Skip to main content

Not so Smart

After spending the night on the apartment couch, while B and Alex had the queen bed, it is time to leave Canberra and begin our journey home. So as not to entirely waste a visit to the city, we first make a stop at the National Gallery of Australia. 

Alex wanted to revisit the War Memorial, but due to a spectacularly senseless reconstruction it is even more restricted than before.

Unfortunately, at the brutalist concrete gallery there are no tickets to the Jeffrey Smart exhibition until too late in the afternoon. At this point Alex let's us know that he is currently studying Smart's art at school, which just frustrates us further.

Nonetheless, we decide to have a wander at the rest of the free exhibitions at the gallery.

I love a good art gallery. There are few places more relaxing and yet stimulating as a gallery. The selection is very different to our last visit and I feel like I have changed too. The staid old classic styles no longer hold my interest as much as the contemporary and Indigenous art.

That trip to the Northern Territory really changed my perception of Indigenous art and culture, just as travel to Europe helped us understand and appreciate the Impressionists.

We spend a lot longer than intended in the gallery. Fortunately, we did also catch some glimpses of the Smart exhibition.

Driving back to Sydney, I detour through Majura Park to grab some lunch at the shopping centre. Really we just want something quick and convenient. Banh mi and sushi. 

I wish we could have stayed longer to admire the airport, with a Qantas 717 and a Virgin 737 both coming up close.

I want to reach home before the predicted rain and storms. Traffic on the Hume Highway is heavy and the driving requires a lot of concentration. Still, it really does feel like the shortest leg. It is certainly the most familiar. 

The house smells musty, but the fish all seem to be alive. We go out for pizza for dinner and enjoy using our own television.

As I write this a line of storms has struck, bring strong gusts of wind and heavy rain. A welcome home present after the glorious weather of our trip. 

Even more welcome: A firm bed and pillows. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The little Jedi of Kinosaki Onsen

A long time ago in a land far, far away. That's what it felt like as we walked the streets of Kinosaki Onsen dressed in our yukatas, the clop-clop of wooden getas sounding in the air. In his robes Alex looked the spitting image of a young Jedi padawan, all that was missing was the lightsaber. Incidently, Padawan is a district of Kuching in Malaysia. The town was so far back in time that my 4G router couldn't get a signal, hence the lack of an update. Plus I was feeling a little under the weather. There can be few better places to rest than Kinosaki Onsen. We dragged our luggage on the Midosuji subway to Umeda, then barely caught the Ltd Exp Hamakaze in time. An older Japanese train it lacked a food service or vending machines, leading to big issues. Alex was hungry for breakfast. B and I had eaten slices of Kobe cheesecake for breakfast, but Alex didn't like it. As we raced past the huge Akashi bridge Alex was pleading for food and drink. The kind ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 ...
4 comments
Read more

The Carlingford Line

We close the year and the decade with a local adventure to mark the closure of a railway line. On the January 5, 2020, the Carlingford Line from Clyde will close to be partially replaced by the Parramatta Light Rail. This is Sydney's quietest line, a single track branch for most of its length from the industrial centre of Clyde to the northwestern suburb of Carlingford. According to Wikipedia, power supply and signalling issues mean that only a single four car train can utilise the line at a time. Newer Sydney trains run in fixed eight car configurations. This will be the first and last time I traverse the Carlingford Line in its current configuration. The weather of the day is certainly appropriate for an ending, the brown smoke haze lending an apocalyptic air to proceedings. I drive to Padstow and catch the T8 line to Central, followed by the T1 towards Parramatta and Penrith. The historic homes of the Inner West give way to industrial complexes, rail storage yards and t...
4 comments
Read more