Where are we?

We are at Gundiah on our sons property, "Evergreen".  We will be here for the next week while son and DIL take a well earned break.  Not that they have ventured very far as they have set up camp on the banks of the Mary River on their own property!  It has actually worked out well for all of us as we get to see them as often as we want or need when we have a caretaking question.  They have a great camping set-up with their camper trailer and as we all commented yesterday the hardest thing is the setting up and pulling down so when you go camping it's much better to stay for an extended period of time.  It's not much different in the caravan I guess.  We would prefer to stay in one place for 5-7 days as you really don't want to be setting up every day.  Marco and Suzie invited us down to their camp for lunch yesterday where they cooked us a very tasty camp oven meal.  We have never used a camp oven so I was very impressed with how fast it cooks in the coals.  I think this chicken and vegetable meal took less than two hours.  Apparently it is all in having the coals the right temperature.

So, how have we been filling in our days?  Very leisurely. I can assure you of that. Philip has been doing all the chores that really don't take up too much time and in between the chores he has been watering and mowing Marco's lemon, grapefruit, fig and pomegranate orchard.  This year is their first producing year so it is very exciting for them.  They have been disappointed in the figs and will probably remove them as we all know how finicky they are to grow.  The worst thing with figs is that once you finally get the fruit, if you're not fast enough to pick them, the birds beat you to it. Marco has had weaners in the yard that need to be tailed out each day so that has also been on the chore list.  Philip loves his cattle and has been enjoying this job more than he admits. 😉 But now the weaners are out of the yards and back in the paddock so that job has finished. 

We have also been going for long walks most afternoons as it is way too cold for me in the morning. It has been down around the 4-6 degree mark that is quite chilly.  Our walk takes us past the dam where two black swans have made themselves at home.  They were here for the first few days but have now sadly moved on.  I could never close enough to photograph them as they are quite skittish.  Philip and I even tried to sneak up on them but they are smarter than us and made their way to the farthest point away from us...

Oh yes, before I go, where have our travels taken us. After we left Cowra our next stop was Coonabarabran, but at a different van park much closer to town so we could walk to town to replenish our perishables.  

The following night was Goondiwindi followed by Dalby.  We are still only trying to do just a few hundred kilometres between overnight stops so that we have plenty of time each afternoon to do a little washing.  That didn't work well for us in Dalby though as we had no sooner set up camp and I had hung out a load of washing when we had a tremendous downpour of rain.

We have decided to extend our time away so that we can be back at "Evergreen" for Marco's 40th birthday party on the 12th June.  There are quite a few people coming so it is going to be a camp-out on the banks of the mighty Mary River in one of the many registered HipCamp campsites that  M & S have on their property. The camp sites here are fabulous.  They are flat and grassed and would put a lot of caravan park sites to shame! But before we get back to "Evergreen" we still have Toowoomba, Bundaberg and Hervey Bay on our list.  I think we will definitely be ready to head home after that.......maybe.....😉

Cowra, NSW

We drove through the very picturesque Yarra Valley after we left Gundaroo.  Wineries are interlaced with sheep and beef grazing and many many acres are under cultivation.  Philip and I laugh because we have no idea what the crops are.  To us they are either Sorghum, Lucerne or Cotton  because that is all we know 😂😂

Cowra is a gorgeous place.  It is just under 200km north of Canberra and around 300km west of Sydney (please don't quote me....just guessing).  I was doing a little research on Cowra as we were driving along and I had forgotten just how much history there is to Cowra.  Philip and I had both read David Crookes fiction novel "Someday Soon" that touches a little on the POW camp established in Cowra and the outbreak of prisoners in 1944 that saw 234 Japanese prisoners and 4 Australian soldiers killed in combat. This terrible incident was kept under wraps for a long time because of the devastating loss of lives. 

Since WW2, Australia in true blue Aussie form, has forged a friendship with Japan and that friendship is abundantly clear in Cowra where the Japanese have contributed many $$$'s into the town in a clear showing of mutual friendship. 

