Archive for February 19th, 2008

We have been to a few different places since we lasted posted on here and as you will no doubt be aware we met with some of our usual weather.  We left Sydney and headed to the Southern Highlands and my famous last words as we left were that we had no need to book a caravan park as school holidays were over and they would be deserted.  I think we should read the newspapers or watch more television as we discovered when we got to Bowral that there was a concert scheduled for that weekend with Jimmy Barnes and Joe Cocker.  As you can imagine there was no accommodation to be had for that weekend.  So we booked in for one night at Mossvale to work out what our plans would be.  We were booked into two markets and here we were with no caravan park.

We went for a drive in the afternoon to Kangaroo Valley and stopped here at Hampton Court Bridge for a photograph before heading into the township to The Friendly Inn.

We wandered around for a little and decided that we had best head back to the van and decide where we would head off to.  Just as we were leaving, the clouds descended and the rain poured down.  As anyone who has been to the Valley will know it is down a very steep, very windy road and there we were driving up the hill, round hairpin bends and unable to see a thing for the rain and low clouds.  A torrent of water was running down the road to meet us and it was a most unpleasant drive.

We got back to the park and decided that we would head off the following morning for Canberra and try and book into a couple of markets there.  As it turns out it was a wise decision as the markets were both cancelled as was the Jimmy Barnes concert due to rain.  Remind me again, this is a drought we are experiencing?

Arriving in Cnberra we booked into the nearest caravan park to the city as we thought we might stay for a while and do a bit of sightseeing and all the touristy things that Canberra has to offer.  We checked out the van parks and were disappointed that we couldn’t find one that was really very nice.  having read on the Cravaners Forum about the Exhibition Grounds we went for a drive there.  It was full of caravans, looked ok and was about half the price of the parks per night.  Great, we thought and headed off to find the office to book in for a week or two.  Just our luck though, the Royal Canberra Show was on and they were closing the grounds to caravans the next day.

Still, the weather was dry and we set off to enjoy our stay.  We visited Telstra Tower on Black Mountain.  It was a long way down to the car park but I’m sure you can spot the car there.  Motley1 had a walk around the outside viewing area while I enjoyed a nice cuppa from the comfort of the cafe.  We visited the National Archives of Australia, the amount of records that they store in this place is astounding.  A great place to check out any immigration details of your families.

Our next port of call was Parliament House gardens (Old Parliament House that is.) They have a beautiful Rose Garden here so we literally “stopped to smell the roses”.

These visits, of course are over the course of a few days.  It would be impossible to see everything in one day.  each place has it’s own attractions.

I should mention that I had a birthday whilst in Canberra, another year older but I don’t look a day over 65 !

Parliament House was our next stop.  ( If you see a pattern here with the photographs, Motley1 had no idea I was using these for the blog )  Getting on a bit, it is hard for Motley1 to keep walking without stopping for a rest every now and again and he reckons these parliamentry seats were quite comfy.  The foyer of the building isvery impressive, marble everywhere.  We were having a wander around looking at the portraits of previous prime ministers when we were joined in the foyer by the Governer General complete with entourage.  It was the day before the first sitting of the new cabinet in parliament and many of the new members were there checking out where there positions in the house would be.  I had mine all picked out.  For me the highlight was going up onto the roof of the building, having the grassed area on the roof was a wonderful idea and it gives you a wonderful view of the flag.  The views from here are some of the best in Canberra, so when you visit take the lift up to the roof as one of your “must do” items.

The next day was “Sorry” Day so we headed down to old Parliament House where the Aboriginal tents were situated.  Here you can see the beginnings of the bonfire being put together.  I was amazed that they were being allowed to have a bonfire on the grounds but a you can see here as the day wore on the grounds were home to cars, vans, tents etc etc.

Next on our travels was the War Memorial.  If you only had time for one day in Canberra then this is the one place not to miss.  From the front of the building you look all the way down to the parliament Houses.  The exhibits and displays will keep you here for hours.  There is a recreation of a night bombing raid in a Lancaster bomber which has to be experienced to believe.   We spent the best part of a day here and could easily have come back for a second day.  Here is a picture of Motley1 on the balcony of the memorial.  Another shot of him in the grounds with a tank and last but not least outside the Hall of Remembrance.  I haven’t posted any pictures of that or the tomb of the unknown soldier as they do no justice to the reality.  I’m sure you would all be as moved as we were.

Our last day, we spent at the National Museum.  Again, this is an all day event, there is just so much to see here.  A highlight is the Garden of Dreams, no ordinary garden this, but I’ll leave you see and experience it for yourselves.

We had intended to stay for longer in Canberra, perhaps another week or so but it was really quite cold and the caravan park was nothing to write home about so we decided to chase the sun and try for a little bit of summer before winter arrives.

We left the next morning to head for Albury and stopped off for a while in Yass.  It seemed a little more run down than I remembered with a few empty buildings around but still a nice little spot.   Albury was to be our stop for the night and we found a lovely little park in Lavington and booked in for the night.  The owner was very friendly and came to the site to check that we were settling in ok.  Motley1 mentioned that he had heard that a couple he knew were managing a park in Albury but he had no idea which one.  Yes, you’ve guessed it, it was the park we had checked in to.  So he had a visit with them for a while.  We were sorry we only had one night here as it was one of the nicest little parks we have stayed in.

We left the next morning around ten not really sure where we would end up.  We stopped, of course, for the mandatory picture of the dog on the tuckerbox.  I still can’t get that song out of my head !!!!  Approaching Holbrook we were taken aback to see this submarine as we were driving through town and of course we had to have a photograph of that too.

Our trusty GPS got us to Mulwala (I’m still sure that’s not where I asked it to take us) and we have been here now for around 5 or 6 days.  We are camped on the lake.  The weather has been wonderful.  The food at the local RSL for lunch was cheap and exceedingly good.  Drinks at Happy Hour were cheap, free entertainment anf two good markets.  We have enjoyed this week more than we have any other for quite some time.  We are still trying to work out how good this pilot must have been to land the plane on these posts outside the RSL Club or to give it its’ proper title Club Mulwala.

We are moving on tomorrow and goodness knows when we will have internet access again and I have had to promise Motley1 that this post would end with a picture of me rather than him.   So here I am, enjoying the sunshine, drinking a beer, the phone glued to the ear and the only thing missing to complete the picture would have been a cigarette somewhere in the vicinity   Now …NO repeat NO comments on the legs will be allowed ..ar you listening Gaz ?

Well till next time, take care everybody and we’ll keep updating as long as you keep reading..

P.S. Motley1 has now also celebrated another birthday, I had to tell you that in case you thought it was just me who was getting older.