Day Twenty-Two - Canberra to Gulgong

With the need to get home by Sunday night, we decided to leave as soon as we woke up this morning and have breakfast on the road. We left Cotter Campground around 7.30 and pointed our nose North. We caught one last view of the Telstra Tower and the aesthetically pleasing Parliament House flagpole.

We had no final destination for today with Cowra and Canowindra being our only planned stops. The town of Boorowa turned out to be our first stop as we reached there just as our tummies started rumbling and found a little park with a table in the sun for breakfast. 

Once we reached Cowra, we dropped in to the visitor information centre, then made our way to the Japanese garden. I had explained to the kids the significance of Cowra and read them the story of the Cowra Breakout before we arrived. We hadn't realised the garden had a $40 entry fee so, although we were disappointed to not be able to see the World Peace Bell inside, we decided not to enter. We will return to the Toowoomba Japanese garden next time we're up there instead. We drove from there, past the POW camp site and war cemetery and then continued on our way to Canowindra.

Where Cowra had been a little disappointing, Canowindra exceeded our expectations. We had had this town in our sights ever since our trip to the dinosaur fossil sites in western Queensland a couple of years ago when we had seen a flyer for the Age of Fishes Museum. The Age of Fishes predated the Age of Dinosaurs. The museum provides a very informative audio tour as you walk around the displays.

 About 50 years ago, a bulldozer operator had uncovered a slab of rock absolutely covered in ancient fish fossils whilst building a road in Canowindra. It then sat on the side of the road for years until noticed by an apiarist waiting for a lift who notified the Sydney Museum. Lack of interest and lack of funding meant no further investigation occurred until fairly recently when a new director at the museum took an interest. The museum has slab after slab of fish fossils and believes there are many more still to uncover when funding becomes available again. We would have spent a couple of hours there. It didn't disappoint. 

The museum ladies pointed us just down the street for a park to have our lunch at. The park was the site of the local war memorial and the many wreaths laid at its base gave us an appropriate place to reflect on ANZAC day. 

From Canowindra we pointed the car north and drove, taking back roads wherever they seemed the more direct route. That is, until we hit an extremely corrugated dirt road on our way to Dunedoo. The sign a couple of kilometres down the road stating that it was gravel for another 30km had us reassessing our route. We had the choice of heading for the Newell or New England highway. The distance home using either route was fairly similar. The kids learned that Stanthorpe (land of the apple pie, apple juice and apple cider) lay on the New England route and suddenly , east seemed the more appropriate direction to travel. Retracing our steps, we returned to the nearest majorish road and set off for Gulgong instead. 

The showgrounds at Gulgong became our home for the night and the hot showers they provided were a welcome surprise. The girls were happy to watch a number of horses taking part in a riding camp. We had a terrific storm towards dinner time, with lightning and thunder but it didn't last long. We took a drive around the town after it had finished and decided Gulgong should go on the ever increasing list of places to return to.

Homeward bound. Lets see how far we get tomorrow.

Day Twenty-One - Canberra

Our morning started with a visit to the Stromlo Observatory. The last time I had been there was 1998/9. Since then, the bush fires of 2003 swept through and wreaked havoc on the site. There are a number of burnt out telescope domes and residences remaining there. It was quite amazing to see the devastation. What a loss to the scientific community. 

Back down the hill, we stopped at the Royal Australian Mint, which has also changed somewhat since we were here last, having a total refurbishment in 2005. Our timing was perfect as we arrived 10 minutes before a guided tour was to start. The displays at the mint are very well laid out and very informative and having the guide share his knowledge added to the whole experience. Unfortunately, the minting process was not operating today so although we could look down at the factory floor, there was no action taking place. 

The National Museum of Australia was next but we didn't spend a lot of time there as, although the items were very well presented, there wasn't much there we hadn't already seen. 

We decided to return to the Australian War Memorial after being too late to enter yesterday. It was very busy, most likely from an influx of people coming for ANZAC Day tomorrow. It is a pity we will not be here for that but time is really running short for us to get home. The AWM is much more extensive than I remember with displays about every conflict Australians have participated in. We spent the most time in ANZAC Hall where they had a Japanese Midget Submarine and a number of aeroplanes on display as well as a presentation about the entry of the Japanese into Sydney Harbour. Tim was reluctant to leave this area. 

