A ROTUNDA

Picture yourself sitting on a bench in an elegant rotunda right in the very middle of a wonderful rose garden with spectacular views in every direction! You'll find this perfumed spot in the middle of the NRG at Woolmers near Longford.

I don't imagine you could be there a) to get married or b) to have your wedding photos taken, although groups are frequently to be found gathered there for both those reasons. Maybe you coud be there for a family picnic, to take in the intoxicating aroma of the roses, or simply to admire the roses and the scenery.

Firstly there's the view down the box-lined rill which leads the eye to the rose covered arbour running south to north right accross the garden at one end. This is a modern steel structure covered with the large-flowering 'Westerland' rose, and you'll notice that the colour of the rose complements exactly the colours in the buildings behind - it is, in fact, the perfect frame for that cluster of historic buildings.

Then there's the view to your right, over the wide valley toward the village of Longford in the distance. This view takes in the patchwork of paddocks in the valley on the Brickendon side of the river, and all is green as green at the moment.

And in the distance you can make out the little Convict Village and clearly see Brickendon homestead.

Brickendon, together with Woolmers, forms a part of a World Heritage Listing as one 'precinct'.

The Macquarie River runs in between these to Colonial Estates and its here that a new suspension bridge is to be erected to form a 'Convict Walkway' connecting the two estates.

Our Rotunda in the Rose Garden is a perfect spot to sit comfortably and contemplate a perfect veiw, and, if photography is your thing, there could be no better spot to aim for.

There have been heavy rains and the Macquarie River is in flood almost all the time as a result. That suspension bridge will likely take a while to be completed - the men cannot do the construction work when the water is high. But, meanwhile, the walkway is being constructed and the approaches to the bridge are being formed.

So, if only the rain would stop falling for a week or two .......