A visit to Imladris

Araluen isn't Imladris, but it's definitely pretty enough, and far enough from the city to be surreal. Plus it's best visited in September...
...when all the flowers have finally blossomed... a sea of tulips when we visited on Tuesday...
So! First to find a bbq pit... good thing we got there early, or we might not have been able to get a pit.The chefs...
...at the feast of Elrond. Find Elrond.The main course...
...guests at the feast... What made it better was being serenaded by a tenor. Apparently, someone was promoting his cd, and was performing somewhere in Araluen. His rendition of "You Raise Me Up" was so similar to Josh Groban... it had me fooled. And the same for "Music of the Night"... Didn't get to watch him though, because the Fellowship set off on the quest to take as many photos as possible right after lunch, and he was gone by the time we got back.The Fellowship!Our fearless leader tries to figure out our route. "Hmm... I think it's.... THAT way!""Gandalf! Is it left or right?" We went left, in the end... How very fitting that we ended up in an area under construction after that. Not really Mordor, but definitely not pretty.
"Get off the road!!!!!" – the road that led to the only barren area in the park. Maybe they're making a carpark? Who knows... all we saw were piles of soil and rock, and tree trunks lined up on the ground.Don tries to conquer the mountain of rubble:
"Don! It's not stable!"
"...stable..." (makes rock wobble)
But that was just one corner of Araluen... it soon became pretty again!all MINE!!!
and hmm....? What's Fabian looking at?
in the Rose Garden
This might have been the stream we heard on our way into the park, who knows?
And this is the stream I got my feet wet in on our way back...
Spotted by Anthony!
Back in the main area of the park, at the end of the quest, when we went slightly crazy and entirely too eager to use the camera.*gasp* "The lamppost from Narnia!!!" – the last bit of insanity before it started raining and we had to go home...
Apparently, it costs AUD$500 for a lifetime membership, with unlimited free entry to the park. Anyone wants to sponsor me?