A movie day. The children wanted to see A Night at the Museum and Shaun and I wanted to see Valet.
So we walked into Tuggeranong from Bonython again ,caught the bus to civic and walked around town looking for the theatres.
Being New Years day, nothing much was open, so it gave us a chance to explore and window shop uninterrupted and without the jostle of a work day.
The movie for the Children screened at a different time to ours, so whilst the girls were entertained, Shaun and I walked to the Hire car agency to find out where it is situated from the bus stop, then around the shopping precinct, looked at fountains and sculptures and enjoyed coffee in the city walk mall area.
The Girls did similar things whilst we watched our movie and we met afterwards and shared the movie experience on the bus journey home.
Sunday, 7 January 2007
Questacon visit
Once again a bus journey to Questacon. We walked along the leafy avenue to the entrance and waited for Ce'nedra to finish playing with some microphones outside and a giant granite ball,then entered, paid our money, received our stamps and joined a balloon show.
Side show alley was the most fun, the guillotine and roller coaster simulator came a close second to the giant drop on the list of the scariest things to volunteer to do. The ball throwing whilst spinning was a tremendous hoot ,co ordination diminishes the faster you spin so I just laughed.
Demelza is a softball Representative for Darling Downs two years running, she discovered her pitch is 68km per hour and her throw is 86km per hour.
Ayla and I both had confirmation that neither of us can drive in video games, we spent most of the time allocated trying to stay on the track.Ce'nedra balanced for 2 and 1/2 minutes which is pretty good.
To the Bells of the Carillion recital ,We lunched, outside Questacon, on the avenue like lawn between the old Parliament house and the view over looking the lake to the other side to the avenue leading to the war Memorial. I felt really moved in a patriotic kinda way,enjoying the Capitals' public spaces, and sharing it with my family.
Side show alley was the most fun, the guillotine and roller coaster simulator came a close second to the giant drop on the list of the scariest things to volunteer to do. The ball throwing whilst spinning was a tremendous hoot ,co ordination diminishes the faster you spin so I just laughed.
Demelza is a softball Representative for Darling Downs two years running, she discovered her pitch is 68km per hour and her throw is 86km per hour.
Ayla and I both had confirmation that neither of us can drive in video games, we spent most of the time allocated trying to stay on the track.Ce'nedra balanced for 2 and 1/2 minutes which is pretty good.
To the Bells of the Carillion recital ,We lunched, outside Questacon, on the avenue like lawn between the old Parliament house and the view over looking the lake to the other side to the avenue leading to the war Memorial. I felt really moved in a patriotic kinda way,enjoying the Capitals' public spaces, and sharing it with my family.
The weather was still overcast when we set out to see the Egyptian exhibition,we caught the bus and alighted just outside the Treasury building. We walked along the lakeside past the library and Questacon to the gallery. Discussing the flags of the foreign embassy's that are represented in Canberra ,and the architecture of the buildings, and the gallery itself .The suspended ball above the road and other sculptures in the public spaces, there is so much to see and touch and be a part of.
Ce' nedra (8 yrs) wanted to play in the revolving glass entrance doors and would have been happy to spend the day doing so until reminded of the mummies and hieroglyphics we were about to see.( she loves Egyptology)
Once inside and tickets were purchased and our water bottles had to be checked into the cloak room before we could enter.The exhibition is wonder full .
Demelza (12) said the Egyptians invested as much time in promoting an afterlife as modern Christianity does; with the return of the son and a better place to reside at the lords side.
She found lots of parallels between today and the philosophies of the ancients.
Demelza is a thinker and created her own religion at age 11. She has borrowed some elements like how to maintain a following , by insisting on the rule Pay Pray and Obey. and Believe and Live., from some of the more fundamentalist teachings. Now at 12 and 5 days off being 13, her journey through the worlds belief systems has led her to the Tao.
Demelza has mellowed somewhat in the past two years.
Purchasing an amulet from the exhibition for her religion.
Ohan is it's name by the way, but only because she has been pressured to give it a name. She believes if you name it then you are only naming a tiny part of it and understand less of it's power .
So, enough about Demelza, we left the gallery and enjoyed a lake cruise, the girls were able to captain the boat and the skipper was incredibly welcoming warm and generous. He informed us of Canberra's history, the stories behind the landmarks, the Australian of the year Walk ,the bells and we also stopped to watch some cormorant chicks and take photos of them.We got very wet under the captain cook jet it was just great fun .
Ce' nedra (8 yrs) wanted to play in the revolving glass entrance doors and would have been happy to spend the day doing so until reminded of the mummies and hieroglyphics we were about to see.( she loves Egyptology)
Once inside and tickets were purchased and our water bottles had to be checked into the cloak room before we could enter.The exhibition is wonder full .
