Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Weekend Wandering
After a few dull Canberra weekdays it is great to have a sunny weekend. The Oldies (and me, of course) usually make the most of the sunshine and go for a wander around the lakes and/or new suburbs.There are four big lakes in Canberra and a lot of smaller ones like the ones near our apartment. The main lake is Lake Burley Griffin, which effectively divides the city into north and south. There is a good flat walking track around it and it has lots of interesting buildings and monuments near it. This is the National Carillion, built for Canberra's 50th anniversary; with luck (or a bit of planning) you can have carillion music while you walk here. There are lots of picnic areas and rest stops around the lakes. The second photo is of one on the track around Yerrabi Pond. Of course, where you have lakes you have water birds like the swans near the carillion and the dozens of grebes at Yerrabi. Note how clear the water is. It is Autumn and the deciduous trees, mostly imported species, are busy changing colour and dropping leaves. That makes for some very colourful walks. Most Australian trees don't do this, some shed their outer layer of bark instead. The most interesting type of tree we have found is the Wollemi Pine, like this one planted near the National Library. This species dates back to dinosaur times and was thought to be extinct until a bushwalker found a stand of around 100 trees surviving in a remote section of Wollemi National Park in 1994. The hills around the city are mostly covered with gum trees of various types, and there are walking trails in many areas. The bottom two images are from a hill on the western edge of the city. All of the land from the bottom of the hill to the suburb in the distance will be full of houses soon. Canberra is growing at a rapid rate and this small bear finds it hard to see everything that is happening.
Labels: birds, Canberra, trees
Friday, June 21, 2019
Wine? Sure (actually, SHAW)
What do we do on a slow day in Canberra? Well, one of our favourite things is to visit one of the many local wineries so that the Oldies can sample the produce. A great one is Shaw Winery at Murrumbateman, just 30 minutes up the road from home. They have just built a new cellar door building where you can try all their wines. Lots of people go there for "tastings", tiny sips of the different wines, but the Oldies reckon that they are better off getting a large glass of their favourite and a good cheese platter to go with it. It must work for them because I never get them away before they finish at least two rounds. Shaw put on a special event last weekend. They recreated a portion of the Battle of Waterloo. I wanted to go, but the weather was cold and miserable and the Oldies stayed home. Some people visit in style. This helicopter bought a couple in for a tasting followed by lunch at the great "Olleyville" restaurant, also part of the estate. That is a way that I would like to travel. Are the wines good? Actually they are excellent. The display of award winning vintages is just inside the entry; Shaw has won many Australian and overseas awards. It is well worth stopping here when you are visiting Canberra.
Labels: Canberra
Thursday, June 13, 2019
More Things That I Like About Cruising
It is hard to realize that it is nearly 6 months since our Christmas-New year cruise on Radiance of the Seas. Dad is still processing and filing images from it. He had better get on with the job because in 4 months time we will be back onboard her; Dad is the enrichment speaker on the voyage this time. So, what do you do on the days at sea? There is always something to do. Several times the crew put on an event. This one is a parade of flags from all the nations of the crew members, over 20 of them on this cruise. As it was Christmas, the cooks had made lots of gingerbread houses. They survived the hungry eyes and grubby hands of passengers until the due date when all of us had a chance to sample some. As you roam around the ship you find all sorts of interesting stuff. This sculptured panther lounging near the adults' pool was just one of the many artworks around the decks. Of course, there is usually live music playing in one of the public areas. This duo was our favourite and we tried to get to as many of their sessions as we could. Then there's the balcony. It is really worth spending a bit extra to get a balcony cabin. We scored a cabin with a bigger balcony than some and spent much time out there with books, puzzles and music. It helps if you have a Dad who can point out birds, flying fish and imaginary whales (he says he saw them but they had presumably dived before Scruffy, Milkshake and I looked in the direction he was pointing). Ocean weather is always worth looking at as well. The Pacific is usually fairly calm, but you get very pretty ever-changing wave patterns of light and swell, and sunsets are often simply magical.
Labels: cruising, South Pacific
