After 5 lovely nights on the south coast, it was time to leave the turquoise ocean, the whales, and the sand and move inland. A few short hours from Merimbula lies the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) - the smallest territory in Australia, and home to the city of Canberra. Before we left Australia, I wanted to spend at least some time exploring this city. I had heard from some colleagues that there was so much to do in Canberra, so, off we went!
It turns out that we chose a good time to visit Canberra. It's spring in Australia, which means that the Floriade (Festival of Flowers) was underway. This is a pretty significant tourist attraction and there were a lot of people there. We arrived on Sunday and decided to go for a quick swim, order pizza and head out to the Floriade for Night Fest. It turns out that Night Fest is a huge party, super expensive and crazy busy. So, we skipped the Floriade that night and spent a couple of minutes checking out a few other sights - the Captain Cook Memorial and cherry blossoms, all under the light of a lovely sunset.
The Captain Cook Memorial:
Captain Cook may not have been a particularly nice guy, but he sure did get around! He is the first European to make contact with the eastern coast of Australia, but also sailed around most of the rest of the world before being killed trying to kidnap Kalaniʻōpuʻu (Hawaii's Monarch at the time).
After celebrating Calla's birthday in Merimbula, it was time to celebrate Rylan's birthday in Canberra. The place we were staying had a stove, but no oven, so a store bought cake would have to do. We have made some pretty elaborate cakes over the years, but this time we made do with what we had. Rylan's cake is a modified version of an Australia's Ninja Warrior course, with the addition of some sharks and snakes (poor people who don't make it over the obstacles...). At least it tasted good!
Presents wrapped in hotel towels!
One of the things on our 'to-do' list was to visit the Questacon (Science Centre). Rylan thought this would be a great way to spend his birthday. It was a pretty fun place to spend a few hours.
This is the Poettcker family (as seen on the cover of a late 90s U2 album)!
Calla and I braved the Free Fall - a 5 m drop down onto a slide. It was a bit disconcerting hanging off this bar and being told to let go. The first person in line spent about 2 minutes hanging there saying she couldn't let go. The staff member who was there said that she wasn't getting pulled back up, so she had to let go. Off she went, and then off we went!
We found the Canadian flag flying proudly in this beautiful city.
After a visit to the National Library of Australia, we went back to our rented cabin to finish celebrating Rylan's birthday.
Mom, Dad and I may share some similar interests - namely Sudoku and Wordscapes!
On our second day in Canberra, we packed a few things in. First, a visit to the Australian War Memorial. Janice told me not to go on a rant about war, so here is my summary of our experience here. We were highly impressed by this experience - it is huge, with heaps of detailed displays, and the whole facility had so many interactive aspects that the kids did not get bored in the hours that we spent there. One of the first things we noticed about this place is that it attempted to paint a realistic picture of what war is like. This memorial was not built to glorify war, which was one of the things that was refreshing about this experience.
The other highlight was the kid's Discovery Area, which had lots of great hands-on experiences for the kids. We learned that life in a submarine smelled really bad and trenchfoot is truly disgusting. Here Rylan and Jo are trying out the toilet and shower in a submarine.
And here is Calla, flying a helicopter through the jungles of Vietnam.
If nothing else, the view from the steps of the memorial is fantastic. There is a corridor reminiscent of the National Mall in Washington DC, leading all the way to the Capital Building.
We had a second try at Floriade and this time it was much emptier. We enjoyed a brief thunderstorm while walking through hundreds of thousands of flowers that were blooming in full force. We also found some mini-donuts and what is possibly the best licorice that has ever been created.
With our vacation winding down, we were feeling eager to get home and show mom and dad what Dubbo is like. On the way, we stopped at the Parkes Observatory. The Parkes Observatory is the subject of The Dish, a movie about the broadcast of the moon landing in 1969. It turns out that the moon landing would have never been broadcast if it hadn't been for this piece of equipment (if the moon landing actually happened...😝).
The visit to the Observatory was great, but the flies were unbelievable. I think that if my parents remember anything at all about Australia, it will be those flies. Our plan was to eat a picnic outside upon our arrival at the Dish, but these plans quickly changed as soon as we stepped out of the car and were bombarded by at least 4 million of these nasty little creatures trying to get into our eyes, ears, noses and mouths!
Finally back in Dubbo, we visited the Dubbo Taronga Zoo, one of our favourite spots in Dubbo.
An after zoo essential - McDonalds (Macca's) Frozen Fantas!
We ditched the kids one night and mom and dad took us out to the Red Earth Winery, another one of our favourite spots in Dubbo. Not only do they make great wine (especially the Verdelho), but they also have a delicious dumpling house! So good!
In summer in Canada, you can sometimes find people selling hot dogs outside certain stores to raise money. In Australia, every Saturday, you can find different groups outside Bunnings (Australia's Home Depot) selling Sausage Sandwiches (or, Sanger Bangers). Sausage, bread, onions and your choice of tomato sauce, BBQ or mustard!
On Saturday, just before we had a big Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and some Australian friends (Thanksgiving isn't a thing here), we enjoyed a play put on by the kids.
And then it was over. Mom and Dad left on the Sunday (13 October) and went to Sydney, where they enjoyed a tour and a lot of walking. The next day, term 4 started and we were officially nearing the last quarter of our Australian experience. We were so thankful that my parents came to this wonderful country and that we could spend a couple of weeks showing them around. It was truly a memorable trip for everyone and it will be something that we will all remember for a long time.
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