmac at Vancouver. Captain Zebulon Lewis "Lewie" Leigh peers out of the open cockpit window of the shiny new Lockheed Electra 10A. “Chocks away!” he calls to the ground crew and CF-AZY taxis out to the runway with two passengers and mail destined for Seattle.

The date is September 1, 1937, and it’s a day etched in Canadian aviation history. Seventy-five years ago, Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) makes its first ever commercial flight, a 50-minute hop costing $7.20. By 1939 TCA is flying a multi-hop route across the great expanse of Canada between Vancouver and Montreal in around 15 hours delivering mail and passengers.

Things move fast for the fledgling airline and coping with the demands of WWII means more women are employed as agents, drivers, radio operators and even mechanics as men are drafted into war service. Transatlantic services begin in 1943 using converted Lancaster bombers, called Lancastrians, for the hazardous 12.5 hour flight and by 1946, 20 pilots had clocked over one million miles each.

By necessity as much as demand, TCA was the first to use alcohol de-icing, fixed in-cabin oxygen systems and (now mandatory) maintenance specification standards. In 1964, TCA became Air Canada (AC), four years after the revolutionary introduction of all-jet DC-8 aircraft on transatlantic and transcontinental routes. In 1962, the airline’s 25th anniversary and another milestone, The Queen Mother completes her first commercial flight aboard an AC DC-8 between London and Ottawa in just six hours.

Mod set: 1960s uniforms of Air Canada

Innovations continue and in 1963 TCA introduces the world’s first computerised reservations system, ReserVec. The system was designed and manufactured in Canada by Ferranti Canada. Two million visitors see the airline’s pavilion at Montreal’s Expo 67 and in 1971, the first 340 ton, 365-seat Boeing 747 enters service for AC serving Vancouver, London and Paris from Toronto.

The first aircraft to fly between Vancouver
and Sydney (www.abpic.co.uk)

While the first flights between Vancouver and Sydney were made in July 1949 by Canadian Pacific Air Lines (later incorporated into Air Canada), the first daily non-stop flights (AC33/34 and onward to Toronto) began in December 2007 using the new 777-300ER aircraft and thereby avoiding the sometimes inconvenient transit stops in Hawaii. An additional three seasonal non-stops will operate every week from 16 December 2012 until 30 January 2013.

More recently, AC have been either first or among the first to introduce electronic ticketing (1995), all non smoking (1990), in-seat telephones (1992), web specials (1997) and express check-in kiosks (1999) cementing their position as one of the most progressive airlines in the world. In the last few years alone, AC have also been at the forefront of such technological breakthroughs as smartphone apps and boarding passes, seatback entertainment, 191cm lie-flat business class beds and now mobile booking.

Air Canada Concierge

Apart from access to the award-winning Maple Leaf lounges, Air Canada Super Elite and Executive First customers can enjoy exclusive dedicated service in 20 airports around the world from more than 150 carefully selected Concierge Agents, smoothing customer transit and attending to last-minute travel arrangements.

In 2012, Air Canada was ranked ‘Best International Airline in North America’ for the third year running in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline passengers conducted by independent research firm Skytrax.

Going forward, AC has 37 firm orders plus 13 options for the game-changing Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with first delivery of the aircraft due in 2014.

“During our 75 year history, we have built a proud tradition of being a leader in terms of customer comfort, safety and convenience. Among the many innovations pioneered by Air Canada over our history are developments now adopted by our industry across the board. We thank our customers for choosing Air Canada over the past 75 years and we look forward to serving them for the next 75 and beyond,” said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada.

21st Century Airline: current B777 and soon-to-be-introduced B787 Dreamliner

Air Canada Today

Air Canada flies daily from Sydney to Vancouver with state-of-the-art B777-200LR aircraft and onto more than 175 destinations on five continents. It provides scheduled passenger service directly to 59 Canadian cities, 56 destinations in the United States and 63 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline and is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,356 destinations in 193 countries.

Visit: www.aircanada.com or see your travel agent.

ITALIAN WINEMAKER’S HOME IS HIS CASTLE

David Ellis

TAKE yourself off to Italy's Barone Ricasoli winery and you'll discover more than a winery – a captivating medieval castle, in fact, that has survived countless wars and feudal attacks from its very earliest  days in the Middle Ages, to aerial and artillery bombardments during World War II.

And while absorbing everything from its delightful wines to a museum that reflects on its colourful history, you'll learn something of the amazing Ricasoli's themselves. For here is a family that's been linked to winemaking since 1141, owns the oldest family-run winery in the world and Italy's oldest winery, and is the second-longest continuously-trading wine company in the world.

