The Enchanted Garden.

As a special Christmas treat, the Brisbane City Council (in Queensland, Australia) turn The Roma Street Parklands into a magical, Enchanted Garden.

It is my privilege to share this occasion with you as my entry for the #beautifulsunday challenge, hosted by @ace108 and for #Sublimesunday by @c0ff33a

Naturally, the best time to visit The Enchanted Garden is at night, so John and I took the train into town, got off at the Roma Street Station and.............followed the lights. Amazing sights awaited us and this post is going to be a visual one more than a written one so, make yourself a cup of coffee, or pour yourself a glass of wine, and sit back and enjoy these gardens with me.

The place was understandably packed as school kids are on holiday now. I was jostled and nudged and at times, had difficulty holding my camera still, so some of my images are a bit blurry but I have included them to give you a better sense of the overall atmosphere and wonder of the gardens.

Strategically placed lighting created colourful rainbows in mature trees.

And turned green plants into bronze and purple features.

Staghorn plants were dressed in colourful splendour.

This one took on an almost surreal appearance. I really love the colours and textures of this gorgeous staghorn plant.

This sign was superfluous as most of the time we just followed the crowd and the squeals of laughter from young girls dressed in fairy costumes.

Multi-coloured reflections floated across the lagoon.

And the fountain feature in the middle of the lagoon kept changing colour.

There were Nutcracker Keys hidden throughout the garden and if children discovered all of them, they could go in the draw to receive free tickets to see the movie, "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms," available soon in cinemas.

So, the hunt was on to find all the hidden keys. What fun!

And in between the searching, children posed for photos amidst millions of glowing fairy lights.

Speaking of fairies........

Real, live fairies were blowing bubbles and playing music in the middle of the garden.

Mobile fairy lights looked like dancing fire flies playing in a forest.

Purple lighting created fascinating silhouettes.

Palm trees looked spectacular, awash in flourescent hues.

The views from elevated positions were stunning. The Roma Street Parkland caters for many events throughout the year and it has proven to be a very popular place to visit, due to facilities such as free barbeques, playgrounds and a variety of places to sit and relax. I visit often to take photos especially as the vistas change with each season and flowers are always being pulled up and replaced with new, seasonal ones.

These lovely Parklands cover an area of 16 hectares and they are very close to the Brisbane Transit Center and the Roma Street Station. It has the distinction of being the world's largest subtropical garden in a city center.

Brisbane's tallest building blends in well in the background behind the Roma Street apartments.

A mini santa gets the best view on top of his Dad's shoulders.

And beneath the lights hanging from huge tree trunks more photos were being taken.

Golden Lights.........

Purple Cobwebs........

Blue Fronds..........

Orange Tree Trunks..........

Indigo Branches.........

And trees that looked like fireworks combined their charms to produce a very magical evening. But wait.........there is still more to see.

As I followed the curved pathway........

I bumped into..........

A beautiful garden princess.

She carried a be-jewelled golden staff with a hand on the top of it which was decorated by a garland of flowers, the purposes for which, remain unknown to me. Her face told a tale of mysterious, far away places and in her right hand, she held a pink tinged, orb that held special powers. She spoke a lyrical language of foreign origins and before I could ask her any questions.........she disappeared into the night.

Strange. Very Strange.........

A young boy with a very cool hairstyle and dressed in camoflague fatigues was checking his co-ordinates before venturing further into the unknown.

Our walk took us to the grassy oval in the centre of the parklands where food vans were tempting the famished with a variety of hot and cold meals.

Silhouettes of contented visitors sat in groups enjoying their food or their rest from a lot of walking.

It was a wonderful sight.

My last image was taken in front of a wall of water which falls continuously down an expansive area and is situated on the circumference of the oval. It looks great duri ng the day but with the ever changing colours drawing crowds to it at night, it is truly mesmerising.

And as anyone who follows me, knows........I just can't resist including at least one digitally manipulated photo in my posts and today it is this one. A group of people were taking selfies in front of the man made waterfall and I thought their silhouettes deserved a special digital effect.

This was only the second time the Roma Street Parklands had been transformed into an Enchanting Garden and judging by the reactions of the peope who visited at the same time as us, I am certain that it will become an ongoing delight for years to come.

THANK YOU FOR VIEWING. HAVE A GREAT DAY.