Wednesday - 23 March 2016

Well, we guess by now you will have noticed the absence of recent daily blogs. 

Please accept our apologies, but there were many issues occupying our minds after recovering the replacement caravan door.  

Our attempts to install it the following day were frustrated by our having to take Diane to hospital in Canberra with extremely bad back pain.  Four hours later we emerged with a script for serious painkillers, instructions to rest and the knowledge that there was nothing life threatening in her injury.  They did an ECG, X-rays and blood tests so they were quite thorough.

The wash up of all the toing and froing of the last few days was that we decided to call off the rest of our planned trip and head for home.  We made it to Sydney first day out, then Armidale and then Brisbane, before taking the final drive back to Twin Waters today.

Noel's back has gone out in sympathy with Diane's.  We must have looked like a couple of old crocs as we hobbled around, moaning and groaning under our breaths and feeling pretty sad with our lot. Mutual sympathy and support were the order of the day.

All is well now.  We are back at home and looking forward to a period of rest and recuperation to obviate the persistent "ouches" that accompany our still uncomfortable movements.

Our visit to Canberra, though curtailed, was great, with the Australian War Memorial and Australia's House of Parliament most memorable.  Canberra is a beautiful city and we did not find it as difficult to find our way around as others have suggested.  The deciduous trees had just begun to show colour and, two weeks from now, it would be spectacular.  Mind you, the Northern Tablelands of NSW were a little more advanced with tree colour change, with Armidale and Glen Innes to the fore.

The south coast of NSW was as beautiful as ever, but we suffered from the presence of a sea mist which spoiled a traveller's view from time to time.

We were oh so close to the Australian Alps, which were on our hit list this time.  But, as Arnie would say, "We'll be back!"

It has been our practice for a last blog to provide a few statistics of the trip.

We were on the road for 23 days, drove 3981km and had the anchor attached for 3066km of those.  The Landcruiser consumed 747 litres of diesel with an average consumption of 18.8 l/100km.  The lowest price we paid for diesel was 92.7c/l at the United service station at Tomerong south of Wollongong.

So endeth the last blog for this trip.

18 March 2016 - Miserable Day

There is nothing of substance to report for today.  We awoke to a black sky which eventuated in rain for most of the day.  There was a persistent strong wind as well and it became quite cold.  It was not conducive to getting out and about.

Further we were awaiting delivery of a replacement caravan door.  The original was wrecked on Wednesday when we had to use extreme force to get into the van, through a locked door which refused to be opened by any other means.  A complete door replacement was necessary and it had to come from Brisbane. We were told the door would be delivered today.

In a day of incessant and frustrating follow up on our behalf in the face of stories like, "The door is in Dubbo", "The door can't be delivered because we were in a country area (we are 15km from the centre of Canberra)", "The door can't be delivered because there is no paperwork yet" and "It will be delivered on Tuesday".

We eventually established the door had been in Canberra since 5.00am this morning, so we simply hopped in the car, hotfooted it down to the TNT depot in Canberra and picked it up.  Oh so easy in the long run.  We will hang the door tomorrow.

No pictures today, only **#--#*!  Oh but we must add, the sun came out just as we left, so that was a big plus for the day.

17 March 2016 - A visit to Australia's new Parliament House

Todays Canberra site visit for us was Australia's new Parliament House, new from 1988 anyway.  We did a 30 minute tour to acquaint ourselves with the working of Parliament. 

After the underground car park the first thing we saw was the forecourt.

170316 From the entrance looking over the forecourt and old
Parliament House towards the Australian War Memorial

The entry vestibule is impressive containing marble from various European countries as well as from Australia.  This leads into the Great Hall which is located in the heart of the building beneath the flagpole.  The House of Representatives and the Senate Chambers radiate from the Great Hall.  As well there were other rooms, 4000 in all, which house committee rooms, parliamentary staff offices, Ministerial offices, media, service facilities, dining rooms, restaurants, a post office, galleries ......etc.  There are 4 km of corridors in the building.

170316 Entry foyer, marble from various places in Europe
signifying links to Europe/Britain

170316 The Great Hail with the 18mx9m tapestry based on Arthur
Boyd's painting.  The tapestry took two years to complete

170316 Arthur Boyd's painting above the foyer of Parliament House.
Note the cockatoo in the centre top.

We chose not to visit the House of Representatives during question time because of the large queue.  To give some perspective, 8000 people visited Parliament House yesterday.

There was however a place we could all visit from time to time, right in the middle of the building and under the flag pole, the Pool of Reflection. It is of black marble, highly polished, with a film of water covering it and overflowing along its edges.

170316 The Pool of Reflection immediately under the flag pole
on the top of Parliament House

While security was obvious, we did not feel pressured at any time and really were delighted at the freedom offered to all visitors.

The view from the top of the building was excellent, the converse of previous photos with us now looking back towards the Australian War Memorial.  One photo shows some people demonstrating for freedom on the lawn below Parliament House. We thought they had already achieved freedom with the right to demonstrate freely.  The flag on the top of the building is quite large, 12mx6m, about half the size of a tennis court.  The grass on the site, which reaches from the roof to the ground is green, oh so green, and quite lush.

170316 Old Parliament House with the Australian War Memorial
in the distance, taken from the roof of Parliament House

170316 As for the previous picture but capturing
groups of people demonstrating for "Freedom"

170316 Flag atop Parliament House

170316 Flag atop Parliament House

One thing we noticed was the number of people wearing identification passes providing access to certain areas.  The lobbyists must have been out in full force today and, of course, they would be worn by the thousands of people who work there.  Another was the large number of international visitors, from all corners of the globe.

A page of the Magna Carta 1297 is on show in Parliament House. The Magna Carta is heralded as the foundation document of parliamentary democracy.  Parliament House is the custodian of the only copy in the southern hemisphere.