Demelza (12) said the Egyptians invested as much time in promoting an afterlife as modern Christianity does; with the return of the son and a better place to reside at the lords side.
She found lots of parallels between today and the philosophies of the ancients.
Demelza is a thinker and created her own religion at age 11. She has borrowed some elements like how to maintain a following , by insisting on the rule Pay Pray and Obey. and Believe and Live., from some of the more fundamentalist teachings. Now at 12 and 5 days off being 13, her journey through the worlds belief systems has led her to the Tao.
Demelza has mellowed somewhat in the past two years.
Purchasing an amulet from the exhibition for her religion.
Ohan is it's name by the way, but only because she has been pressured to give it a name. She believes if you name it then you are only naming a tiny part of it and understand less of it's power .
So, enough about Demelza, we left the gallery and enjoyed a lake cruise, the girls were able to captain the boat and the skipper was incredibly welcoming warm and generous. He informed us of Canberra's history, the stories behind the landmarks, the Australian of the year Walk ,the bells and we also stopped to watch some cormorant chicks and take photos of them.We got very wet under the captain cook jet it was just great fun .
Saturday, 6 January 2007
Getting Around Day One
With no car, and no fixed telephone line out, as daughter hadn't paid the phone bill, we had to find a telephone box to begin the process of Insurance claims and find out when work would begin on the car and get an estimate of when it would be ready.
Then there was sight seeing to do and shopping and movies to see. Thank goodness for the great bus service in Canberra!
The following day we went to see the Egyptian exhibition from the louvre, at the museum .( it isn't actually at the museum, it is in the gallery on the other side of the lake) however as we had arrived at the museum we decided to enjoy the exhibits.
Emergency crews arrived and closed the museum we went home and enjoyed the storm on the way.
Then there was sight seeing to do and shopping and movies to see. Thank goodness for the great bus service in Canberra!
The following day we went to see the Egyptian exhibition from the louvre, at the museum .( it isn't actually at the museum, it is in the gallery on the other side of the lake) however as we had arrived at the museum we decided to enjoy the exhibits.
The sky was looking a little grey, not a great concern I thought , Canberra hasn't had any rain in over 10 months why would it rain now?
We settled into the revolving theatre and during the second movement the lights came on and a voice informed us of evacuation procedures as water was entering the building!
Hail pelted down and the girls collected snow balls and played catch and made mini snowmen!
Photo opportunity emergency crews in the background
Emergency crews arrived and closed the museum we went home and enjoyed the storm on the way.
This is Shaun threatening to pop this hail ball down my blouse!
Arrival
What a relief to arrive at the station and see familiar faces! We separate into two cars for the journey to Bonython.
Ishta (number 2 daughter) is so grown up now and quite the young woman; she is here with her boyfriend Evan and they take the girls in their car, and Paula a friend of my mums takes Shaun and I in her car.
Well we arrived at the house where my Daughter had recently had a party for Christmas and the aftermath of the bomb that had hit was very much evident.
So after travelling for 23 hours from home and not really recovering from our whirlwind 5 day Christmas break with my brother and his family, we had to set about cleaning up Ishta's house before we could be comfortable in a clean tidy environment.
You know those people who are shown on TV where they have to get a front end loader in to clean out the years of rubbish, well that's what Ishta's place was like. I just wanted to sit down and cry, there was food and rubbish everywhere.
Well it had to be cleaned before we could rest so we set off for the shops and brought some cleaning products and set about cleaning the house. So 3 hours later we ready to have dinner and go to bed.
Surviving teenagers is hard work.
Ishta (number 2 daughter) is so grown up now and quite the young woman; she is here with her boyfriend Evan and they take the girls in their car, and Paula a friend of my mums takes Shaun and I in her car.
Well we arrived at the house where my Daughter had recently had a party for Christmas and the aftermath of the bomb that had hit was very much evident.
So after travelling for 23 hours from home and not really recovering from our whirlwind 5 day Christmas break with my brother and his family, we had to set about cleaning up Ishta's house before we could be comfortable in a clean tidy environment.
You know those people who are shown on TV where they have to get a front end loader in to clean out the years of rubbish, well that's what Ishta's place was like. I just wanted to sit down and cry, there was food and rubbish everywhere.
Well it had to be cleaned before we could rest so we set off for the shops and brought some cleaning products and set about cleaning the house. So 3 hours later we ready to have dinner and go to bed.
Surviving teenagers is hard work.
Finally Arriving At The Nations Capital
How exciting, boarding a train with unconventional luggage (everything stuffed into pillow cases and plastic bags) and wide eyed and weary daughters marvelling at the novelty of the experience.