Brolio Castle, its winery and adjacent cellars are located in the picturesque Chianti region of Tuscany, 25km from Siena and around 75km from Florence – its strategic territorial border location the reason for so many assaults upon it over the years, including those times when the Ricasoli family had a private army to help in the defence of Florence from attacks by Siena.

And throughout it all it continued on its journey of winemaking history, with its two most significant periods being in the mid-1800s and again in the early 1990s.

In the first of these periods the company had at its helm the extraordinarily far-sighted entrepreneur, major player in the unification of Italy and the country's Prime Minister for nine months from mid-1861, Baron Bettino Ricasoli – the so-called "Iron Baron."

A fervent advocate of the Chianti region, Bettino had an abounding enthusiasm for its wines that included 30 years researching and developing a blend that would become one of the best-known wines in the world, and which he simply named after his beloved region, Chianti.

So pleased was he with this "Chianti" that in 1872 he registered the formula with the University of Pisa, saying it comprised 70% Sangiovese, 15% Malvasia Bianca and 15% Canaiolo fruit, and describing in minute detail its flavours, aromas and structure.

More than a century later this blend was changed by law to require any wine that bore the label "Chianti" to still comprise a minimum 70% Sangiovese, with the remainder any of several varieties of red grapes.

The Ricosoli family was exporting its wines to Holland and England from as early as the 1600s, but it was Baron Bettino who further pushed sales across Europe, and to China, Britain's colonies in Africa and the Caribbean, and to South America.

But the 1970s and '80s saw declining production and sales until a second Baron Bettino Ricasoli, the 31st Baron of Brolio and his son Francesco (the 32nd Baron) came on the scene in the 1990s. They replanted the vineyards, modernised the old winery whilst maintaining its past, and increased wine production so that today few countries in the world do not import Barone Ricosoli wines – not just Chianti but numerous other reds and whites – and boosting production to 3-million bottles a year.

Visitors to Brolio Castle and the Barone Ricasoli winery can see how the castle has been rebuilt and modified over the centuries, including its medieval bastions, Romanesque and neo-Gothic additions, and 19th century Tuscan modifications.

They can also look out over its surrounding 240ha of vineyards and 26ha olive grove, as well as neighbouring postcard-perfect hills, valleys and vineyards, and woodlands of oaks and chestnut trees

Three organised tours can be enjoyed here from March to November. The Castle and Cellars Tour includes not only the castle but its spectacular park and gardens, a history of the Ricasoli family (who still live in the castle) and its chapel and family tomb, and the tower with its collection of 4th to 19th century armour, documents from the public life of Baron Bettino Ricasoli, plus the winery, cellars and a wine tasting.

The Castle, Vineyards and Cellars Tour covers much the same but with the inclusion of a vineyards tour by car, while the Museum Tour includes the  weapons and armoury, documents and personal items dedicated to the political work of Bettino Ricasoli and his research into grape vines and the local soils that led to his documentation of "Chianti," and a collection of lavish furnishings crafted especially for a visit to the Castle by King Victor Emmanuel in 1863.

For details of tour days, times and prices visit www.ricasoli.it/tours.

 

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Photo Captions:

 

[] MAJESTIC setting, the Ricasoli Castle and vineyards

[] CENTURIES of history in the ancient cellars

[] BARON Bettino Ricasoli who turned around the company's failing fortunes in the 1970s and '80s

[] IDEAL setting, cycling through the vineyards

(Images Barone Ricasoli Wines)

 

TWO-WHEEL COASTAL SIGHTSEEING’S A BREEZE

David Ellis
with
Mike Smith

 

FOR as long as he likes to remember, Wollongong's Steve Melchior has had a passion for motor cycles, especially those with the Harley-Davidson badge.

With the wind whistling through his handle-bar moustache, Steve has little hesitation to announce "I just love this job".

And why not, when you consider that eight years ago he swapped an engineering maintenance job at Qantas to turn his love into a career, taking guests on chauffeured Harley-Davidson sightseeing rides along such spectacularly scenic routes as Lawrence Hargrave Drive linking Royal National Park with Wollongong, and the amazing Grand Pacific Drive.

Steve wasn't exactly born to be wild. However, he couldn't think of a better way to spend a day than to put on a helmet, don an ex-Police leather jacket, and go for a ride.

His company – Just Cruisin' Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Tours – has a selection of privately-owned bikes at its disposal for a ride on the back of, or in a sidecar. A Trike, if you are after a bit more stability, can also be booked for one of his informative and entertaining road trips.

