Little Heaven off Rozella – Pic Journey 8…

It was one of those weekends when you have nothing to do but out of nowhere you get a chance to visit some place that is out of bounds for many thanks to one of your close friends. That’s exactly what happened when I was without a thing to do on the 18-19 Oct weekend when Ana called out of blue moon asking if I’d like to join him for a relaxing holiday at Rozella. I jumped with both the feet and we left for Rozella on the 18th morning around 4.15am.

Day 01

After about an hour we stopped at Weerasiri Café and bought some Vegetable Rotties and one of their signature food items, Garlic Buns that are very tasty. They kept us going and we reached Rozella after some detour around 9.15am. We went for a walk in and around Carolina Tea Estate and it looked gloomy but the sun was shining down on us.

The hike walk was superb and we got some good pictures on the way. Afterwards, we got back home and had a hearty lunch. The mist appeared out of nowhere and pounced on us mercilessly covering the whole area. Unlike the last two times, we couldn’t even get a glimpse of Sri Pada that can usually be seen rising majestically into the sky. (You can take a look at my Previous Reports Here and Here). You can see the wonderful view point where we saw the Sri Pada, both during day time and at night)

The mist made sure that we wouldn’t have any more exploring and we sat down for an early and a hearty dinner with Ana’s version of Kohonawala Special Lunu Miris. It wasn’t the same but so much closer. It brought back the sweet memories of the isolated Kohonawala. Ana kept referring to the Lunu Miris as Dynamite which was quite fitting considering the taste of it. We went to bed early hoping for something exciting to happen the following day.

The view around Watawala

Closer

Icing on the cake

Plenty of food for the birds and squirrels

Cotton-wool sky

Ana’s Nest

Around the garden

Beans growing high

Busy at work

Plenty of them and I couldn’t eat one hundredth of them

Gorgeous colors

Peeping inside

Plenty more

Mummified Gas Gemba

Nature-made ponds

We took to the path for a hike and there’s our home in the distance

Most of the time it’s gloomy

On another day, Sri Pada would be seen over the tree canopy

Shannon Tea Factory in the far

Not missing these tiny details

Ready to plant

Looks as if done with a foot ruler

The mountains covered in the mist

Tea is the main player

Having a bath

These tanks are used for breeding fish

One of the buses that runs through the estates

Green in different shades against a gloomy background

Very tempting to have a bath

Closer

Not missing anything

Cascades in the middle of the estate

Sumptuous lunch

Here comes the mist

Covered the whole area in no time

One of the houses being built closer

Ideal for relaxing and having a nap

Mulligan Soup, full of all the nutrition

The dinner of Thosai, Ana’s attempt at Kohonawala Special seen too

Day 02

The next day early morning we went for another walk through the dew-covered plantation but still the clouds and the mist kept the Sri Pada hidden from us. However, for a fraction of the time, the holy peak revealed herself yet only partially. The whole surrounding was being bathed in the morning glow and it was like walking through a watercolor painting. Different shades of green mixed with sky blue and pristine white clouds added to the picture. Shadows of the mountains fell on the other mountains that gave a wonderful contrast in the whole picture.

Just walking slowly taking these wonderful sceneries in, breathing fresh mountain air was all a human being needed to unwind and with a hearty meal at the end to make it complete. You can feel the whole body is beginning to relax and all the pressure inside you is being released slowly, your thoughts become clearer, muscles start to loosen, and you feel like floating inside a bubble. After our morning stroll, we had yet another wonderful breakfast as you must when you go for relaxing. The food plays a key role when you want to unwind and enjoy some quiet time.

Here comes the morning

Dew on the leaves

Can see the Sri Pada in the distance, let’s try and get closer

There she is, but only partially visible

Great colors

Like blue berry but not sure if edible

Very tiny ones

Picturesque

Not missing much

Wow

Great scenery

An airliner passed overhead with the typical smoke trail

Unbelievable sights, however, nothing comes closer than seeing it with one’s own eyes

The shadow of the mountain covering the half of the pic

Look at the patterns of the sky

Silhouette

More of the paintings

Some more

Another pond in the marsh

We headed straight ahead

Close up of a very common flower, unfortunately, don’t know the name

Endless view

Here we are back again

Deep red

Breakfast of, Kurakkan mixed Rotti, Ana’s Special, Kollu Curry

Templestowe Estate

This is when, after breakfast, we got the chance to visit one of the most picturesque estate bungalows I’ve ever seen. It’s called Templestowe, rather unusual name but a breathtakingly beautiful place. So Ana I drove to the estate which is located about 4km from the Rozella Station. The drive was so pleasurable as we passed well maintained estate road bordered by plenty of plants and onto our left was a marshland which used to be a lake according to the Managing Director.