As soon as we arrived into Cowra and unhitched the van we walked the short distance to the Information Centre that has showing a hologram presentation where "Claire" tells her personal story of the POW breakout. I can understand why 60,000 visit this information centre each year.  It is amazing. After talking with one of the volunteers at the information centre he suggested that we make our way to the Cowra Art Gallery where there was a John Gollings photography exhibition depicting the "history of the built world" on display. I love anything photographic and this was right up my alley! 

There are so many things to see and do in Cowra and we only had one full day so we earmarked the Japanese Gardens, the POW Camp, War Memorial and Peace Bell as places to visit.  The Japanese Gardens were first on the list.  We have been to quite a few  Japanese gardens around the world and this one is right up there with the best.  It is spread out over 5 hectares and even though there were many visitors here the place just exudes serenity.  I love the Japanese use of water.  No matter where we were in the garden the sound of water was tinkling away in the background.  I didn't want to leave here and if we had packed a lunch I would have gladly stayed here all day!

But we still had places to visit so next on the list was the POW camp.  My first thought was "it's huge" but considering it held more than 1000 prisoners, it was not so big.  In fact the number of prisoners is what caused the prisoner outbreak.  It was decided that 200 of the Japanese prisoners should be moved to another camp and the prisoners rebelled at being segregated.  The very next night the prisoners decided to breakout.  It is a little sad that Japanese considered death to be better than being held a prisoner. 

After the POW camp we drove to the War memorial.  We didn't spend much time here as I just feel so sad when I think about the horrendous loss of young lives. I was reading something today that just horrified me.  It is estimated that between 50-85 million lives were lost in WW11.  It makes Covid seem like a trivial matter......

And last but not least of our things to do in Cowra was to ring the Peace Bell.  

AUSTRALIA’S WORLD PEACE BELL…

Made from melted down coins donated by 106 member countries of the United Nations, Australia's World Peace Bell is a testament to Cowra’s long-standing contribution to world peace and international understanding. Recognised by the World Peace Bell Association in 1992, the bell is proudly housed in Cowra's Civic Square where visitors can read the interpretive signage, listen to the audio presentation and even ring the bell itself.

Gundaroo NSW

We left Canberra on another cold and bleak day and turned the car northwards towards the little town of Gundaroo just inside the NSW border.  This is where Philips brother lives on a property 20 minutes out of Gundaroo.  Gundaroo is in the southern tablelands of NSW and in 2006 it had a population of 331 and ten years later in 2016 it has a population of 1146.   It is a town situated in the beautiful Yass Valley and is surrounded by mountains that are snow capped in winter but a temperature that is also able to support many vineyards with some very good wines coming out of this region.  

We met the family at Gundaroo and they escorted us the 10km to their 120 acre property.  The road was very wet and slippery but we did not have too many dramas towing the van.  It was just before lunch when we arrived so we all piled into two cars and drove to Four Winds Winery for wine and pizza.  I wish I had thought to take a photo of my Potato, Onion and Gorgonzola pizza on an olive oil pizza base.  It was perfection! Oh.....and the wine was pretty darn good too!!!

We had a lovely night with the fam bam talking, drinking and feasting on Pea and Ham Soup in Cobb loaves and got to know the little munchkins.  I can't figure out the relationship.  I think we are great aunty and uncle to them?  Anyway, the time passed all too quickly and the next morning after a breakfast fit for a king we once again stepped into the car and proceeded on our journey northwards.  Next stop Cowra.

Canberra over and out.....

We had a great deal of discussion as to where to go on our last day in Canberra but once again the weather dictated what we could and could not do.  I had seen advertised a two hour Lake Burley Griffin morning tea cruise that took you as far as the Governor Generals residence at Yarralumla.  It sounded perfect.  Right on 10.30 am, Captain Jim welcomed eight of us aboard the cute little electric powered boat named "Gull".  We chugged our way around the perimeter of Lake Burley Griffin with Captain Jim giving us a very enjoyable commentary.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  There is nothing better than a long time local to give you a well re-researched history of the city.  It's all the funny little snippets that keep you entertained.  When we reached Yarralumla the captain brought out tea, coffee and a nice array of biscuits, including Tim Tam's 😍 for us to munch on.  This was our turnaround point.  

