24 March 2012

Daytrippin'...

Canberra, the uniquely designed capital of Australia, is fast approaching it's Centennial year

The birth of Canberra as the national capital was marked by the laying of the foundation stones for a ‘Commencement Column’ on 12 March 1913, and the naming announcement by Lady Denman, wife of the then Governor-General.

From where I live in Sydney, it's just a quick 2hr 15-30min trip, approximately, as I am close to a motorway that takes you up to freeway speeds within minutes of leaving home. No trying to get through city traffic to get on my way, it's just a few blocks to the motorway and off I go.

So why don't I do regular trips to Canberra? I have no excuse, but when I have a reason to go, it's always a surprising and pleasant day. The latest reason, I'm very embarrassed to say, was to increase the 'mileage' on my car, as I am close to reporting it for the end of Fringe Benefits Tax year!

Despite having to ensure I meet my mileage requirements, I'm also always happy to do a day trip in my car. Driving is something that's in my blood. My Dad used to drive taxis in Sydney and has also done stints in trucks when I was small, in between his jobs as a qualified greens keeper. Driving trips were something we always did when I was a child. Heading off late on a Friday afternoon to drive the 4 or 5 hours to my Grandparent's home in Nambour QLD, then the drive back again on Sunday night.

I wasn't by myself, so the Canberra trip was even more pleasant with a companion, and we stopped to have a lovely lunch on the way.

Let me show you in pictures how lovely a day it was, with beautiful weather turned on and lots of activities and events happening. We ran out of time to visit the Bonsai exhibit/show and needing to get back on the road meant we weren't able to stay for the fireworks that were happening last weekend.

 Beautiful sunshine-y day on the way - the road beside Lake George 
or Weereewa in the area's indigenous language.
Top Left: A Bronze cast of parliamentarians and 2 Australian Prime Ministers, John Curtin and Ben Chifley. Ben Chifley was Treasurer at the time, later to be our 16th Prime Minister.
Top Right: Beautiful tree lined walkway through a park beside old Parliament House
Bottom: Plaque explaining the bronze statue of Curtin and Chifley.
 National Portrait Gallery
 Old Parliament House
 


Top Left: More tree lined footpaths
Top Right: The High Court of Australia
Bottom: Part of the refurbished Old Parliament House gardens
 

 Lake George - on the way home. Dark clouds forming giving an eerie back drop to the Lake.
 Heading home!
 
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