Towards the end of our time there, Peter found the little section where pictures and information about Cambodia was on display. He was pleased it hadn't been forgotten. After walking along past the honour rolls with all those names, I really can't understand why we still go to war. 

To pick up our spirits we stopped off at the Captain Cook Memorial Water Jet (after a slight navigational error putting us in the driveway of the Archbishop!). We had seen this spurting up into the air from Parliament House yesterday but it had stopped before we could head over to it. It really reaches quite an impressive height. 

To finish the day, Peter and I had a stroll along the bank of the river behind our campsite while the kids had fun rolling ( or possibly attempting to push each other) down the slope. 

We were thinking we might get away after lunch today to get a few miles under our belt but Canberra proved too interesting so we'll head off early in the morning. Three days left!

Day Twenty - Jugiong to Canberra

As we had arrived just on dark yesterday, we spent a little time this morning exploring the park we had camped behind. The girls played on the playground then we wandered over to look at a windmill placed as a memorial, before walking over an arched bridge to an old traction engine.

 Across the road was a little fruit and vegie shop so we picked up an assortment of fruit to have after dinner tonight. 

Our destination today was Canberra and we arrived just before lunchtime. On entering Canberra we spotted the National Dinosaur Museum and made a stop there. The front garden area was filled with dinosaurs so wandered through before going inside. After viewing the displays in the foyer, we decided that we had been spoiled during our previous dinosaur experiences and this one would be a little disappointing in comparison. The decision was made to just look at the displays in the shop area which was quite extensive. 

From there we headed straight to the campground to secure a spot and offload the van to make navigation through city streets easier. We are camped at Cotter Campground on the banks of the Murrumbidgee... again. We can't seem to stay away from this river! It is out of town about 15-20 minutes, a little past the Stromlo Observatory. Once again, we have a beautiful view from our van. Sadly, we can only stay tonight as our time away is quickly running out. 

Parliament House was our main attraction this afternoon. We walked up from Old Parliament House and the kids were most impressed with the view. Emily was excited to see the model she made for her Government project last year come alive in front of her. 

We had, by chance, arrived 15 minutes before the final guided tour of the day, which we joined. It was fortunate, as we were given access to parts of the House of Representatives and the Senate that were not open to the public. Our guide was very informative and the hour long tour went quickly. Unfortunately, we couldn't go in to the Great Hall as they were preparing for the royal visit tomorrow ( we weren't even aware they were heading this way). One door was open so we managed to sneak a peek at the massive tapestry from afar. After the tour, we caught the lift up to the roof to get the full effect of the view through to the Australian War Memorial. A truly beautiful part of the city. 

Sarah had a roll down the grassy slope and we all stood considering the size of the flagpole and flag. According to our guide, the flag is almost the same size as our house!

We left Parliament House just before it closed and found our way to the War Memorial. We knew we were too late in the day to go through but managed to explore the outside and look through the closed gates. The view back to Parliament House was popular for photos. 

The War Memorial forecourt had been set up with hundreds of chairs. We assume it was either for the Royal visit tomorrow or ANZAC day or both. We're hoping to visit a couple more places tomorrow morning before heading North for our home run. Fingers are crossed we don't have too much disruption from William and Kate's visit. 

Day Eighteen - Melbourne

In the grand plan, today was going to be leaving day but we hadn't yet managed to take the kids on a tram and the girls had only seen Melbourne through the car window. With a bit of a shuffle, the caravan park made our site available for us for one more day, so today we hit the city. 

It was very windy, and a little chilly so we rugged up and drove in to Docklands to catch the free City Circle tram. These trams are the older style ones and have a commentary running and basically do a continuous loop around the city. Unfortunately, they are also very popular! We got on at the second stop and had to stand up although I was lucky got a seat a few stops later when someone left. 

Our first stop was Melbourne Central where we showed the kids the shot tower in the middle of the shopping centre. 

From there we walked across to the State Library. Tim and Emily were keen to have a game of giant chess but the boards were all in use. We walked through to the silent reading room and Sarah was a bit disturbed that there were no bookshelves. She wondered what sort of library had no books! 

