2018 Road Trip – Day 20 Parkrun and Huskisson

It might be our last day … but it’s also Saturday … so that means Parkrun. I managed to make it to the start on time and complete the run in under 40 minutes – well, 39:58 is under 40 minutes! There were a few more hills this week and lots of scenic views over Jervis Bay so I was happy with the time.

  

Gaz had said he would go fishing while I was away but unfortunately we both forgot the fishing gear was in the car that I had driven to Parkrun – oh well. The rest of the morning was spent reading a book, relaxing by the pool, and generally lounging about. This couple of days was designed to be our “wind down” and that’s what we were doing very successfully. Meanwhile, Kev and Maz went for a 2 hour bike ride!

  

In that wind down spirit, we decided to go to the movies! Huskisson Pictures is a very cute cinema and, for a while we thought we may be the only patrons like last night’s restaurant, but at least 4 or 5 others were spotted in the quite large theatre. We saw “Molly Bloom” and I would highly recommend it – great movie, as agreed by all four of us.

Back home there was a little more lounging, book reading etc and then it was time for the Jets v Wellington game on Foxtel. Yay- first Foxtel for our whole trip. Watched the mighty Jets win 1-0, Maz & Kev cooked yummy pasta which we ate during the second half, played a round of Euchre (I lost again, this time with Gaz), finished off the port, talked about our next trip. Suggestions were bandied about but no destination really determined.

    

It’s been a great trip but we are all pretty happy to be getting home tomorrow. We have been so lucky with the weather and have all agreed we were happy with our destinations (decided by Gaz) and activities (decided by Maz). Kev and I were happy to go along for the ride. 

2018 Road Trip – Day 19 Hyams Beach and Huskisson

A lazy, slow start to the day with Gaz cooking some yummy poached eggs for our breakfast – right up to restaurant standard too.

Then … disaster! I went to swap some jewellery over and realised I couldn’t find my jewellery case! I turned the cabin upside down – emptied every case, every drawer, every cupboard, every bag … all to no avail. Shattered, I contemplated the loss of my pearls, sentimental pieces bought in Jerusalem, Egypt, New Zealand, America, Broken Hill, and other far flung places I’m unlikely to return to. Desperate, I rang the caravan park in Canberra and they said nothing had been handed in, but they would look further and get back to me. How happy was I when they rang back 20 minutes later to say they had found it and would post it back to me? That was a heart-stopper.

With all that hoo haa going on, I was running a bit late but we joined Kev and Maz at about 10:15am and headed into Huskisson where Maz and I wandered the shops while Kev & Gaz had a coffee. I bought a little bit of replacement jewellery – well, I needed something to cover the next day and a half until I get home!

We then headed over to Hyams Beach – what a lovely spot! It was a lovely day, weather wise, about 23 degrees, mainly sunny, no wind – perfect. We had grabbed a lunch of sorts – bread rolls and fruit – and enjoyed that on the beach while we watched dolphins frolic past, swam in the crystal clear water, read our books, and generally enjoyed the next few hours.

    

After a bit of a scenic drive, we were back at the cabin for a short rest before we headed out again for a dinner, booked earlier by the boys. They had booked at Portside Café which I looked up on Trip advisor and found to be rated pretty low 27/35. It did have a great outlook so we thought we would chance it. When we arrived for our 7pm booking they were very excited to see us – and we soon saw why – we were their only patrons all night! How bizarre. The food was fine – we all agreed we would rate it 4/5 stars. We certainly got good service. We spoke at different times to the owner, waitress, and chef who were all lovely. Goodness knows what they would have done if we weren’t there. We grabbed an ice cream cone – well Gaz and Kev did – on the way home and passed multiple restaurants that were all packed. No idea why Portside was ignored – it was right on the water. Oh well, we had a good night reminiscing about our trip and re-living the highlights.

  

Last full day tomorrow!

2018 Road Trip – Day 18 Braidwood, Milton, Jervis Bay

  

Our second last travel day dawned bright with blue skies and mild temperatures. Car packed, we were on the road just after 9am and set off for our first stop at Braidwood, only about an hour east of Canberra. It was a bit of a false start as Gaz and Google maps had words about which was the best way to go. Gaz won. Google maps tried valiantly with comments of “make a u-turn” and “return to the route”, but Gaz got the last laugh by turning it off and directing me himself. (It seemed a longer way to me, but who am I to say?)

Anyway, we got to Braidwood and found Maz & Kev wandering the Main Street, having already done some shopping. (Dare I say, they followed google maps.) We had a very nice morning tea at the Albion Café, a converted pub, (including a very nice raspberry muffin Gaz and I shared), and then I made a tactical error of allowing Gaz into a Knick knack store alone. Several minutes later, he emerged with a concrete zebra…something to add to the menagerie on our balcony at home.

It was then back on the road and we had a pleasant scenic drive down to the coast and made our next stop in the lovely village of Milton. We chanced upon the lovely Brown Sugar Café and enjoyed a great lunch out in a leafy courtyard. There was a retro furniture shop off the courtyard and we were admiring the furniture, so much so that the owner gave us somewhat of a tour of the shop. They had some lovely rejuvenated pieces from the 50s and 60s – the owner offered to deliver to Newcastle, but we passed on his offer.

    

Back on the road, and it was a short trip to our final destination at Jervis Bay. We are in a caravan park on an inlet and only about one or two kilometres from Huskisson, where we will explore tomorrow.

