The next morning, the phrase "everything's dirtier in the south" (which I saw on a t-shirt once with a picture of the Southern US) was decidedly true for Butch. The Christmas beetle plague around Golburn meant that he looked like he'd been in the wars. I think he won but some of the big ones sounded like stones when they hit him! Yowch!
So we went through a car wash first thing... I have a confession to make... I LOVE going through carwashes!! (And possibly a little too easily amused.) So apologies to anyone else who doesn't find this exciting. I think it comes from a book I had as a child in which 2 kids get out of the car inside the carwash and have to avoid the carwash monster.... anyway...ah-hem!! back to reality...
Hols had formulated a plan... She ordered me to one of the new areas of Canberra in the North to a new suburb called... wait for it... Forde!! (Ok, so it's got an 'e' on the end... play along anyway! I'll photoshop and no one will ever know!) There were some awesome road signs promoting developments out there... see for yourself how we made Butch into "The Ford(e) Focus"!!
Next, an early lunch on the deck at Zambreros looking out onto Lake Ginninderra. Zambreros is almost worth the trip to Canberra in itself- these are the BEST Burritos i've tasted in my life and they're made fresh- kind of like Mexican Subway! There's a store opening in Sydney on Oxford Street in the new year. Can't wait!!! Note: Holly and I thought it appropriate that we drink Focus water ;) Or in the case of this pic... out-of-focus water!
Back to our adventure and we were off to the Parliamentary Triangle. We were approached by a friendly member of the AFP when we stopped for this photo on the Forecourt at Parliament House. How could 2 gals in a gorgeous car be a threat to national security?! ;)
Next, Reconcilliation place on the foreshore of Lake Burleigh Griffin. Only weeks ago, this place was transformed into a venue for an awesome music festival named, funnily enough "Foreshore". It was a great weekend- definitely marked the start of my Summer of fun! :)
We stopped at the Art Gallery which has almost as much art outside it as in. We left Butch playing with a ball while we went for a walk... ;) On Australia Day this year, Hols and I and some others made out own 'art' (drawing in the gravel and posing next to it) outside the new Portrait Gallery and took photos... so these strange moves are kind of a tradition for us!
I've always preferred the look of Old Parliament House to the new one. This place also has a great courtyard where all the 'it' people in Canberra gather for drinkies on a Friday afternoon. It's a bit of an institution and a pretty nice tradition... and the coloured flags out front gave it a nice summer feel.
Butch wanted to visit the Prime Minister while we were in Canberra so we went past the Lodge. It was all locked up... I don't think Mr. Rudd was up for visitors, was probably out doing his Christmas shopping... or running the country or something...
Canberrans seemed to be in love with the Focus already, we saw them all over the place! Butch felt very at home meeting up with others of his kind in Australia's "Meeting place".
We took the scenic route around the Western side of the lake. Many of these roads were once lined with tall pine trees making the road completely dark and like a magical "mushroom forest" (as it used to be called by the fellow ANU students i'd ride my bike around here with). In some ways, having no trees gave us more of a view but even almost 7 years on, it's obvious Canberra is still recovering from the massive bushfires of 2003.
A quick stop at Black Mountain Peninsula for a look back at where we'd been so far...
Next on the list was a place i'd only ever been to at night- Mount Ainslie. A brilliant view of Canberra showcasing Walter Burleigh Griffin's grand plan to set out the nation's capital on a number of axes. Being into that new-agey stuff a little, I really like this idea and it was the first time i'd been able to see it as anything but a whole heap of twinkling lights... and... WHAT A VIEW!! I've always said I felt like a princess in Canberra, and it was like being on top of the world!
An enterprising caravan owner had set up shop on the Mountain selling icecreams- just what we needed on such a hot day... and while we were eating our Icy Poles, Squeeze the Fiesta rocked up!
Then it was back down the hill towards Civic via the War Memorial and Casino Canberra where Hols and I used to work. This has got to be one of the best parking spots in Canberra to show off a car! The marketing manager of the cas even walked past while I was parked here, said Hello, checked out Butch and continued on his way. Obviously he approved of our choice of brag-spot in front of his casino! We ran inside quickly to say hello to some old friends then stopped for a spot of Christmas shopping in Civic before...
The second half of Canberra's 'twin peaks'- Black Mountain. Home to Tesltra Tower which used to be my beacon to get home to the uni residence after big nights out- very handy when you're new in town! I hadn't been here since I was 6 despite practically living underneath it.... You can see it from every corner of the 'Berra practically but I still wasn't quite ready for the size of it up close... the first thing we'd visited that made Butch look uncharacteristically small!
Hols had some family stuff to attend to and it was about time I started on my way home. As I topped up with pre-public holiday priced diesel on the way out of town, Canberra put on yet another gorgeous Summer sunset for me. Despite the big day, the drive back to Sydney was a breeze- a combination of the fabulously easy-to-drive wheels and the lack of traffic on the roads.