A few phone calls to family in Brisbane and Canberra and to Mum who masterfully co ordinated a rescue operation at the train station and we finally arrived, wearily, at our destination.
A few phone calls to family in Brisbane and Canberra and to Mum who masterfully co ordinated a rescue operation at the train station and we finally arrived, wearily, at our destination.
Mittagong Madness After Midnight
just in case you missed it here it is again
Next stop was not on the itinerary but I have to say Mittagong is an interesting Place.
Why are we in Mittagong??????
We had a narrow escape at 3am, on the twice paid for highway, with a wombat. The wombat came off second best but we were stranded on the side of the road with no front on our car and a front wheel that refused to co operate. Plus a whole bunch of girls requiring to answer the call of nature. While the girls were relieving themselves, Shaun phoned a tow truck company to come and collect the car and tow it into downtown Mittagong.
The tow truck operator was terrific, he loaded the car onto his truck and all of us into the cab and took us to marvellous Mittagong (very exciting to travel in a big truck). Whilst he attended to paper work, we unloaded all of our belongings making the parcels as easy to carry as possible for all members of the family. This was a disaster and we had to pull together.
We walked the main street from 5am waiting for a hire car agency to begin operations at 6am, only to be told the agency wasn't opening for business until 8am. So more walking around until
8am only to be told there were no cars available as they all had to go to Sydney.
So next discussion was around how we were going to continue our journey to Canberra.
The bus pulled in at 9am but there was no guarantee that we would be able to get seats. The next option was the train, which was to leave at 9:30am. So Shaun booked the tickets and came back to the car hire agency to collect us. I had managed to stopped whinging by this stage. Thank god he is such a patient man, he has such a lot to put up with and finds that parking us somewhere and going off and doing things by himself is the best option.
We got a taxi to go to the train station, and what an interesting experience that was. As the taxi hadn't familiarised himself with the layout of the train station, he dropped us on the wrong side of the tracks and we had to carry everything over an overpass. On the way to the train station the driver undertook a number of interesting maneuvers on any side of the road that took his fancy, and didn't seem to have any idea of the road rules that state "thou shalt stay on your own side of the road". However, he did help us unload the car at the station, so snaps for the taxi driver.
The train pulled out of Mittagong station with all of us on board. We settled down to a two hour journey. We were all very tired by this stage and with the man behind snoring and the announcements on 'the next train station is', no one got any rest.
Why are we in Mittagong??????
We had a narrow escape at 3am, on the twice paid for highway, with a wombat. The wombat came off second best but we were stranded on the side of the road with no front on our car and a front wheel that refused to co operate. Plus a whole bunch of girls requiring to answer the call of nature. While the girls were relieving themselves, Shaun phoned a tow truck company to come and collect the car and tow it into downtown Mittagong.
The tow truck operator was terrific, he loaded the car onto his truck and all of us into the cab and took us to marvellous Mittagong (very exciting to travel in a big truck). Whilst he attended to paper work, we unloaded all of our belongings making the parcels as easy to carry as possible for all members of the family. This was a disaster and we had to pull together.
We walked the main street from 5am waiting for a hire car agency to begin operations at 6am, only to be told the agency wasn't opening for business until 8am. So more walking around until
8am only to be told there were no cars available as they all had to go to Sydney.
So next discussion was around how we were going to continue our journey to Canberra.
The bus pulled in at 9am but there was no guarantee that we would be able to get seats. The next option was the train, which was to leave at 9:30am. So Shaun booked the tickets and came back to the car hire agency to collect us. I had managed to stopped whinging by this stage. Thank god he is such a patient man, he has such a lot to put up with and finds that parking us somewhere and going off and doing things by himself is the best option.
We got a taxi to go to the train station, and what an interesting experience that was. As the taxi hadn't familiarised himself with the layout of the train station, he dropped us on the wrong side of the tracks and we had to carry everything over an overpass. On the way to the train station the driver undertook a number of interesting maneuvers on any side of the road that took his fancy, and didn't seem to have any idea of the road rules that state "thou shalt stay on your own side of the road". However, he did help us unload the car at the station, so snaps for the taxi driver.
The train pulled out of Mittagong station with all of us on board. We settled down to a two hour journey. We were all very tired by this stage and with the man behind snoring and the announcements on 'the next train station is', no one got any rest.
Are We There Yet??????
No we are in Glenn Innes, I'm hungry . So we stopped in a beautiful park and had a a late lunch of frozen chicken (it was cooked just not thawed), which had sat at my feet in a cooler bag under the air conditioning vent.
Then we had another late lunch, but this time not a frozen chicken, in Tamworth, parked high on the look out. The scenery from the look out is just beautiful, especially at sunset!
