Canberra Part 8

Canberra Day 15: Botanical Gardens and Mr. Spokes Ride

Early in the morning we headed out. On our way, Alex spotted the dam being opened to release water from the river since it had rained the night before. Australia doesn't usually get that amount of rain so just one night of rain had made the water uncontainable. A rare occasion really. So much so that bikers and other drivers drove in to witness the sight, as we did. Beautiful! 

Moving on, I'm not kidding when I say Gardens. It was nothing like the Penang one. This was like a whole towns worth of gardens. There were 3 routes to walk- the main route and 2 more different routes for the Gardens plus a mountain trail. We picked to stay on the main path: we followed the brown cobbled road.

The steps took us down into the tropical forest area which was brilliant. Imagine 3 tiers. The top tier= cobbled path and other plants. The middle tier= tropical forest path(the one he's standing on). The bottom tier= a pretty stream running along the whole forest with tropical-ish plants overhanging it. Once you descend from the main path, the whole place becomes eeriely quiet and dim. 

We came across many junctions that forked into other routes.

We emerged into a clearing which turned out to be the Rock Garden. The scenery was so vast and beautiful on that plateau. With no Eucalyptus trees to block your view, you could see the bright blue sky for miles and the rocks gave such a nostalgic feeling as though they connected you to people in the distant past. The Gardens were wonderful because of this feeling. We were in there without anyone around most of the time. We would bump into some people after 20 minutes or so but their voices would quickly fade away as we moved past each other. It was as though we were exploring our very own. We moved deeper into the garden and found a sundial!! Imagine my excitement. We immediately checked if it was working and it was! It was exactly 12pm at that time. Gorgeous view and the winter made the bright sun's rays fall with a gentle warmth- the greatest time to enjoy the gardens.

We came to a mini waterfall. I quickly jumped on the rocks and made my way closer to the falling water. Ying stopped to have a drink of water. I could hear the calm and tranquil splashes on the pond. 

Suddenly without any warning, two ducks made a dive from above me and plonked into the pond to my left. They fled so quickly into the bushes and that was that. Ying was in his imaginary world zapping some giant flowers. On to larger things. Huge black hairy balls- no pun intended. 

We headed to the lake to take a Mr. Spokes ride. Canberra's Old Faithful was shooting high that day. High, high, high in the big blue sky.

There could not have been a more perfect day to bike by the lake! Except for the cold winter breeze that came at us freezing our unprotected fingers, the ride was spectacular!

The bike knew Ying's stage in his Phd. It granted him only a Ph. We'll come back next year and he'll have a D, hopefully. ;) Alas, the sun was setting. It was just nice. We headed back, PUFFING mind you! It wasn't until we arrived at the tiny slope heading up to the shed that we realised how out of shape we were. We puffed and puffed and couldn't even make it up. We kept sliding down after each push. GAH it was infuriating. In the end, we were told that we had a larger bike. LOL.

We ended the evening at Weston Park to look for kangaroos again. We spotted cockatoos as well. 

Canberra Part 7

Canberra Day 14: Glassworks, Dimsum, Mt Ainslie and Museum

Early in the morning, I show the maple tree some love... by plucking its withering leaves.

Headed to Canberra Glassworks for Glassblowing at 10am.

A very elaborate process. We enjoyed about an hour of 90s pop in the background whilst these ladies melted and contorted glass.

You'll never guess how much the round plate costs. AUD24,500!! 

Cinderella in the modern age would be wearing these slippers. The circle is made of black glass rods shaded to white! Brilliant! Beautiful blue glass.... as blue as the sky that day.

 Behold the American Eagle again(Parliament area!)

We decided to go to Mount Ainslie(the highest peak in Canberra) since the weather was clear and perfect.

Mt Ainslie and the gorgeous view! 

The brilliant layout by Walter Griffin

Finally, lunch at XY Dimsum! A place I vowed to visit every trip I make to Canberra! Get ready to feast your eyes on the delicious sensations. All you can eat!

Scallop dumplings, kailan and the best chee cheong fun ever!

