Day 12: Thu 21 Dec - Canberra

13 (feels like 9) - 19 (feels like 14) deg C, overcast and windy

Due to the cooler temperature this morning, we didn't leave the warmth of the bed until after 7:30am; which is 6:30am in QLD.

Wendy walked and Greg rode with Bob for coffee and then a loop around Belconnen (40ks). Whilst waiting for Greg to return for lunch, Wendy baked a three ingredient fruit cake/Christmas cake using minced fruit with no added sugar, chocolate milk and self-raising flour. Soak the fruit in the milk overnight then added the flour, mix, place into cake tin and cook. Easy peasy. Tastes pretty good too.

A slow afternoon, followed by a cruise around Lake Burley Griffin with Go Boats Canberra. The boats are Danish-designed and constructed using recycled materials. The engine is a zero-emissions e-motor direct from Germany. Each boat fits eight persons and we had two boats. Greg received a voucher from Secret Santa in 2021, and we paid for another boat so the whole family could join us.

The weather was not very kind to us; the wind was very blustery and LBG had waves, mini ones though. We cruised under Kings Avenue Bridge, past QEII Island and the National Carillon, pulled in close to shore to view ANZAC Parade and the Australian War Memorial (from a distance), under Commonwealth Avenue Bridge to see the National Museum of Australia, before turning around and heading back to port.

Although the weather was not the best, and we had 16 people on two boats so could not mingle, we all had a great two hours out on the lake, chatting, and snacking. Afterwards, we took Rob and Tinkie back to their place and we retired to our van.

Go Boats Canberra

Leaving port

The other boat - Kevin (driving), Paddy, Jemima, Samantha (back to camera), Suzanne, Dale (Carla and Jojo are sheltering under the table!)

ANZAC Parade, Australian War Memorial, and Mt Ainslie

Had to get a picture of the Zimbabwean flag

National Carillon


Dale about to be attacked by a seagull


National Museum of Australia

Seagulls hoping for a snack

Red sky at night .....












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 10: Tue 19 Dec - Canberra

Image
17-33 deg C, fine and sunny to very nasty weather with high winds and hail in the afternoon After a quick morning walk, we went grocery shopping. After we had unpacked it all into the van, we had mornos, then drove over to Wendy's parents to help set up the place for a family pre-Christmas dinner.  We returned to the van for lunch and a rest. The wind had gotten really strong and we knew there was a storm on the way however, had no idea of just how nasty it was going to become. At one stage, we were each holding onto an awning strut to ensure we didn't do a Mary Poppins and fly away. Yes, the awning was tied down, but the wind was so bad that some of the pegs were starting to come loose! The hail came down for about 20 minutes, but the rain kept coming too, continuing throughout the night. Not long after the hail, we left for our pre-Christmas dinner, with a few spots of rain whilst the meat was being BBQ'd, and then it went away. We had a relaxing, fun-filled evening with ...
Read more

Day 22: Sun 31 Dec - Canberra

Image
11-22 deg C with a very lazy and icy wind Ride: 30km; total: 391km We rode to Jamison this morning, with jackets and ear warmers on and still didn't get warm. We met mum and dad there to have breakfast with them at their favourite cafe but it was closed. Never mind, Greg spotted Divine Cafe and Bar across the car park. The food was yummy and the coffee was good. We chatted for a while until we started getting cold, then left for home. We took a new path for us on this visit to get to the lake, and then the same old route from there back to the van. After another coffee, we jumped back into bed as it was cold. An hour later we were up for lunch, then another little rest in preparation for the night's activities. Greg dropped Wendy off at Dale and Suz's then returned to the van for dinner. After dinner, Greg rode to Commonwealth Park for the 9pm fireworks. He then rode home and went to pick up Wendy. Dale and Suz put on an awesome New Year's Eve dinner, with 15 adults and...
Read more

Day 7: Sat 16 Dec - Coonabarabran to Forbes, 312km; total towed: 2,008km

Image
22 (FL 20, Coonabarabran) - 33 deg C (Forbes) Walk: 8km; total: 32km About 8pm last night, we closed all the windows and blinds and put the aircon on as it was still about 30 deg C when we were ready for bed! Neither of us slept that well knowing that Wendy's ebike was on the back of the van and we could not hear if anyone was trying to have a lend of it. It was nice and cool in the van though. Since we had the aircon replaced in 2021, the cutting in and out is a lot smoother and we hardly noticed it, a real bonus. We were on the road to Gilgandra just before 8am with a noticeable increase in traffic. We had mornos at Gilgandra alongside the windmills and the Castlereagh River. We refuelled on the northern outskirts of Dubbo and brunched on the southside of Parkes.  We have noticed an increase in RV traffic (caravans, camper trailers, and everything in between) in the last 24 hours, mainly due to NSW school holidays starting yesterday afternoon. In the main, everyone has been well ...
Read more