Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing)

[Bokusenou]

Anyone been cherry blossom viewing this year yet? There are no places to do it here, so I'm going to do it virtually, thanks to Google:
www.google.com/landing/japanview/

[Jembru]

The cherry trees still haven't blossomed here, but the ones next to my mum's place are ready to go! We have white ones (which are fruit bearing, unlike the pink varieties which tend to be ornamental), and the 'double blossom' variety which is a deeper pink than the sakura you usually see in Japan (although the do have the darker variety). They usually blossom a few weeks later than Japan but this year they seem to be taking even longer. I have a pear tree in my back yard and that has started to flower, but it doesn't have so many buds on it this year for some reason.

The last time I did hanami was with Tannya and a friend of hers before they moved back to Indonesia. We'd missed the blossoms so the trees in the park we went to (actually the grounds of a cathedral in central Newcastle) were starting to grow leaves and were just a bit pink in places! We had a picnic and made daisy chains. Not quite the same as the drunken knees-up hanami in Japan generally turns into. ^^

Miyo has mentioned that there are some sakura trees near her home. I wonder if they're in a place suitable to have hanami. The issue here tends to be finding trees in an area near enough to a toilet!