By George, there's water!

As we rounded the crest of the hill we were greeted by an astonishing sight. Lake George had water! Not just a puddle in the centre, but a wide expanse. It's been a long time since we've seen it this full.

We were heading home from Canberra. Earlier in the day we had checked out of the hotel and boarded the free shuttle bus to Floriade. To our delight it was an open top double decker.

Tree branches whipped closely over our heads as we wound our way down to Lake Burley Griffin. The ride was more of a highlight than the annual flower show, the last in its present location by the lake.

The colourful tulips and other flowers were still gorgeous to look at, but Alex had more fun handling reptiles, tossing footballs to score a free Raiders' cap and going down the big slide.

There's so much to see in Canberra and never enough time to do it all, but we wanted to get home before the early Friday knock off.

Last night Alex had read a passage from the Olim's hotel history book in the room detailing its use as a ladies hostel during the Second World War. The Paragon Cafe in Goulburn, where we ate a lunch of hamburgers, dated from that same era.

It was home sweat home back in Sydney with temperatures in the 30's. Collect Kita, unpack bags, wash the car, go grocery shopping and net the leaves off the top of the pool after what was obviously a period of high winds. Definitely home.

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IKEA Museum

We have a packed itinerary today. Flat packed and assembled with an Allen key. There are patches of snow on the ground that weren't there the previous evening. We are a bit sad to leave the Duxiana after the comfy beds and the breakfast of cold cuts, fruits and hot waffles. I tried the Swedish caviar on my boiled egg. It was... Interesting. I was very disappointed to realise that, after talking it up for months, I had forgotten the Disgusting Foods Museum in Malmö yesterday. Too late now. We catch another Oresundstag train, for a bit over an hour. Past yesterday's Lund, past increasingly white fields and towns to Älmhult, home of IKEA. The conductor warns us that the train will split in two so we have to move carriages forward. Unfortunately, there we no spare sets of chairs for all of us. The IKEA Museum showcases the history of the furniture company, along with temporary exhibitions. One of these was "Hacking IKEA," about using IKEA ob...

One night in Canberra

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Springs, castles and the end of the line

I am never happy to stop before the end of the line. It irritates me to know that there is still somewhere unexplored lying ahead. So when I only got as far as Gujo Hachiman on the Nagaragawa Railway last year I knew I needed to return for more. Especially as this private third sector railway is, by its very nature, always at threat of closure due to low patronage. But did Gujo Hachiman deserve another visit? Sure it's a nice enough town, but had we missed out on enough last time to return? Mum's trip provided the excuse. I originally planned the Oito line, which wI'll be partly closed when the Shinkansen line is extended to Kanazawa. However, when I thought of special places in Japan that deserved to be shared Gujo Hachiman was at the top of the list. Before we could go anywhere Mum needed her coffee. There was a Tully's Coffee opposite the hotel entrance, so I parked her there while I booked our seat reservations. Mum got her fast train ride on a ...

travelling allrite

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