We reached the bungalow and while Ana was talking to the MD, I was so busy taking pictures of this wonderful place. As my report name suggests, this really was a little heaven on earth. There was a large lawn cut and maintained beautifully. The whole garden was full of various fruit trees and endless collection of flowers even though most of them were not yet blossomed as it wasn’t the season. I wished it was April coz all the flowers would’ve been in full bloom.

There were dozens of Sitha Pera (one of the guava specie) trees which were full of ripened guavas that tasted both sweet and sour. Dozens of parrots were roaming around taking bites at leisurely and when a dozen or so birds munch on these fruits, it makes a very loud noise and you’d wonder what on earth that is.

You can see the videos I took of those parrots below.

Video 01

Video 02

They were very colorful, bright green with red necklace-type strip around the neck on males and some red feathers on all of them. Well, I’ll let the pictures tell the story here after.

Here we are

The lawn in front

The mighty bungalow with more than half a dozen bedrooms

Towards Watawala

Maha Bovitiya with her lusty purple

One of the rare blooms

Even the thorns are red

Bunch of yellow and whites

Closer look

Amazing colors

Will probably bloom in a day or two

Flower creepers running wild

How about a swing with a steaming cup of coffee

More vivid colors

Bright colors

“Hey dude, what you looking for?”

Some more beautiful but unknown plants

A group of them, the color of flame

Through the portico

A bit of the history, this is a gigantic squatting pan, wonder who used that

Behind the mammoth bungalow

Fully organic

The standard guava

The bungalow beyond the lawn

Guess what? Mushrooms

Purple buds

Huge Sitha Pera, some call it Ambul Pera too

Full of fruits

Some distinctive colors

Before the misty hit

Greenly velvet mountains

Various plants throughout

Some more vivid colors

Ana having a word with the MD

Hadn’t seen this thorny Rambutan like fruits before

The bright orange

One of my best moments

Had always wanted to take a pic like this

The path bordering the garden

Here’s the first of many

Note the red feathers

A pair of them

Hiding away from me

Very cheeky fellows

Just plucking a fresh guava

Using the foot to help eat properly

I nearly twisted my neck imitating the fella

Here comes the mist

Just see the patterns made by bamboo pots

Heap of them

Interior of the bungalow

That fireplace is no longer used, probably due to the increase in the temperature over time

Where we had lunch

Long corridors

Map of the estate

The mist covered the faraway mountains

The color of love

Great medicine

Here are the ripe guavas I told you about

A big one

Bunch of them

Through the man-made arch

Some more parrot show

Just flew off before I took the pic

This was way up on a tree

Look at how the body is twisted to find the best fruit

Here is a clear one

Portrait

Simply loved the way they kept munching at them with those strange actions

Screaming at me

Here Ana with Mahesh

The mist invaded around 12.30pm and stayed there for about an hour playing with me. The plants were soaked in the dew that it brought and it gave a sexy look to them. After yet another hearty meal we decided to call it a day and bid farewell to our host, Mr. Mahesh Katugaha who was great. As always, this was one of those leisure journeys one should do in between those strenuous and arduous hikes. It will simply revive you both physically and mentally.

I was wondering whether I should put all this in a report but decided to share the relaxing experience with you nevertheless. It’s been a great holiday, one I enjoyed thoroughly. We got back home just before the dark, ending the 48-hour calm and quietness and entering back into the hot and humid concrete jungle full of noises that pierce your eardrums.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the soothing report but don’t blame me for not taking you for the actual journey. Hopefully you too will get some cozy journeys like this every now and then.

Take care and enjoy the life while it lasts…

Au Revoir,

Sri.