With the NSW South Coast turning on a clear day we opted to take a Harley pillion ride behind Steve ($100 per hour) through the southern reaches of the Royal National Park. This is Australia's oldest national park, with shaded pockets of rainforest and breathtaking views from Bald Hill, site of a memorial to pioneering aviator Lawrence Hargrave who experimented with flying box-kites and other flying machines here in the 19th century, and popular today with hang gliders and paragliders.

Ideally located nearby is Pauline Smith's long established Otford Pantry, a popular spot for a coffee and her famous homemade apple pie.

A couple of minutes south is the jewel in the region's crown, the Sea Cliff Bridge, which meanders like a large serpent for 665 metres, jutting out over rocky platforms and the waters of the ocean – a far safer alternative to the previous cliff-hugging single lane highway that was regularly closed by rock falls and landslides.

On the southern side we park and jump off the bike for a leisurely walk across a section of the bridge as do many on a sundrenched weekend. To join Steve on his sightseeing ride is one of the pleasurable reasons to visit Wollongong and the scenic coastal strip.

Book a night or two at the centrally-located beachside retreat of Novotel Northbeach, and you will have the chance to experience a city which offers a lot more than at first meets the eye.

And maybe at some stage swap the motor cycle for a pushbike through such companies as Mobile Bike Rental, and so combine some exercise with sightseeing along a dedicated path from Wollongong north to Bulli, at times with the beaches just over your shoulder.

You may even try your hand at the tandem hang gliding from Bald Hill or skydiving from North Wollongong before or after driving to the top of the escarpment to walk along Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk with its far-reaching views of the coast.

While the views are many, so too are the dining options, including an inviting Samuel's at Thirroul, a smart boutique style restaurant where the service is warm and friendly and the dishes so varied and tantalisingly listed that the most difficult part is in the choosing.

In a prime location overlooking the protected waters of Wollongong Harbour and just a five-minute stroll from the lighthouse, is the renowned Harbourfront restaurant, its speciality of fresh Santorini prawns a highlight as an entrée, or try  the tempura prawns and scallops.

A chilli and prawn linguini is also popular both as an entrée or a main course, and so too the black mussel and crab risotto. And, of the mains, the John Dory is a tasty choice – but be prepared to dine on portions more generously sized than you'll find in many a capital city restaurant of the same standard.

For breakfast, Diggies on the beachfront at North Wollongong is a favourite among locals, and doesn't burn a hole in the pocket. And to explore such eateries provides as much food for thought as joining Steve on his ride along the Grand Pacific Drive.

DETAILS: Check out these sites: www.tourismwollongong.com; www.grandpacificdrive.com.au; www.justcruisintours.com.au

 

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

[] "I just love this job," Steve Melchior sums up his 'work.'

[] THE coast from historic Bald Hill.

[] WOLLONGONG Harbour lighthouse park is popular with tourists – and seagulls.

[] VIEW from spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge.

[] GOOD place to prop for the night: Novotel Northbeach.

[] DIGGIES a popular breakfast spot.

 

(Images: Mike Smith)

Struth! For crying out loud

IN his continuing search for the more weird, whacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says passengers boarding a short domestic flight in the US earlier this month were surprised to find a plastic bag of lollies on every seat in the second Economy Class compartment – and a note inside it apologising in advance for any screaming from two 14-week old twin boys making their first flight, plus the offer of ear-plugs available from their parents (see picture.)

And a passenger who snapped the bag and its note and posted it on a website certainly started something they didn't expect: the site got over 1.5 million views and drew 3000+ comments in just two days.

Most respondents lauded the parents for their thoughtfulness, although some were pretty blunt as to their views about even allowing young children on planes.

And one suggested that instead of all the lollies, the bag could also have contained a complimentary couple of Xanax tablets for other passengers – pills used to control nervous tension and anxiety.

 

Struth! Best address on world's shortest street

IN his continuing search for the more weird, wacky and wondrous in the world of travel, David Ellis says there's a street in Scotland far north that's just 2.06m long (6ft 9ins) and has just one address on it – a bistro in the local pub.

Ebenezer Place at Wick in Caithness County, was created in 1883 when Alexander Sinclair built a hotel at the corner of Union and River Streets. As the local council required him to identify his hotel on all faces, Mr Sinclair had "Mackays Hotel" painted on its Union and River Street sides, but "Ebenezer Place" at the top of the short and blunt end where the other two sides met.

But as that "corner" did not have a door in it, Mr Sinclair had to install one – and as soon as he did so, the Council then recognised the "corner end" of the hotel as an official address because it gave access to Mackays Hotel, and thus Ebenezer Place – all 2.06m of it – was declared an official street and an official mail delivery address.

