Palm gardens

Last week, I took a walk to the Palmetum, which is a palm tree gardens. The walk was only about 25 mins but it has been really hot here so I was happy to arrive and found a spot in the shade to cool down. Thankfully the views from the gardens (which are not he top of a large hill) are very nice.

Across the bay

Nice place to sit for a bit

I didn't take any photos of the coast line, which is an oil refinery. :( But there's no smell thankfully and you can just ignore that. (Apparently they are trying to move it but no one else wants it and it does provide a lot of jobs.)
The palm gardens are on a area of reclaimed land which used to be a land fill. They were pretty but could have done with more shaded areas. Like I mentioned, very hot!

Giant Palm tree

Some of the palms had some lovely flowers on.

One of the best views was over Santa Cruz. There is a large pool complex near the gardens. Unfortunately I didn't have my swim suit, as it looked extremely inviting. I am definitely going to try to find time to head there next week. :)

View over Santa Cruz

Looking over the auditorium I think

They had some great plazas but I didn't take a lot of time enjoying I must admit.

Baking Plaza

They had Palms from all over the world and some of the plants I recognized from my trip to Australia and the botanical gardens there.

I could go anywhere.

Chainsaw flowers from Australia

Throughout the whole trip, I could hear and occasionally spot little lizards chilling out in the sun. But I only managed to get one photo. Theywere very cute and super quick!

Gotcha!

The best part was the central area which seemed more thought out than the rest, with shaded areas, benches and streams.

pathways

Big waterfall

Little waterfall

The gardens were nice but they didn't have a lot. I was desperate for a cold drink by the end. Just the other side of the pool from the Palmetum is a concert hall of some kind (which from the right angle looks like Professor X's helmet!). All I know is they had a cafe! It's right near what looks like part of a castle but there were no signs around.

Concert hall

View to sea

Some people had decided to ignore the swimming pool and just use the ocean which looked very inviting. 

On the rocks near the concert hall were the portraits of musicians, with some great groupings. 

Classical, pop and rock

Sinatra and Britney Spears?!?!?

Either way it was a very nice view over a cold drink. Before the long walk back!

Looking towards the Palmetum.