We spent some time looking at the displays throughout the library including some books carved into map shapes, some very old botanical books and the history of the state of Victoria. 

We had planned to take the tram around to the Fitzroy Gardens and were lucky one came just as we reached the team stop. We jumped on and trundled down the road to the next stop where the driver got out and swapped ends. There was then an announcement that this tram's next stop was the one we had just got on at! There was no explanation as to why the tram was suddenly turning around. Throughout the tram, everyone looked at each other with quizzical faces and then everyone got off. We didn't want to take our chances and wait for another tram so we walked instead. 

Our route took us through Chinatown which seemed smaller than I remember and had a surprising number of Japanese eateries along its length. After Chinatown, we walked past Parliament House where the pretty street lamps were much commented on. Down to Fitzroy Gardens and and into the conservatory first. 

It was lovely and warm in there and I could have stayed longer but I could hear fairies calling. 

From the conservatory we walked over to Captain Cook's Cottage for some photos and then to the Fairies Tree. We were surprised to find books tied all around the railing at the tree. They had been put there by a bookcrossing participant so we looked through them all and chose two to read on the trip. 

Sarah's imagination came alive at the Fairies Tree. It brought a whole new perspective to the carving. The Model Tudor Village next to the Fairies Tree is my favourite here. I love the detail in the buildings and the gardens and it appeals to the genealogist in me. When I'm old and rich I'm sure I'll spend some time creating my own model buildings. 

We headed (on foot) towards Flinders St Station after having a quick play on a large dragon shaped slide in the gardens. On the way, we stopped in at ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) where they had a Dreamworks exhibit and a large history of video exhibit. 

Tim was particularly interested in the marquettes of the dragons from How to Train a Dragon. 

Flinders St Station was next with an obligatory photo at the clocks and then it was time to head home. We had just about given up on waiting for the tram in the cold and wind when it appeared down the street. This time it had even more people on it and we only just squeezed in. At least there was no chance of falling over each time it stopped and started as there was nowhere to fall to! The kids thought it was great to start with but decided Melbourne was just too noisy and busy for them. 

Arriving back at the car, Peter decided that he hadn't had enough of Melbourne so we drove the short distance back in to the city centre to have dinner. We wandered up Swanston St looking for a different dinner than our usual and decided on a Japanese cafe. The girls embraced it but Tim wasn't too sure so stuck with fried chicken (tori karaage). I was excited to see okinomiyaki on the menu but decided not to have it as there was no choice of filling and it was a small starter. I haven't seen that since I left Japan. 

The yakisoba I did have was yummy. 

On our return to the caravan park we decided the wind was just too strong. Our annexe was being blown in and out and the strain on the van was concerning. It was 8.30pm so we sent the kids for a shower and pulled the annexe down - a fun job in a gale!

The wind continued strongly through the night, buffeting the caravan so not much sleep was had. 

Day Sixteen - The Competition

Finally the day had arrived that had prompted this whole trip. Day one of Champion of Champions.  The morning started with a big breakfast to give us all the energy to get through the day. With hair done, we were on our way. Over the last couple of days we have been trying different routes into the city (mostly by accident) so had a pretty good idea which would be the best for today. Twenty minutes after leaving the van, we were at the venue. We left Peter and Tim to find seats while we headed downstairs to get Emily dressed. 
Sarah wasn't dancing until the afternoon so she spent the morning in the company of her dancing studio friends, Abbie and Lara. I hardly saw her!

Emily almost missed one of her dances because she didn't hear her section called to marshalling. The announcements are made in the competition hall and the costume/warm up area. If you're anywhere else, you can't hear them. Emily happened to be in the stairwell between the two. I noticed her missing from the order when it was her turn to dance so I raced down to the warm up area to find her and told her to run out to the hall. She made it just in time to join the last three dancers of her section. Unfortunately, the marshall told her to move from the correct judge to the incorrect judge so she ended up not being judged. The dance was one of the premiership dances so it meant she had no chance of being placed in the premiership. It was very disappointing but she seemed to take it well. I love her attitude, resilience and how she has really matured over time. In the end, Emily came home with a 4th placing in the Village Maid, which made us proud.

