dural road trip

25Nov11

Yes that’s a right a ROAD TRIP to Dural because it’s so freaking  far away! But wait? What’s that you ask? Where on earth is Dural? Well that’s a very good question because archaeologists have long debated the existence of such a fabled abode much like the Lost City of Atlantis but more like the the Lost Dwelling of Dural. According to reputable source, Wikipedia, Dural lies nestled amongst the equally mystical Arcadia, Glenhaven and Middle Dural – wait what? There’s a Middle Dural? Then what the heck is Dural Dural? Double Dural? Dural Proper? Dural dural dural dural….

But yes the prospect of studying for my last exam next Tuesday today was so positively laughable that I spontaneously decided  to launch an expedition, a trek, an exploration to the fabled domain of Dural. I think this 3 week exam period thing has gotten to me…

Anyway back to my expedition I decided to go to Dural today to do a nursery run. Yes, a nursery run. What? You’ve never heard of it before? Well you’re probably not the only because I haven’t either. Regardless, I proudly proclaim that terminology as my creation as of Friday 25th November 2011. Get into it guys – it’s gonna be big.

Let me explain; I love going to Dural because it has a number of good nurseries and garden centres all pretty next much lined next to each other. I hate Dural because it’s so ridiculously far away from me. It takes a good 30 mins one way to get there from my house. If you’re coming up from New Line Rd there are literally a dozen of home farms/nurseries lined up against the road each with their own hand painted signs saying “Plants for sale, parking this way!” It’s a bit strange to think this is still part of Sydney because it has the homey country feel.

Stop 1: Bunnings

Coming up along New Line Rd, the first big shop you’ll see will be on your right – Mitre 10 which I usually skip because I’m more of a Bunnings person. (Come on  - lowest prices are just the beginning, who can resist that marketing?) So I usually drive a few hundred metres until I reach the big round about and turn right and enter my home away from home – Bunnings Warehouse. In terms of Bunnings, it’s a pretty sizeable one not as big as the newly opened Chatswood store but probably a bit bigger or en par with the North Parramatta and Lidcombe stores. Carlingford doesn’t count –  it’s not even a real store. So yes today I found myself in Bunnings, naturally drawn to the gardening section where I spotted some REDUCED TO CLEAR $2 Osteospermum Voltage plants from $8 which was clearly a no brainer in my mind. To be honest I don’t really even like the look of the yellow flowers that much because it reminds me too much of fireweed and fireweed brings up repressed memories of year 8 AG with Mrs Roberts (we were forced to weed a whole paddock of fireweed and in reward we were each given a single orange) But it was only $2!! And I really can’t say no to a bargain Also in my shopping basket today was a stunning red carnation-looking plant. I’m not sure what it’s called because the label just said “Sensation Range” but yes that was another impulsive $7. Oh I should probably say, the aim of my nursery run today was to find some English Lavender and only Lavender. Quite clearly I had failed at my first stop – entered the store intent on finding some English Lav and exited with 2 extra plants but such is life. I did however find lots of French Dentata Lavender but that’s not what I was looking for so it was off to stop 2: Hargraves! But before I left I couldn’t resist a photo opportunity so here is me with a shopping trolley.

Stop 2: Hargraves

If you get back on New Line Rd and drive up for another 5 mins, on the left you’ll see a cheery road sign with “Hargraves Nurseryland” There’s parking inside and usually it’s so you can just drive into their driveway without a problem. The website says Hargraves is a family run business and has been there since the 1970s – wow! – so they must be doing something right. I really like Hargraves because they have a really wide variety of plants and things and usually have a a couple of good specials! If you’re a club member you get a free gift on your birthday as well, I was pretty annoyed at myself because I forgot to bring mine today. Grr!

Prices here are standard I think as far as nurseries go – everything’s at a premium over your discount hardware stores like Bunnings but you can sometimes pick up a few bargains here and there in the Specials section. They’re running a 50% birthday sale on at the moment so that’s worth checking out if you’re thinking of doing some shopping although it ends by the end of Nov.

As luck would have it, there was a special Lavender sale! All lavender was on sale for $3.50 each – they were pretty mature and established as well so all in all a pretty good bargain. The only thing was, most of them were French (damn those French) but I did manage to find one English amongst the tangle of stalks. It’s not the most healthy looking of plants but with some TLC I’m sure it’ll come back and for $3.50 it’s a steal!

Oh the symbolism! A Kangaroo statue surrounded by Kangaroo Paws!

This is me being viciously attacked by a snake. You can never be too careful around the garden!

With my lavender in the boot it was off to stop 3: Swanes.

Stop 3: Swanes

Swanes! You might have seen or heard of Swanes before because there’s a branch in Carlingford on Marsden Rd near school but that’s tiny compared to the one in Dural. The Dural one is mammoth in comparison, it’s got a little cafe, it’s own “available for wedding hire” rose garden with roses dating back to 1997, a trade centre and the commercial nursery. Swanes’s speciality are roses so if you’re looking for that particular rose Swanes’s should definitely be your first stop. I will warn you, it is quite pricey but that’s to be expected.

I wasn’t really interested in the Roses today but I did notice this one and couldn’t help but snap a picture.

OOooooOOOOOoooooooOOOOooOOOOOOooooooo!

I really liked how they planted their tomatoes! I’ve seen this done with bales of mulch before but it never occured to me you could do the same with a bag of potting mix. I’m definitely gonna give this a try next year.

And just in case you need a refreshment, pop over to the “Geranium Bar” and help yourself to some fresh Geraniums.

This is C with the stunningly expensive standard Roses. There’s almost $3000 worth of roses in this picture, believe it or not each of those standards cost $950 each!

I actually did find some English lav here but it was too expensive for my liking. It was $15 each and they didn’t look very mature so I gave it a pass. I bought an English lav last week at Bunnings Chatswood for $10 and that was good size so I wasn’t willing to pay an extra $5 for a plant that was half the size.

Stop 4: Flower Power Glenhaven

The last stop for today, I’d never been to a Flower Power before because there’s none near me. They all seem to be out in the western suburbs or in obscure locations like Glenhaven (well from my perspective). It’s a bit strange because in addition to the nursery, they also sell outdoor homewares (think Freedom Furniture) such as cushions and candles, have a ridiculously priced cafe but perhaps most surprising is the fact that they sell…SPAS?! I don’t understand how that works. I guess if there are people in the Hills with lots of money and heaps of room in their backyards to install spas, it works but I still find it strange. Anyway, they didn’t have any English Lav either! Only French which was a bit of a bummer but no matter because I was getting quite hungry. We met up with A & Q and drove to Castle Towers for Malaysian.

Lunch: Taste of Malaya

We ordered 4 dishes (3 lunch specials and something off the menu) + Jasmine tea. The portions were disappointingly small but maybe I’ve just become accustomed to the massive portions  they serve inside Pitt Street Arcade which if you haven’t been before, I would strongly recommend! It’s underneath the Town Hall Woolworths on the Pitt Street side and down some stairs. Try the Hanianese Chicken Rice! It’s amazing!

Anyway that was my production day of procrastination. I feel satisfied

Although the study guilt is slowly creeping in now…

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