Thursday, April 12, 2018
Airport Open Day
Sunday was a good day for small bears who are interested in aeroplanes. Canberra airport opened some of the runway and parking area and invited some historic aircraft to fly in. Over 30,000 Canberrans visited the airport to see some restored older airliners and military aircraft. The favourite of Mum and I is the Caribou. I loved to see them demonstrating their amazing short take-offs and landings at airshows when they were still in RAAF service, so it was great to see that one has been kept flying by the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society. They also brought a Catalina, a DC-3 and a Convair 440. QANTAS and Virgin Australia had airliners on display, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines each had a scheduled overseas flight passing through, and a RAAF C-17 flew in and was open for inspection for a few hours. There were long lines of people waiting to walk through all of the aircraft, so I was really happy that I had done that at other airshows and could avoid the crush. There were several aerobatic demonstrations, but the aircraft involved were too small and fast-moving for the oldies to get photos of them. We really need a BIG airshow here at Canberra so that we dont have to drive to Temora or the Illawarra to see one.
Labels: aircraft, Canberra
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
With the Thunder Lizards
What a weekend it was. Two big outings for a small bear. The first one was on Saturday night at the National Dinosaur Museum. It was an open night for adults only, no noisy kids allowed. Naturally, being an adult small bear over 15 years old, I was allowed in. The museum has a huge collection of fossils of dinosaur bits and other prehistoric critters, plus gemstones and ores. I thought the rocks full of coloured crystals were pretty good, but what I really enjoyed was the life-size models of dinosaurs in the area outside the building. If you look closely you will see me bravely staring down a mob of hunting Velociraptors, riding a Stegosaurus, talking to a mother Triceratops and her calves (there are 2 of them, but one is hiding behind her leg) and yelling for Dad to rescue me before the baby T.Rex closes his mouth. A small bear with an active imagination can have great fun at the museum, and I guess most kids could too.
Labels: animals, Canberra
Tuesday, April 03, 2018
Jewels and Jets
Easter weekend was busy. We had a visit by our grandkids (not sure just what relation an Oldies grandchild is to the Oldies bear), Mum's craft meeting, Sunday lunch with Bro Trent's in-laws, and best of all a morning full of bling and aeroplanes. On Friday an exhibition of jewellery by Cartier opened at the National Gallery. Mum and I are hooked on bling so we just had to be among the first in the door. What a collection. I saw lots of necklaces, tiaras and brooches, including ones worn by royalty and actresses. My favourites were the ones in the shape of animals and birds. The alligators are actually a necklace which hinges at the back and swings around the neck. Naturally, Dad and I were really impressed by the models of the Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer, made in silver, and the Lunar Excursion Module, made in gold and enamel. You really should see this exhibition if it comes to a city near you. Just to finish the morning out we parked near the airport where we could see aircraft taking off. The Boeing 777 in the photo is the Singapore Airlines Canberra to Wellington (NZ) flight. I like Wellington, so maybe the Oldies will use this flight sometime soon.
Labels: aircraft, Canberra