One of the most talked about sights on the way were the fabulous lights on the power station and Simpson's style cooling towers at Singleton.
We drove on into the night towards Sydney but decided to pull off the highway, which is a toll road and we were confused over how to pay for the highway toll. The instructions on the highway are very unclear as to how to pay and being from the QLD countryside, we were unaware that we could just phone a number and have the toll debited from a nominated bank account.
So we arrived at Blacktown in Sydney and as we were totally lost by this time, we asked for directions from a Sikh taxi driver. Filled with new knowledge anf following his instructions we re-entered the highway, but we were going in the wrong direction!
OH MI GOD what next.
Well there were some interesting comments from the backseat drivers as usual and especially mutterings about having paid twice to travel one stretch of highway in both directions.
With Shauns patient urging we phoned the toll number who advised that we had 48 hours to pay for the toll. I finally stopped complaining and we settled back into a peaceful journey, the girls quiet now and anticipating our arrival in Canberra in about three hours.
Then we had another late lunch, but this time not a frozen chicken, in Tamworth, parked high on the look out. The scenery from the look out is just beautiful, especially at sunset!
One of the most talked about sights on the way were the fabulous lights on the power station and Simpson's style cooling towers at Singleton.
We drove on into the night towards Sydney but decided to pull off the highway, which is a toll road and we were confused over how to pay for the highway toll. The instructions on the highway are very unclear as to how to pay and being from the QLD countryside, we were unaware that we could just phone a number and have the toll debited from a nominated bank account.
So we arrived at Blacktown in Sydney and as we were totally lost by this time, we asked for directions from a Sikh taxi driver. Filled with new knowledge anf following his instructions we re-entered the highway, but we were going in the wrong direction!
OH MI GOD what next.
Well there were some interesting comments from the backseat drivers as usual and especially mutterings about having paid twice to travel one stretch of highway in both directions.
With Shauns patient urging we phoned the toll number who advised that we had 48 hours to pay for the toll. I finally stopped complaining and we settled back into a peaceful journey, the girls quiet now and anticipating our arrival in Canberra in about three hours.
Rushin' Around at Home
There had been no rain at home in Glen Aplin while we were away, not like the weather in Brisbane where it rained every day. We started the pump and watered the vineyard and house garden.
The mid season peaches were perfect and ready to pick, so we loaded the car with peaches to take to Canberra. We rested in the early evening until Ayla (17, 18 in 4 weeks) walked in from work and greeted us and after the joy and emotion of seeing each other again after 5 days away ( growing up and being independent is a very gradual process for Ayla) she complained about being ditched at home again not just for christmas but for our next trip to the Nations Capital to see our second eldest daughter Ishta for a few days.
After much negotiation we agreed to take Ayla with us , the other two girls complained that the journey would be a squash! We have a Proton Savvy ( it's my shopping trolley, very economical, but not quite the family road trip kinda car).
So, family Rogers set off for Canberra packed the car to the brim around three noisy girls ,a collection of house and dance music CD's, DVD's to watch on the way down, pillows, doonas, christmas pudding and cake, presents, shoes and peaches!here we go!
The mid season peaches were perfect and ready to pick, so we loaded the car with peaches to take to Canberra. We rested in the early evening until Ayla (17, 18 in 4 weeks) walked in from work and greeted us and after the joy and emotion of seeing each other again after 5 days away ( growing up and being independent is a very gradual process for Ayla) she complained about being ditched at home again not just for christmas but for our next trip to the Nations Capital to see our second eldest daughter Ishta for a few days.
After much negotiation we agreed to take Ayla with us , the other two girls complained that the journey would be a squash! We have a Proton Savvy ( it's my shopping trolley, very economical, but not quite the family road trip kinda car).
So, family Rogers set off for Canberra packed the car to the brim around three noisy girls ,a collection of house and dance music CD's, DVD's to watch on the way down, pillows, doonas, christmas pudding and cake, presents, shoes and peaches!here we go!
Tuesday, 2 January 2007
Surviving boxing day
We, that is Shaun (husband) Demelza (12 almost thirteen) Ce'nedra (8) and myself left my brothers house where we have spent some of our Christmas
break ,and began the journey home to Stanthorpe where we have a vineyard and orchard.The first stop was at Shaun's mothers house. Every year we spend Boxing Day with His family. We admired how quickly she has settled into her new house just three weeks before Christmas and spent a convivial couple of hours sharing news.And hit the Highway.
break ,and began the journey home to Stanthorpe where we have a vineyard and orchard.The first stop was at Shaun's mothers house. Every year we spend Boxing Day with His family. We admired how quickly she has settled into her new house just three weeks before Christmas and spent a convivial couple of hours sharing news.And hit the Highway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)