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Canberra/Sydney trip
Jul. 7th, 2016 08:57 amFriday, 1/7 - depart Perth in the morning. Unremarkable flight to Sydney. Track through airport, buy sushi to keep self and teen going, end up in quiet little end of Sydney airport. Short flight to Canberra, on one of those small planes where you hand over carry-on suitcases as 'premium' hand luggage. Make it to Canberra, with no problems, quiet evening in at L's, other than wombling up to the local shops to buy breakfast and lunch supplies expected to last three days.
Saturday, 2/7 - after walking the dog (Luna) with L down at 'the lake', go ice-skating in ?Philips?, with M and her kids P and Z, plus at least one other. Get to see a couple of kids who have been skating about the same time as my two, who are at Novice level for ice dance. Middlest goes off with them to see a 'live' screening of Frankenstein ballet from ?Royal Opera House. I go to Old Parliament House to stand in a surprisingly long line (it should not have surprised me, I knew the lines were long there) to vote. Got that sorted, acquired souvenir badge. The good badges were gone, there was only the slightly condescending meme based one left ('Hey girl, voting looks good on you'). Joined up with middlest and co, then off to G's to watch the election coverage. Very bemused by much of what is happening. No government called.
Sunday, 3/7 - walked the dog again?? Hung out with L for a bit, then off to the National Gallery for about 45 minutes before we were due to meet up with M (whose kids are now on music camp, despite it being school holidays). Plan was to walk across to the portrait gallery, but middlest's knee was causing problems, so I attempted to drive from one car park to the other, which involved going round the block at least once. Lunch at the portrait gallery (fish in ?gram dahl? batter), then M took us for a meandering drive around Canberra - looked at some of the embassies, some fancy houses, somewhere along the lake where there are large numbers of roos, the burnt out towers at Mt Stromolo (nice photos of middlest, wearing the brown leather jacket), and then a wander at the Arboretum. That is going to be spectacular in a decade or two, but still a bit flat at the moment. Incredible playground, and we stopped in briefly at the bonsai exhibition. Then M dropped us back at the car, we found a spot where we had good phone reception, and booked train tickets to Sydney for the next day. Back to L's for a quiet evening. I crashed out early, L and middlest watched the Independence Day sequel, to which the general summary was that it was no where near as dreadful as they had anticipated.
Monday, 4/7 - Packed everything up, leisurely breakfast, then up to Queanbeyan to the train station, via the river, where Luna is allowed off the leash. Walked until hip started grumbling, walked back. Hung out at the station a bit over half an hour, because the booking website says to arrive at least 30 mins if you have large bags, but turns out you can't actually check luggage at Queanbeyan, as it is entirely staffed by volunteers. As we had not bought our ticket through them, bought a couple of cans of soft drink in order to contribute to their fundraising. Train trip was peaceful - I now harbour fantasies about meandering around the countryside, train stop to train stop, staying in the local hotel, and taking the opportunity to meander around all the little towns and learn about them. Given that train runs 3 times a day, could get more than one in in a day (but that first train is v. early). Little bit of confusion at Sydney Central trying to swap to the suburban lines (our tickets were paid through to Hornsby), and there was nowhere we could sit and put our bags out of the way, so hung out in the vestibule area. Collected by I, then through Galston Gorge (that was an experience), to I and G's current property. Dinner was potatoes and corn cooked in the fire - G and I sat around the fire and chatted, kids went inside, I went to bed. [kids are middlest, visiting French student B, as well as my cousins A and H).
Tuesday, 5/7 - took the kids to Macquarie Centre to go ice-skating, then fed them Subway, before returning to Galston. Somewhat exciting, because their GPS is a lying liar that lies about the right route (and we were trying to avoid one route that google maps had flagged as having roadworks). I managed to remember some important details about some dodgy intersections (yes, middlest, I can see that all three lanes have right arrows, which only gets us across the train line. Then the right hand lane stays a turn lane, and we want to go straight). Read some of G's book (and napped a bit) while kids did who knows what. Watched a couple of episodes of Doctor Who, as B has never seen any (the ones where we meet Martha and Matt Smith's Doctor/Amy Pond), followed by Inside Out.
Wednesday, 6/7 - I was up early to drop G at the train station, so that I could have his car for the day. Galston Gorge just a little challenging in a car I had been driving for less than 15 minutes at that point, but I have a good idea of its turning circle now (not as good as the people mover). Then hang out and read a bit more, while waiting for everyone else to be out of bed. Then the six of us plus dog (Ginger) piled into the two cars, and headed for Umina Beach, to catch up with my aunt L, and three of her kids (the second one is is away). Our car got there with minimal drama (forgot to charge my phone, turns out that the car cigarette lighter is non-functional, so was unable to charge my phone. The first section I knew, but I didn't know the exit off the M1, and I don't know Umina at all), although there was a little excitement when we discovered that the underpass we needed is closed for repair (cousin L showed me the photo of the truck that caused the damage - see here for the news article). The other car were very late, as they came off the motorway looking for fuel, and it is apparently somewhat difficult to get back on it. Meanwhile, the rest of us had lunch, and then all the under 25s headed to the beach with their dog (Pepper). Aunt L and I tidied up, made up rolls for the late three, and then when they arrived and had eaten we all headed to the beach. Very pleasant! And then a drive back into the dusk, a detour to Hornsby to buy makings for dinner and to collect G from the train, and a quiet evening in. I had an early night, but the rest of them were either watching Total Recall, or playing on the MAME machine.