Fried wantans and a variety of steamed dumplings and pork ribs

Char Siew Pau, Squid Rings, Spring Rolls, chicken feet and beefballs

Must-have fried belacan chicken wings and my ultimate favourite fried stuffed brinjals. The others who were there just waited for the trays to come out and being Chinese sellers, they pushed out the less valuable items and many of the items on the menu didn't make an appearance. We knew better and ordered other items from the menu. I thoroughly enjoyed the sesame seed balls! 

The pudding which Ying had 2 of with thick evaporated milk. 

Off to the National Museum. They used to charge per entry but now it's free! Gorgeous architecture.

Stuck sis on a wheelie as she was getting too pregnant to walk.

The revolving theater- Circa: showing the journey through time of Australia. 4 segments of 3 minutes each. After each segment, the floor would rotate and bring us into a new segment. Fun but dizzy.

The aborigines section. There was a carpeted floor which was installed with ground sensors. We were asked to dance with the aborigines and our dance would create corresponding sounds and steps on the wall screens by dancing aborigines. FUN. So there we were, stamping away in the dark :D

We enjoyed listening to the history of Australia and looking at the wonderful aboriginal art.

Ying sympathised with the aborigines and yelled: Give back what you stole! The whites had stolen a generation from the aborigines by removing children from them, deeming them unfit to raise children. I entered a room where there was the apology speech made by the PM to the aborigines and the crowd there that day wept with their families and it was such an overwhelming day. I stood there watching and began to cry along. Such a traumatic history and emotional occasion.

The view of the famous lake and water fountain from the museum. You can literally see this lake from every angle of Canberra. Well done, Burley-Griffin! Unfortunately, the trip was cut short. Ying, wanting to join Alex and my sister who were playfully zipping around on the wheelchair on the opposite side of the museum tripped over the drizzled floors of the museum garden while sprinting across. Humpty had a bad fall. So all the kings horses and all the kings men had to put Humpty together again.

Canberra Part 6

Canberra Day 13: Kingsleys, War Memorial, National Capital Exhibition and Canberra Southern Cross Club

We went to Woden for lunch and met Shrek.

Kingsleys yummy yummy fries. GAHHH I NEED ONE!!!

The War Memorial

The direct view from the memorial: Parliament! The building we were at a few posts before this.

Outside the memorial, the Queen planted a tree 12 years ago and that's the height it is today. 

Names of all the soldiers who died in service. Relatives and friends put the flowers there. Apparently they do not list their posts/ranks. Only their names. 

The obligatory picture at the Malaya balcony dedicated to Aussie soldiers who fought in Malaya against the Japanese.

There were statues like these: (¬Without you... I'll be standin' round here like a statueee¬)

The eternal flame: burning for 22years so far sponsored by the Gas Board.

There were many paintings of war landscapes...And of course...Countless intricate dioramas.

Many real-life planes, helis and tankers.

One in the crowd:

There was a nook with a white kitchen window sill and olden windows. There was an old transistor radio playing old jazz. ABSOLUTELY LOVELY. A bench lay there below the sill and on the bench were old Women's Weekly(s) from 1944/45. I sat there and leafed through them with the big band crooning in the background. I was transported back in time. Such an idyllic feeling it gave me. Sigh. I loved it!

Look at the fashions!

They actually built the front of a telegraph shop!

Later on we headed to the National Capital Exhibition Centre, right beside where Alex and sis held their reception. It overlooked Lake Burley-Griffin. Here is Walter Burley-Griffin's vision which is Canberra today. He won a competition to design the capital quite a while ago. Brilliant design.

Posing with Walt and his wife.

Sis and hubby lookin' good.

The silly names which were almost chosen to be the capital's name! GAH! Shakespeare was second believe it or not?!! LOL. Sydmeladperbrisho- go figure. How silly!

We ended the day with dinner at the club.

A very nice, warm place. With every main course you get a free salad from the salad buffet which would ordinarily cost 10 AUD. We each shared a main course. Ying and I picked the Chicken Kiev and although it may look like nothing much, I assure you it was heavenly.