Today Mackays Hotel still occupies the corner, with the one and only address on Ebenezer Place the No 1 Bistro within the hotel.

And interestingly, as well as laying claim to being the world's shortest street, Ebenezer Place has another interesting bit of history to it: Robert Louis Stevenson spent some of his childhood in Wick while his father built a breakwater in the local bay.

Stevenson Jnr later made reference to Ebenezer Place at "the five hand way" (Union Street, River Street, Bridge Street, Station Road and The Cliff that all joined at Ebenezer Place) in his novel Treasure Island.

FAMED GARDENS ONCE WERE THE PITS

David Ellis

IT was over a neighbourly cup of tea one day in 1909 that Canadian housewife Jennie Butchart bemoaned the fact that her husband Robert's one-time limestone quarry next door on Vancouver Island off Vancouver City, was not only an eyesore, but "that dust from it gets in everywhere."

Her neighbour suggested that maybe a nice little lattice screen out the back would help, and a few days later kindly dropped-in with a half dozen sweet pea plants to grow over the lattice that Jennie said she'd order.

And those half dozen sweet peas prompted Jennie Butchart to start visiting her local plant nursery in search of other annuals and perennials to block out the dust from Robert's old quarry, whose limestone had been used to make cement.

It was a tiny start to what has become one of the world's grandest and most-visited private gardens, attracting over 1-million goggle-eyed green-thumbs a year.

As her little garden started to expand, Jennie asked Robert if she could borrow some labourers he still employed to decommission the quarry, to help her prepare more ground for her sprawling displays of flowering shrubs, trees, bulbs and summer bedding plants.

Within a few years complete strangers were popping-in for a chat with the effervescent Jennie, every one of them being offered a cup of tea, a biscuit and a chat and a look at her garden. On one particular day, not realising who Jenny was, a visitor offered her a few cents as a tip for her hospitality: quick as a flash she replied: "Oh no, Sir, you don't know old Mrs Butchart, she'd never allow it."

On another, visitors walking around the gardens were aghast to look into the old quarry and see Jennie, dress swirling and under her trademark straw hat, swinging down the quarry walls in a rented bosun's chair, popping hundreds of ivy cuttings into every little nook and cranny.

Soon after she bought a farmyard of manure-enriched soil and had it delivered to aboard a fleet of horse-drawn carts, and once again asked Robert if he had some labourers to help her spread it over the quarry floor.

Robert took great pride in his wife's efforts, and when his quarry finally and officially closed in 1916, he turned his attention to assisting Jennie and developing his own interest in exotic birds, collecting from around the world numerous species from peacocks that strutted their front lawn, to ducks for the ponds Jennie had created in the quarry, pigeons and parrots… and animals from bears to zebras for a small menagerie.

He also collected quirky statues and castings to scatter amid the gardens.

By the 1920's an amazing 50,000 people a year were pouring through the Butchart's place during the warmer Canadian months, all being welcomed free of charge to admire the quarry floor that Jennie had turned into a spectacular Sunken Garden, plus a Japanese Garden, an Italian Garden on what had been their tennis court, a Rose Garden on their once-kitchen garden, and a Star Pond.

Within a few years Jennie and Robert had a whopping 20ha of gardens, re-named their home "Benvenuto," Italian for "Welcome," and had hired staff to serve Teas and other refreshments.

Visitors by the mid-1930s were coming by their bus-loads, and free admission remained the case until 1941 when a small fee had to be introduced to meet maintenance costs.

Today over 1-million-plus visitors invade the Butchart Gardens every year, marvelling at 400,000 Spring flowering tulips, 400,000 annuals in flower from March to October, more than 3000 roses, the Japanese and Italian Gardens, and Jennie's artificial lake that's now home to scores of duck species from around the world. In all 700 varieties of bedding plants blossom through March to October.

The Butchart Gardens are still family owned and run, and the original "Benvenuto" that once had such luxuries as its own bowling alley and an indoor swimming pool is a restaurant and offices.

The gardens are open daily from 9am (1pm Christmas Day,) and do not close until 9pm mid-June to early September, and from December 1 to January 6.
 
Footnote: And despite the huge number of visitors annually, the Gardens have never had to put up a notice asking visitors not to pick the flowers.

                                                   

Photo Captions:

 

[] THE pits – Sunken Garden in the original lime quarry

[] ITALIAN Garden on what was the tennis court outside the family home (now a Restaurant)

[] FOUNTAIN in the deepest part of the old quarry

[] LOOKING across the lawns to the original Butchart family home

[] THE Star Pond

(Photos: Butchart Gardens)