Lake Burley Griffin is a man-made lake that came about once the Molongolo River was dammed.  It is 11km in length and the perimeter is 40.5km.  It is a fairly shallow lake with many different varieties of fish the majority being European Carp. We thoroughly enjoyed this cruise and would recommend it.

After the cruise we opted to visit the National Portrait Gallery where an exhibition titled "Love Stories" was being exhibited.  I loved it but Philip, I think, not so much. There is a lot of reading and you should really spend many hours there.  There are some beautiful portraits and a lot of the stories are very moving.  I was particularly drawn to the Sarah Bernhardt/Nellie Melba story of friendship.  Nellie Melba is my only claim to fame as she was born a Mitchell that is my mothers maiden name and Dame Nellie is indeed related to this line of Mitchells. 

After all this culture we found we were very hungry.  We tried to get into the restaurant at the Portrait Gallery but on this cold wet day everyone else had the same thought!  So we got in the car and drove to......Maccas!  It has been months since we have indulged in this takeaway and boy was it great!

So, our Canberra sojourn is over.  We have enjoyed every minute but are totally "touristed" out.  We are now turning the car and van around and after six weeks we are now going to head in a northerly direction. 

Canberra Part 2

Wednesday was yet another rainy day so I went online to purchase tickets to Parliament House.  Because of Covid you are obliged to get tickets online and you specify the 2 hour time slot that suits you best.  We chose 9.30 to 11.30 as we were again meeting the family for lunch. Where are staying at the Alivio Caravan Park that is only a 10 minute drive to the centre of Canberra and we are grateful for the easy driving in Canberra.  The streets are not busy and with help from our car navigation system we have found our way to the various attractions without any difficulty.

The new Parliament House is magnificent.  I shouldn't really say new because it was opened in the 80's but the building itself is timeless architecture. The principal architect was Romaldo Giurgola and he was very clever in making the building part of Capital hill rather than sitting on top of Capital Hill.  Walking into the foyer is breathtaking.  The soaring marble pillars and two grand marble staircases are perfectly symmetrical as are all areas of Parliament House.  It truly is a magnificent building and at a cost of $1 billion.....it was cheap. Wandering around Parliament House I was overcome with a deep sense of pride in being an Australian and I'm certain this is what the architect intended.

(As I was taking this photo 

of the beautiful marble balustrade, a mob of school kids and their teacher came down on the opposite side. The teacher yelled at me "you can't take photos of these children!" I replied that I wasn't but she gave me a death look and huffed past me.  Please.  I am a 63 year old woman who was quite clearly pointing the camera in a totally different direction. I don't know how she could have thought any otherwise. Clearly she was delusional and power made. Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of it. God Help Us....)

 

Our two hours passed incredibly fast and in no time at all it was time to meet the family at Coffee Club for lunch.  Surprisingly on this cold day we all ordered salads but gee they were delicious.  We didn't sit too long over lunch as the little grandchild was very tired and needed a sleep.  We will catch up with them all again on Friday when we will have a night with them at their place.

We didn't really want to head home after lunch so we looked up the Hop on Hop Off bus schedule and it had a $20 deal where you stayed on the bus for the 2 hour circuit.  We had around three quarters of an hour to spare and as the departure point was right outside CMAG (Canberra Museum and Gallery) we went inside to see what was on display.  I loved the HABITAT - Ways of Living exhibition that was a mix of photography and multi media. We also wandered into the "Don't Forget the Milk" exhibition that celebrated 50 years of Canberra Milk. The glass milk bottles brought back childhood memories.

We boarded the bus right on time and we got to see many of the places that we knew we wouldn't have time to check out. However we did drive through the Embassy area that was on my list of things to see and do. China of course had the largest followed by the USA.  The German Embassy looked like it needed a whole new renovation! The bus was not like other cities where you are given head phones to listen to a narrative on the attractions. On this tour the bus driver did all the narrative and it is ideal to have a local tourist guide to give you a little more intimate detail on the places that you pass.

We have been really in "full on" tourist mode in Canberra and are both feeling a little weary but tomorrow we have a couple more things to see from our "to do" list, so we need a good nights sleep for a bright and early start again tomorrow. 

xx