Day 302 - Friday 27 October - Last hoorah in Canberra

Day 302 –

Friday

27 October – Yogi Bears 12^th Birthday.

Sutton – Canberra

The rain left as soon as we went to bed last night and didn’t return, it was still a little grey and cloudy when we woke but we were hopeful for a fine day. We dragged ourselves out of bed just after 8am, running through the usual bits before we were ready to head out.

When we left we were going to go to Questacon, but once we were in the area, we could only find 1 hour free parking, so we decided to skip it and enjoy a walk around the Parliamentary zone.

We walked under the shaded canopy of trees with new lime green leaves and then made our way up to the old parliament house where more buses ferrying kids around were parked. We looked over the Aboriginal tent embassy and then made our way back into the Old Parliament rose garden where we had had lunch the other day and admired the gardens just starting to throw blooms of colour.

We continued our walk back towards the lake, stopping at a spot where you could see the old parliament building in full and get a good reflection from the large pond in front.

We found Questacon and were glad we had changed our mind as there were plenty of buses lined up, so it would be swarming with kids inside. We continued along the road passing the forecourts of the National Portrait Gallery, The High Court of Australia and the National Art Gallery.

I took in the various sculptures placed within the grounds and then we walked into the James Turrell “Within Without” Skyspace. This is a garden that is surrounded by a large pond and a path leading inside to a dome. There is more water surrounding the dome and as you walk around you eventually find an opening into the “Grand Poobah’s Hat”, as Paul christened it. Inside the dome is seating around the perimeter and a hole in the roof to view the sky. Today, due to the overcast nature it looked like the full moon. It was quite serene sitting within the space.

From the dome, we ventured back outside and returned to the car just as our time expired. We then drove down to the lake, parking near the National Carillon. We had 30min before we needed to head towards Fsywick, so we got out for a walk along the lake’s edge.

I walked to the traffic bridge so that I could take some photos using it is as a frame for parliament house. We then returned to the Carillon and walked out onto Aspen Island. As we crossed the bridge we were confronted with a number of clusters of very large carp, they are such a pest.

We walked around the island watching the ducks and a couple of blokes abseiling down the carillon after completing a clean up of it, it looked like a fun job.

We completed the lap of the small island and returned to the car driving on to Fyshwick and locating the Zierholz Brewery. We parked and then made our way inside, meeting Damien that brewer. He took us through the breweries story and then showed us around before giving Paul a tasting paddle and leaving us to it.

We didn’t hang around, leaving when Paul was done. As we needed bread rolls for lunch, we decided to head to the Fyshwick markets to buy fresh rolls from the baker and so Paul could go back to Plonk and pick up a beer to enjoy, once we were done we drove back to the Carillon.

We parked in the two-hour free parking and walked out on to Aspen Island, finding a picnic table in the sun to have our ham sandwiches. The sun was now starting to dominate and it was quite warm which was just lovely.

When lunch was done and dusted, we put the bag back in the car and we proceeded to do a lap of the lake once more. I was determined to get the step count up as it was very light on yesterday.

We walked anti-clockwise this time to change up the perspective. It worked, as I was able to appreciate things from a different angle and we spied things not seen on our last lap.  

The sun stayed out for the whole lap, making it quite a warm trip in our jeans, but I was not complaining. We stopped to check out the other bridge, passed a couple of rake thin models on a photo shoot, the captain Cook memorial and Blundell’s cottage before we finally returned to the vehicle, our step goal well and truly met.

Needing to restock on some groceries, we drove to the Woolies near the airport and picked up what we needed before finally heading back to the van where Paul put the car on and readied everything for our move tomorrow.

I took the computer down to the lake so that I could access the free wifi, hoping it would be a little quicker this time around. It didn’t seem as slow, but it certainly wasn’t what I would deem quick.

I got a few photos loaded up while I went through today’s lot. Paul joined me to write up his brewery reviews, but left when he was done. I was determined to stay until 5.30pm and load what I could. It wasn’t much.

When I returned to the van, I challenged Paul to our final Putt Putt decider. We grabbed our equipment and made for the course. We were tied for the first few holes but then I had a hole in one and Paul had a shocker and after that it was game over, with me winning by 5 shots. Yay!

We returned to the van and I continued to work on the blog and add some more photos while Paul read his book and then started preparing dinner. I did the cooking side and then we ate.

After dinner, we returned to the lake so that I could continue to add more photos to Facebook. We stayed until 9.30pm and the internet started playing up and then it was back to the van ready to call it a night.