Canberra – a week of firsts!!

This week we explored Canberra. This was the beginning of our ‘firsts’ – finally entering another state (I know, I know, technically a territory!)!! The girls and I had never been to Canberra, so it was especially exciting for us! We were lucky enough to have the lovely Aunty Rhonda to stay with, so it was also our first time out of the trailer since we left home! It’s funny the little things we’d missed. I think the girls were happiest to have some carpet to roll around on! I was particularly impressed to have a nice long, hot shower and a home cooked meal!

Canberra has so much to offer, and so many exciting places to explore, that we had a full on itinerary planned. Our first stop was a bit of retail therapy at the Tuggeranong Hyperdome. Silly I know, but the shop-a-holic in me needed some attention! We had a lovely day out, and had our first taste of Kingsley’s Chicken (a Canberra specialty, Rob assured me!), but I have to say I wasn’t particularly impressed 😦

The following day we headed into the heart of Canberra and visited the National Art Gallery. We had a great morning here exploring the artwork, and were really happy to see for the first time in real life paintings by Monet, Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Albert Namatjira! The girls behaved so well, and were really interested in the art, however the gallery was not as kid friendly as the brochure would have you believe! The Skyspace installation outside the gallery was particularly interesting, a strangely tranquil place to sit and stare at the clouds.

As the girls were in such good form (and because we were trying to cram so much in), we decided to walk from the gallery to Old Parliament House and the Museum of Australian Democracy. This place was cool! With interactive displays and a treasure hunt for the kids, it was a great opportunity to learn about Australia’s political history. The grown ups also enjoyed the architecture and the portraits of Prime Ministers past.

And this is where the itinerary came to a grinding halt, as Canberra turned on some unseasonably cold and wet weather. So we ended up spending Thursday hanging around the house, watching DVDs and playing cards (ah, the luxury!). Going to bed Thursday there was some prediction of snow for the night, so we had some pretty excited girls on our hands (me included!), as we’d never seen snow! And this by far was our biggest first, awakening Friday morning to SNOW on the mountains!

Obviously, the first thing we did was jump in the car to get amongst it before it melted! What fun!

Of course, the frolic in the snow had to be followed by a warming ale and counter meal at the local pub, which we managed to find near by in Cooma. Nice spot that 😉

Saturday saw us visit Floriade, as the sun had come back out and the snow had all gone. There were so many pretty flowers! I took a heap of pics on the dSLR, which I will have to add a later date. There were quite a few free kid friendly activities, some funny street performers and some lovely market stalls. It was a nice (and relatively inexpensive) day out.

Sunday we hit The Old Bus Depot Markets, which we really enjoyed. Lots of yummy food, fresh produce, and interesting (not the same as every other market!) art and crafts. We could have spent lots of money here had we not been careful!

And then it was time to pack up and get ready to leave the following morning 😦 We hadn’t managed to see half the things we wanted to see (incl. the war memorial, the national museum, new parliament house, the dinosaur museum, etc etc) so we will be back! It was very sad to be leaving Aunty Rhonda, we’d had such a lovely week.

And that brings up to now. We are currently camped by the Murray River, 8kms west of Corowa, NSW. We have some new & exciting things on the horizon, but you’ll have to wait till our next update to hear about those 😉

Hope everyone is well and happy, and enjoying their own adventures.

Big loves. T x