They ran the afternoon slightly differently to the morning and Sarah didn't have a chance to return to us or even have a run through before each dance. They went straight from the competition hall back to the marshalling area.
She had five dances in total and placed in all of them! Unfortunately, she had higher expectations of herself, mostly likely borne from  placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in everything at home competitions. She was disappointed in the three sixth placings she achieved even when we pointed out that these were the best in the country she was competing against. The third and fourth placings were, thankfully, satisfactory to her. 

It was, as usual, a long and emotionally draining day. We finally made it to bed just before 10pm after showers and sorting out the costumes ready for another day tomorrow. We are not subjecting Tim to another whole day watching kids dance so he and Peter are dropping us off and going exploring. It will be interesting to see what they get up to.

Day Fifteen - Melbourne

Day Fifteen

The plan for today was to have a bit of a look around Melbourne, go on a tram, visit the botanical gardens, Captain Cook's cottage, Flinders St Station etc. and head to the competition venue to pick up the girls' competitor numbers. Well it didn't quite work out that way. It was an overcast, drizzly, windy day from start to finish today. Such a contrast to sunny yesterday when we wore t-shirts. So we let the kids stay snug in bed until 9am when we had a nice cooked breakfast to warm us up. 

We couldn't just stay in the caravan all day so we jumped in the car and headed back to the city for another drive around. 

I actually think the city is better at night! With crazy drivers increasing the excitement we headed to St Kilda beach, somewhere we hadn't gone last night. Despite the appalling weather, Sarah insisted on hopping out for a play on the beach. We let her run about, expending a tiny bit of the energy she possesses, for five minutes before calling her back to the warmth of the car. 

From there we headed over to Luna Park so the kids could be wowed by the entry. They were.

It was too early to go to pick up the girls' dancing numbers so we returned to the caravan park and had a run through of all their dances. About 2.30pm we returned once more to the city, found the venue, and happened to met up with three other Thistle families there. A quick catch up with them,  handing over of registration cards, collection of goody bags for participants, purchase of new dancing singlets and a look at the hall layout took us another hour. We took a different route back to the caravan park, trying to work out the best way to get there tomorrow. It wasn't. Mainly because we went straight where we should have turned right and ended up going in the wrong direction.

Once we found our way back, it was time to iron all the costumes. The job fell to me (yay! Not) while Peter organised dinner. We had picked up a marinated butterflied lamb at woolies yesterday and cook it on the grill plate on the gas stove. It was surprisingly good. It came vacuum packed so we'll look out for them at home for future camping trips.

In bed by 8.45 ready for the first big day tomorrow. Emily dances first, starting in the morning but Sarah doesn't start until late afternoon so it's going to be a long day. 

Night Fourteen - Melbourne

Well, what a night!
We got a not so lovely surprise at 11pm when the vacant site beside us became occupied. We realised this when we heard the reversing of the vehicle and the instructions being called out from wife to husband. Apparently they found the tiny site just as tricky to reverse into as we did. I can only assume they left home after work today to be arriving so late at night. It took them a full hour before they had finally finished banging about inside and outside the van and we could return to the land of nod.

That was until a baby screamed somewhere nearby. It wasn't a happy baby. It let us know for some time. Of course, then the gorgeous cat that has been wandering around decided to pay us a visit. We have the caravan door open because Emily is sleeping in the annexe tonight. Peter discovered he had a bedmate on his legs at about 2am. He thought it was funny so shared it with me.

At 4am, the van two down from us decided it was time to leave. They obviously had some trouble too. Apparently the husband couldn't see the wife and she needed to move in front of the reversing camera. They took about half an hour to hitch up, with their diesel engine running and headlights on the whole time. Well, that's what we thought when they started to move. We were wrong. They'd had trouble hitching up in their site so had only just got the caravan on the tow ball. They then pulled out onto the roadway and stopped and that's when the levelling bars, chains and plug were attached and lights checked. How do I know this? It all happened directly outside my window. With engine running and lights on, of course. I had given up sleep as a joke and watched the show. I think they're new to caravanning. All up it took them an hour.

