Wita Wirra (Park 18), just off South Terrace between the corner of Glen Osmond Road and Hutt Street, right on the edge of the city, is one of Adelaide’s most attractive Park Lands. This area is home to Osmond Gardens, a pretty area brightened up with colourful flowers and containing a cute sitting area. Perfect spot for relaxing with a book, or having a picnic.
However, what in fact makes this area more appealing is what is hidden at Osmond Gardens – an even more peaceful and picturesque garden – Himeji Garden, a Japanese garden which was a gift from Himeji (Adelaide’s sister city).
The Himeji Garden is an oasis within an oasis – a double escape from the city – it transforms you to a distinct serene space. Himeji Garden is very secluded: I expected it to be out in the open in the park – I kept cycling back and forth following Google Maps, baffled by the fact it said I was there. In the end, I gave up, parked my bike and decided to explore as I just had to be in the right place (plus it was pretty because I had found Osmond Gardens which I did not know about). Eventually, after having walked past it a couple of times, admiring Osmond Gardens, I realised there was an entranceway to the Himeji Garden. The whole of Himeji Garden is hidden from view – I had walked around the whole thing (on the outside) without realising.
Himeji Garden is free to enter, however does has specific opening hours, normally being 8am – 5:30pm. As you enter the Garden, there is a ‘Plan of the Garden’, and some leaflets of such available, describing the significant elements within the Garden. Unfortunately, I was oblivious and walked straight past this, not seeing it until the end when I was then rushing and did not have time to read it properly. It is quite interesting to have a look at though, and can be a good way to extend your time in the Garden – I’d say you could either spend about 10 minutes, or even an hour in the garden – it’s not big but with the help of the ‘Plan’, you could spend more time examining all aspects. Plus, it’s a great spot for taking some good photographs.
The lake was my favourite part of the Garden, capturing my attention the most. I would say it could be considered the centre of the Garden. Although, perhaps I loved it so much because there were at least four turtles swimming around when I was there, which were rather hard to spot as everything was so green. I had no idea until I heard someone else mention them, and got them to point them out. They were SO CUTE.
I would consider this garden a hidden gem of the city. There was a man in the garden when I was there who was telling me how he has lived in Adelaide for so long, yet had never been, or even knew it existed. He is not alone in this, I’ve heard of people who live here and know they exist, go through the Park Lands all the time, yet have never actually come across and explored Himeji Garden. It is definitely worth stopping here if you’ve got some time to kill and are around the city, perfect spot for a relaxing afternoon.
