Tags
autumn colours, Bettie Monroe, Cambridge, Canada, Cath Kidston, country drives, elderberries, Equine Stars Walk of Fame, MyStyle NZ, New Zealand, Ontario, Panach French Bakery, picturesque towns, puffball, Simply Divine, tourism, Travel, trilliums, Wright's Booksellers
Trilliums – harbingers of spring in Ontario, Canada
When I was young, drives in the countryside were a frequent occurrence. My Dad knew great places to go and fantastic places to stop. In spring, he’d take us to see the first trilliums of the year (trilliums grow wild and are Ontario, Canada’s provincial flower) in summer, the best and most accessible elderberry bushes (the berries make delicious pies and wine!) in early autumn, the woods where we might find puffball (an edible fungi which can grow to football size) and mid-fall the best autumn colours. He also knew where the most picturesque villages and small towns were and inevitably, where you could buy the largest ice cream cones!
This past weekend, Mr. Boomerlifetoday and I revived the tradition and headed out into the countryside here in New Zealand. The scenery was beautiful as we made our way along country roads where cows, horses and sheep grazed on pastures of green grass and buttercups. Along the roadside, Queen Anne’s Lace was in full bloom. It always amazes me that the same wild flowers which populate the landscape in Canada, also grow here in New Zealand!
Victoria St in Cambridge, New Zealand
We even ended up in the quaint, small town of Cambridge (Cambridge, Canada is next to my hometown of Guelph in Ontario). We had passed through Cambridge before, but this time we stopped and walked around. It’s lovely! I especially liked the fact that it still has a large, independent bookstore (Wright’s), a beautiful looking kitchen store (Simply Divine, although sadly it had closed just minutes before we found it), a lovely boutique featuring New Zealand-designer, Bettie Monroe‘s collection of vintage-inspired clothing, MyStyle NZ stockist of Cath Kidston products, and of course, some very cute cafes like Panache French Bakery (pictured here).
Cambridge has maintained and restored many of its downtown buildings instead of replacing them with more modern architecture and in some places they have laid brick sidewalks, which really adds to the atmosphere. This is horse country and where else to have an Equine Stars Walk of Fame than the sidewalks of this pretty town – mosaics of champion horses bred in the area, decorate main street sidewalks.
On our way home, we even stopped for ice cream cones in Pokeno, home of the largest cones we have found so far in New Zealand. There are two shops side by side (Johnson’s and Pokeno Takeaways). They both serve up huge scoops of delicious flavours like boysenberry, apricot, and passion fruit (just some of our favourites).
What a beautiful way to while away a lazy summer afternoon!
Until next time,
Your Boomer Life Partners
Disclosure: Mention of businesses in this Boomer Life Today blog post were not solicited or paid for by persons/companies in New Zealand or abroad.