Today - I'm done in. I've made it as far as the kitchen for sustenance, and I'm back in bed, trying to get my email down, and get at least some semblance of a trip report done! I have a handful of photos, which I will probably never get around to posting. Am contemplating another nap.
Saturday, 2/7 - after walking the dog (Luna) with L down at 'the lake', go ice-skating in ?Philips?, with M and her kids P and Z, plus at least one other. Get to see a couple of kids who have been skating about the same time as my two, who are at Novice level for ice dance. Middlest goes off with them to see a 'live' screening of Frankenstein ballet from ?Royal Opera House. I go to Old Parliament House to stand in a surprisingly long line (it should not have surprised me, I knew the lines were long there) to vote. Got that sorted, acquired souvenir badge. The good badges were gone, there was only the slightly condescending meme based one left ('Hey girl, voting looks good on you'). Joined up with middlest and co, then off to G's to watch the election coverage. Very bemused by much of what is happening. No government called.
Sunday, 3/7 - walked the dog again?? Hung out with L for a bit, then off to the National Gallery for about 45 minutes before we were due to meet up with M (whose kids are now on music camp, despite it being school holidays). Plan was to walk across to the portrait gallery, but middlest's knee was causing problems, so I attempted to drive from one car park to the other, which involved going round the block at least once. Lunch at the portrait gallery (fish in ?gram dahl? batter), then M took us for a meandering drive around Canberra - looked at some of the embassies, some fancy houses, somewhere along the lake where there are large numbers of roos, the burnt out towers at Mt Stromolo (nice photos of middlest, wearing the brown leather jacket), and then a wander at the Arboretum. That is going to be spectacular in a decade or two, but still a bit flat at the moment. Incredible playground, and we stopped in briefly at the bonsai exhibition. Then M dropped us back at the car, we found a spot where we had good phone reception, and booked train tickets to Sydney for the next day. Back to L's for a quiet evening. I crashed out early, L and middlest watched the Independence Day sequel, to which the general summary was that it was no where near as dreadful as they had anticipated.
Monday, 4/7 - Packed everything up, leisurely breakfast, then up to Queanbeyan to the train station, via the river, where Luna is allowed off the leash. Walked until hip started grumbling, walked back. Hung out at the station a bit over half an hour, because the booking website says to arrive at least 30 mins if you have large bags, but turns out you can't actually check luggage at Queanbeyan, as it is entirely staffed by volunteers. As we had not bought our ticket through them, bought a couple of cans of soft drink in order to contribute to their fundraising. Train trip was peaceful - I now harbour fantasies about meandering around the countryside, train stop to train stop, staying in the local hotel, and taking the opportunity to meander around all the little towns and learn about them. Given that train runs 3 times a day, could get more than one in in a day (but that first train is v. early). Little bit of confusion at Sydney Central trying to swap to the suburban lines (our tickets were paid through to Hornsby), and there was nowhere we could sit and put our bags out of the way, so hung out in the vestibule area. Collected by I, then through Galston Gorge (that was an experience), to I and G's current property. Dinner was potatoes and corn cooked in the fire - G and I sat around the fire and chatted, kids went inside, I went to bed. [kids are middlest, visiting French student B, as well as my cousins A and H).
Tuesday, 5/7 - took the kids to Macquarie Centre to go ice-skating, then fed them Subway, before returning to Galston. Somewhat exciting, because their GPS is a lying liar that lies about the right route (and we were trying to avoid one route that google maps had flagged as having roadworks). I managed to remember some important details about some dodgy intersections (yes, middlest, I can see that all three lanes have right arrows, which only gets us across the train line. Then the right hand lane stays a turn lane, and we want to go straight). Read some of G's book (and napped a bit) while kids did who knows what. Watched a couple of episodes of Doctor Who, as B has never seen any (the ones where we meet Martha and Matt Smith's Doctor/Amy Pond), followed by Inside Out.
Wednesday, 6/7 - I was up early to drop G at the train station, so that I could have his car for the day. Galston Gorge just a little challenging in a car I had been driving for less than 15 minutes at that point, but I have a good idea of its turning circle now (not as good as the people mover). Then hang out and read a bit more, while waiting for everyone else to be out of bed. Then the six of us plus dog (Ginger) piled into the two cars, and headed for Umina Beach, to catch up with my aunt L, and three of her kids (the second one is is away). Our car got there with minimal drama (forgot to charge my phone, turns out that the car cigarette lighter is non-functional, so was unable to charge my phone. The first section I knew, but I didn't know the exit off the M1, and I don't know Umina at all), although there was a little excitement when we discovered that the underpass we needed is closed for repair (cousin L showed me the photo of the truck that caused the damage - see here for the news article). The other car were very late, as they came off the motorway looking for fuel, and it is apparently somewhat difficult to get back on it. Meanwhile, the rest of us had lunch, and then all the under 25s headed to the beach with their dog (Pepper). Aunt L and I tidied up, made up rolls for the late three, and then when they arrived and had eaten we all headed to the beach. Very pleasant! And then a drive back into the dusk, a detour to Hornsby to buy makings for dinner and to collect G from the train, and a quiet evening in. I had an early night, but the rest of them were either watching Total Recall, or playing on the MAME machine.
Today - I'm done in. I've made it as far as the kitchen for sustenance, and I'm back in bed, trying to get my email down, and get at least some semblance of a trip report done! I have a handful of photos, which I will probably never get around to posting. Am contemplating another nap.