170316 A page from the Magna Carta, the basis for democratic government

There were numerous paintings of previous Prime Ministers and dignitaries and several larger ones including Tom Robert's painting of the opening of the first Parliament in 1901 and Arthur Boyd's painting of the Australian bush, which is the origin of the 18mx9m tapestry in the Great Hall.

170316 Previous Governor General Quentin Bryce

170316 So many pictures of previous Prime Ministers
so we only picked one - John Howard

170316 Tom Robert's painting of the first sitting
 of Parliament in Australia 19001

We finished our visit with an enjoyable but late lunch at the Queens Terrace Cafe.

Maybe our politicians are spoiled having such wonderful facilities in which to work. Maybe we are too, having such a beautiful building of which we can be justifiably proud.

16 March 2016 - Canberra's Telstra on Black Mountain

Today we visited Black Mountain Tower.  Black Mountain Tower, officially Telstra Tower and formerly Telecom Tower, is a telecommunications tower and lookout that is situated above the summit of the 812m high Black Mountain to the west of Canberra's City Centre. Rising 195.2 metres above the mountain summit, it is not only a landmark in Canberra but also offers panoramic views of the city and its surrounding countryside from an indoor observation deck and two outdoor viewing platforms.  It once had a rotating restaurant.  We tried to book in for a dinner only to find it had closed three years ago.

160316 Telstra Tower on Black Mountain from
the Federal Highway about 15km away

160316 Telstra Tower up close

160316 Model of the Telstra Tower in the Tower foyer

The following photos were all taken from the internal observation platform.  It was enclosed with glass so the pictures are not as crisp as they might be.  It was a bit too windy to photograph from the open platform.  

160316 Australian Institute of Sport

160316 Australian National University

160316 Yarralumla House (Government House)

160316 Australian War Memorial

160316 Canberra City Centre

160316 Gungahlin a northern suburb

160316 Portion of Lake Burley Griffin

160316 Lake Ginninderra and Belconnen

160316 Looking across Lake Burley Griffin - portion of
Canberra City Centre on LHS

160316 Mt Ainslie on the RHS

160316 Mt Painter with the Brindebellas in the background

160316 Mt Stromlo overlooking the National Arboretum

160316 Old and new Parliament Houses

160316 Royal Australian Mint near centre of picture

160316 The National Carillon on Aspen Island in Lake Burley Griffin

Later in the day we visited Yaralumla House or Government House, the home of the Governor General.  He apologised for not being able to see us at short notice. 

160316 Government House with proximity to Telstra Tower evident

160316 Government House with large oak on RHS
believed to have been planted around 1840

160316 Government House with lawn

We also revisited the National Arboretum to establish the name of the sculpture on the hilltop in the Arboretum (refer the photographs below).  We need also to correct a previous post in which we asserted this sculpture was on the top of Mt Ainslie. The correction is now made.

160316 "Nest 111" 2007" by Richard Moffett in the National Arboretum

160316 Plaque accompanying "Nest 111"

15 March 2016 - Australian War Memorial

The weather was cooler today and in fact we experienced the first sign of winter, a coolish, to say the least, wind that persisted most of the day.  It was a perfect day for a visit to the Tourist Information Centre followed by an afternoon visit to the Australian War Memorial.

We were greatly impressed by the Memorial. Its contents and its presentation were fantastic. Three and a half hours elapsed as we literally rushed around the exhibits which covered all of Australia's war involvement from WW1 to Afghanistan.  The first display was of WW1 equipment, photos, painting, models etc.  Viewing it was a very moving experience. The highlight was that of an old WW1 German tank called Mephisto, which the only one of its kind remaining in the world.  It is on loan from the Queensland Museum.

WW2 displays followed and these included et al, the Japanese midget sub captured in Sydney Harbour, many of the planes involved, models, memorabelia, paintings, pictures etc, There was so much one could not photograph it all.  Lighting was poor.  The objects were lit for effect and not for photography.  We did manage to get photographs of a couple of Victoria Crosses.

There were so many small things, but, important though they are, most of the photos that follow are of big things.  Again, apologies for the lighting.

If ever you visit Canberra, make sure you visit the Australian War Memorial.  It is a visual feast.

We had a lovely sunset last night and met a couple of furry residents at the caravan park.

150316 Sunset heralding a cooling of the weather

150316 One park resident

150316 Another park resident

150316 From the front of the Australian War Memorial

150316 Looking from the entrance into the Australian War Memorial

150316 Anzac landing boat from HMT Ascot 25 April 2015  Note the bullet holes 

150316 The battle cruiser HMAS Australia RAN flagship

150316 "HMVS Nelson built 1814.  Largest battleship
 at that time and obsolete by 1868

150316 Lone Pine 6 August 1915

150316 Dervnan Court WW1

150316 Somme Winter WW1

150316 Ypres WW1

150316 HMAS Orvito flagship of the first convoy WW1

150316 Mephisto from the front

150316 Mephisto from the rear - took 16 people to operate

150316 The origin of Mephisto

150316 More on Mephisto

150316 WW1 The Cost

150315 Artillery at Tel El Eisa

150316 Kittyhawk named "Polly"

150316 "Polly" from above

150316 Seafury from HMAS Sydney

150316 Another view of the Seafury

150316 Japanese Zero V173 fighter

150316 Lancaster Bomber named "George"

150316 "Flying Bomb V1" or "Doodlebug"

150316 Mosquito Bomber

150613 American Mustang

150316 Japanese Midget  Submarine (poor lighting)

150316 1940 Studebaker Commander sedan with 
gas producer which burned coke

150316 Medals of four soldiers awarded Victoria Crosses.
Note the number of medals on RHS

150316 A Victoria cross on LHS