Plus, we also intended to fossick around the bush for materials for our new dry creek bed. The gravel was in abundance - if you could be bothered shoveling the stuff caked in clay and grit - and gnarled, weathered hunks of timber were equally available. Even gravel boulders lay around abandoned, waiting like a child in an orphanage for that perfect family to desire adopting. Their colours skewed between orangey-yellows to deep ochre reds and anything in between.

In the end, the cold "breeze" got the better of us and we headed back with our new trophies. Fortunately, we still had a few hours up our sleeve and were able to start work on the first stage of the front yard makeover.

The creek bed shown in the photo above is actually the middle section of a meandering path - so there will be a few more trips out into the bush still.

We used our African Box to start the hedge between the paving and this garden bed and the other side will house a native hedge - possibly westringia or a shrubby grevillea. The plants that are dotted around are not staying where they are and some won't even make it back into this bed. However, the two deciduous magnolias are staying and will become the features for this garden.

Next week, we're off plant shopping...