My Favourite Places: The Blue Lotus Water Garden, Yarra Junction

Not every great photography location near Melbourne is a mountain or a coastline. Some of the most rewarding mornings I've had with a camera have been spent standing perfectly still over a pond, waiting for the light to hit a single water lily just right. The Blue Lotus Water Garden, out in Yarra Junction, is exactly that kind of place.

Where It Is

The Blue Lotus Water Garden sits in the Yarra Valley, about an hour's drive east of Melbourne along the Warburton Highway. It's a genuinely large site — around 14 acres of lakes, ponds and wetlands — with several distinct areas including Monet's Lake, Lotus Lake, the Lotus Wetlands, and a display of the Giant Amazon Waterlilies, whose enormous spiky leaves are worth the visit on their own.

What You'll Find There

Thousands of lotus flowers and water lilies bloom across the property in an extraordinary range of colours and forms — from delicate pastel water lilies to the bold, saturated tones of the sacred lotus. There's even a small collection tracing its lineage back to lilies grown in Claude Monet's own garden in Giverny, which is a nice bit of history to have on hand while you're photographing the reflections.

Best Time to Visit

This one comes with a firm seasonal window: the garden is only open while the lotus and water lilies are actually in bloom, typically from late December through to mid-April. Within that window, January through to mid-March tends to be the peak, when the widest variety of flowers is out at once.

As always, I'd recommend an early morning visit if photography is your main goal — the light is softer, the water tends to be stiller, and many lotus flowers are actually most fully open in the cooler hours before the day heats up.

Getting There

Self-driving is by far the easiest option — it's a straightforward drive out through the Yarra Valley. If you're relying on public transport, it's a longer trip: a train to Lilydale followed by a connecting bus out to Yarra Junction. The gardens themselves are flat and mostly accessible, with cafes, a nursery, and picnic areas on site if you want to make a full day of it.

The Water Lilies Wall Calendar

A morning spent at the Blue Lotus Water Garden gave me more than enough material for an entire year's worth of images — different flowers, different light, different reflections across the water. You can see where that ended up in the Water Lilies Wall Calendar, available here.