By 5.30 I decided sleep was over rated, wrote tonight's blog and went for my shower. There were plenty spare at this hour, at least!

Day Fourteen - Ballarat to Melbourne

We decided we had enough time to return to Sovereign Hill for a couple of hours before starting our drive to Melbourne. We headed straight to the blacksmith again and were just in time to catch the last half of his demonstration talk. Tim bought a souvenir from him and we moved off to the confectioner. Luck was on our side as we were amongst the last to squeeze in to watch the sweet making demonstration, which was different from yesterday's. I hadn't managed to fit in yesterday so was pleased to be able to catch it today. It was one of my favourite demonstrations and the sample at the end was much appreciated too! One last bowl at at the bowling alley and one last photo and we had to go.

The trip to Melbourne was fairly uneventful, although there seemed to be many more hills than I ever remember. In Melbourne proper, it was a little hairy traversing the narrow lanes once we were off the freeway. 

I'm not sure I should write much about the caravan park. Lets just say it makes me appreciate the wonderful free camps we've been staying at along the way.  Our site is only big enough for our van and most of our car and only if we park it sideways. The bed ends can't be used though because the site isn't long enough for us to put pegs in and we could pass a cup of sugar to about 14 people without any of us leaving our sites. We do have nice clean amenities though, and a camp kitchen with a shared fridge/freezer which we have made use of.

After setting ourselves up, erecting the annexe this time due to our longer stay, we headed off to the local woolies to stock up for the Easter weekend.
That done, and dinner eaten, we decided to head in to the city to give the kids a glimpse of Melbourne by night. 

I think they were suitably impressed. There were about eleventy billion people and cars about and a couple of major roads closed for roadworks. It sure made for some interesting navigational challenges. Flinders St Station had them amazed at the size and they were impressed at the many beautiful churches.

The difference in architecture between Melbourne and Brisbane was stark and the trams held Sarah captivated. She spent some serious thought on working out how the overhead tram power lines worked at intersections. The traffic was, well, insane. I can now see why the slogan on Victorian number plates has been changed to Stay Alert, Stay Alive!

Day Thirteen - Ballarat

Day Thirteen

Smythesdale has turned out to be one of the best free camps we've stayed at. I had the most divine hot shower this morning, I could have stayed in it for hours. There's also a large communal undercover picnic table with a log fire. We plan to go and eat dinner there tonight. The nights are quite chilly here!

We started this morning with a bit of a drive. That wasn't the original plan but when you drive the 20km from your campground into Ballarat and then realise you have left your purse behind, well... it adds a few kilometres. Oops!
After retrieving said purse and popping our clothes into the laundromat, we found a lovely spot beside a lake for breakfast. Tim finished eating quickly and decided to have a run around the lake. 

Of course, the girls had to give it a go as well and soon it was time to pick up the washing. 

With clean clothes once again packed in the car, we drove around the corner to  Sovereign Hill. We had purchased our tickets earlier from the gold museum across the road and discovered that had been a very good idea as we avoided the three queues waiting to enter and went straight through.

The first shop was one of the hits of the day - the blacksmith. We returned there more than once throughout the day. Tim even made noises about learning the craft but I think woodturning is enough for now! The were quite a number of demonstrations we managed to attend throughout the day including wheelwrighting, sweet making, learning to dance, musket firing and gold pouring. 

Each demonstration included great information about the way things were done back during the gold rush days as well as the actual practical demonstration. The girls particularly liked seeing all the people dressed up in period costume, both behind the counters in the shops and walking around the streets. 

We all tried our hand at panning for gold but didn't quite manage a find. 

The tour of the mine was a bit crowded but walking down all the steps at the start made you appreciate how deep they were having to dig to find the gold.
We finished the day with a wander through the Chinese camp and the diggers camp and the kids couldn't quite get their heads around people really living under those conditions. 

The wooden cottages we had walked through earlier in the day were primitive enough for them. 

We decided to get our ticket stamped to enable us to come back again tomorrow if that's what we decide to do. The kids were keen to return and we didn't have a long way to travel to Melbourne. We'll see how the morning pack up goes and decide then.