Those interested in a picnic in a colourful outdoor location after lockdown will have a rare opportunity to visit Illawarra Grevillea Park next week.
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The attraction will open for the first time since May on October 30-31 and is not likely to reopen to the public again until 2022.
Spokesman John Elton said few volunteers had been able to work at the park during the COVID-19 lockdown.
A skeleton crew led by park manager Ray Brown used the downtime to widen paths and make other improvements. But all volunteers are now getting the attraction ready to welcome double vaccinated people back in just over a week.
"We are holding a one-off weekend on October 30 and 31," Mr Elton said.
"We won't then reopen until next year. If the Illawarra Folk Festival goes ahead we will open that weekend."
Mr Elton said being such a spacious outdoor environment there would be few restrictions during the open days.
"There is plenty of room for people to move around and the plant sales area is very large. There are many picnic areas and plenty of places for people to spread out," he said.
The chapel where books sales are generally made is not opening because of its size but a new book is being sold for the first time in the open plant sales area.
'The Illawarra Grevillea Park - A Photographic Portrait' includes 400 photos and descriptions of how the plants are grown. The front page says it was launched by the Governor of NSW Margaret Beazley on August 26.
"We had the Governor of NSW coming along to officially open the park as a botanic garden but we had to cancel that," Mr Elton said.
"The Governor will now reopen the park officially as a botanic garden next year. It is recognition of the importance of the grevillea collection. There is a fair bit of research goes on in the park. We try to plan, maintain and investigate rare and endangered species. No-one else in NSW has a grevillea collection like ours. Many are difficult for people to get hold of."
Mr Elton said entry to the park was $7 and visitors will be able to see many plants in flower.
"There are hundreds of varieties of grevilleas. A lot of them are in flower now. Some flower for 12 months of the year," he said.
"The large tropical ones that people generally see are pretty much finished flowering now.
"But all the other species plants from Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and the Sydney basin are still flowering vibrantly at the moment."
Illawarra Grevillea Park behind Bulli Showground will be open from 10am to 4pm on October 30 and 31.
The Illawarra Mercury news app is now officially live on both iOS and Android devices. It is available for download in the Apple Store and Google Play.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