    

Our cabin is the biggest we have had so far and everything looked great … until we heard a strange hissing sound, just as we unlocked the door for the first time. We looked right next to our balcony and saw, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, a jumping castle emerging! I leave you to imagine Gaz’s reaction at the likelihood of children jumping and screaming a mere two metres from our front door. Before we even unpacked, Gaz went to check if we could move to another cabin, but alas, there were none available. A discussion ensued between Gaz and the proprietor on whether it was their responsibility to tell us about a jumping castle or whether we should have asked. I had to laugh when I heard that – add that question to every enquiry you make regarding potential accommodation – “is there a jumping castle next to us?” Lol.

    

The funniest thing is that it is only inflated between the hours of 9-11am and 3-6pm. This afternoon, in the 3 hour period, only one child approached the castle and she jumped for approximately 60 seconds before leaving. The weekend may be another story … stay tuned.

Another masterpiece of a collaborative dinner – rissoles, potatoes, salad. Cider, beer, wine, port, a few games of Euchre (Kev & I lost – I think I see a pattern emerging), and it was time to settle down for the night.

    

2018 Road Trip – Day 17 Old Parliament House and Arboretum

Big day for our last day in Canberra. I loved spending time at Old Parliament House, even more so than the new one. It is such a special building. We took the free tour and got to see so much – the Senate and House of Rep chambers, the Prime Minister’s office and other various offices and rooms. 

    

There were also a number of exhibitions that were worth a look, including one of political cartoons of 2017 – very good. We must have walked miles and miles! Then we topped it off with a yummy lunch at Hoi Poloi, a restaurant in the old dining room. We actually sat outside which was lovely.

      

The afternoon plans called for Gaz and Kev to go off to golf and off they went. Maz and I were keen to check out the National Arboretum, so off we went! What a fabulous place! Established in 2013, it is on land that used to have a pine forest, but the forest burned down in the shocking bushfires of 2003 and this is how the land has been re-purposed. A fabulous project of planting 100 forests of trees from around the world that are either rare, endangered, or iconic. The trees are obviously small now, but it will be fantastic watching them grow. 

    

Marion and I had a free tour / intro talk and then we drove and walked to check it all out. There was a bonsai exhibition which was amazing.

    

Another feature was a massive sculpture of Dorothea Mackeller’s epic words “wide brown land”, in her own handwriting, set high on a hill. In the photos below you can see how big it is - look for me between the “wide” and “brown”.

  

We also looked at a cedar forest planted about 100 years ago and a Cork Oak forest planted by Walter Burley Griffin in 1917 from acorns from Spain. Incredible! They still harvest cork from the trees, and have done so since the 1940s.

  

Pretty tired out from a big day, we all met up for a BBQ this evening as we farewell Canberra and plan for our trip across to the coast tomorrow for our last stop on the trip. Almost homeward bound…

2018 Road Trip – Day 16 Segway Tour and Parliament House

Woah, where has the blue sky gone? We have been so spoilt with the weather, it was a bit of a shock to wake up to a cold cloudy day here in our Nation’s capital. After a leisurely start we met with Kev and Maz and set off for Lake Burley Griffin and our already booked Segway tour. Gaz decided to give it a miss considering his balance issues.

  

We had a total of seven in our group and Jack, our guide, gave us some general instruction, asked us to sign a waiver (which included reminding us we might die), and then gave us a quick one to one talk and we were on our way.

    

The tour went for over an hour and we visited many of the sights on both sides of the lake – a great way to get around. I found it a bit easier to manoeuvre than I thought though there were a few hairy times going down hill where I was not totally at ease. It was very funny when we got off the segways and tried to walk – you had to get your land legs again and stumbled around for a while.

    

It was quite cold – still only 16 degrees at midday and total cloud cover. We grabbed a coffee at the lake and then set off in search of lunch, firstly at Kingston, but we couldn’t find a car park. While driving around looking for another alternative, we drove past our old house at O’Malley – the house looks the same but the trees and gardens are unrecognisable – they have grown so much! I guess it has been 21 years – how time flies!

We finally found our way to Manuka, found a car park, and had a nice lunch. It was still pretty cool, but not cool enough to deter Kev and Gaz from an ice cream cone … and I must admit I did eat the last bit of Gaz’s cone, and it was pretty yummy.

It was then off to (New) Parliament House where we joined a “Behind the Scenes” tour. This was very interesting – for over an hour we got to go to places the public can’t usually access. This was all because parliament was not sitting today. We were told that Tony Abbott was in the building, but unfortunately we didn’t catch a glimpse. We did get to see the members dining rooms, walk the same corridors they do etc etc. I liked seeing the cabinet room door where they come out after leadership blues and so on. All up, a worthwhile tour and Kevin, the guide, had some good stories to tell.

    

By this time the sun was out, the sky was blue and the temperature had risen to 22 degrees, and it was nearly 5pm. It took a while, but the warmth finally got there. My choice to wear shorts finally paid off. I decided it was time to do some laundry and spent some time with the washing machines and dryers of the caravan park laundry. As an aside, this was by far the most expensive place to undertake this activity – I paid double what I had paid a few days ago at Dromana – that’s capital cities for you!

Simple dinner of take away, early night, tomorrow is another day. I’m hoping to see (Old) Parliament House which I haven’t been inside since sixth class.