travelling allrite

On the last days of winter, Canberra blooms with the yellow of wattle and the pink and white of cherry blossoms. Public servants and consultants dressed in black scuttle past having bought their morning coffees and now heading off to work. I sit in a Max Brenner drinking thick hot chocolate to ward off the chill before driving home to my own distant office. I have met my team for the first time in at least five years, members flying up from Melbourne, down from Brisbane and driving, like me, from Sydney to visit the largest group of us in Canberra. It is good to see some again and meet others for the first time. The drive from Sydney is mostly unremarkable, traffic thinning out as I leave the city. My only stop is by Lake George, to briefly marvel at the flat fullness of the water before continuing on. I could have flown, but travel policy means taking the cheapest fares and that is on a Link Airways Saab 340 turboprop. If I was to fly I want a little luxury and not run the...

It's the April school holidays and we are too busy to have a break but need one because of that. And because it's the Easter weekend the options are limited, so we just drive down to Canberra for the night. No, this isn't our first trip for 2023. I wrote about Japan on another site .  I refuse to wake up early so we depart after 8.30 AM. There is not much to say about the drive except that the clouds seem so low and Lake George is very full. We stop at a rest area and at the lookout up the hill to take it all in. Everyone is hungry so we first stop in Dickson and then can't think of anything to eat, so I drive us to Civic, where we can't decide and end up eating at the Singaporean Killiney Kopitiam branch.  The Canberra Centre has nice shops. I dream of getting an iPad from the Apple Store, we buy a blanket and toothbrushes from Muji and wish that Lego wasn't so expensive. Nothing we can't get in Sydney, but then we rarely go out shopping in the city. It...

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 ...

As 2021 comes to a close the travel situation is as messed up as it has ever been. Just when we thought a small measure of normality was about to return and that we could travel interstate and overseas once more, along came the Omicron strain of Covid.  The rapid spread of Omicron in the community and the requirements to have a PCR test before travel means that the testing centres are overloaded and unable to provide tests or results in time. And if you do actually travel, what happens if you catch covid? Can you get the test? Where will you isolate? It is really messed up. But after so long with restrictions, everyone wants to travel now. B and Alex are desperate to go somewhere outside of Sydney. The situation is so fluid, the risk of being a considered a close contact or, worse, infected so high. I am unwilling to travel further than a petrol tank away from home in case a rapid return is required. A post Christmas night in Canberra. The traffic out of Sydney is horrendous, crawl...

The rules changed a few days ago and many residents of Sydney, including us, can now visit the Australian Capital Territory. It's barely an interstate trip, but there was small desire to visit. Unfortunately Alex is suffering nausea as we drive along the Lachlan Valley Highway and we have to make a few stops for him to empty his stomach. We pull over at Boorowa to use the facilities and end up taking a walk around the historically quaint main street. There are gift shops, cafes and a bakery, along with a nice park where Alex rests. It seems to do the trick and he is much better for the rest of the ride.  I plan to continue the astronomical trail with a visit to the Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station. There is a brief stint along the Hume Highway, the first four lane highway since leaving the Blue Mountains. Then we turn off into the Barton Highway, eventually into Canberra.  Many think the ACT is Canberra, but there is more to it than that. Tidbinbilla sits to the south of the...