Swensons' Adventures: April 2014

Saturday, April 19, 2014

The Paparazzi have Left Oz...

Our last few days in Oz were simple relaxing days...trying to maximize our time with Evelyn. Andrew had to work Monday through Thursday, so Cheri and I baby-sat a little and let Sarah head out for a few errands alone.

Of course we also ended up with a photo that makes Cheri and me chuckle every time we see it...

One of the mornings we (Cheri, Sarah, Evelyn and myself) walked down to the local coffee shop--Common Grounds. It was a cool Fall morning in Oz so Sarah put a hat on Evelyn...and it sure brings out the Swede in her...

Tuesday afternoon Cheri and I headed into the City Centre of Canberra to do some sight seeing. We visited the new Parliment Building. Architecturally it is a beautiful building...very little visible on the outside, but well designed on the inside. The building was purposely built into one of the hills in Canberra with a lawn up the sides and over the top of it--the thought being that Parliment should be visible, but not "over" the people.

The House and Senate are on opposite sides of the building and are built in the style of the British Parliment. They chose to keep the same color palette of the British Parliment (green for the House and red for the Senate) only the architect gathered gum tree leaves and used them as the various shades of green and used the spring color of gum tree buds for the shades of red.

We also went onto the roof and I took a photo across the grass mall to the old Parliment Building (the original). Beyond the Old Parliment you can see the red ANZAC Parade leading up to the War Museum. What looks like a tall blue building on the left side of the photo is the Captain Cook Memorial Jet Fountain in Lake Burley Griffin.

We walked down the grass mall, around the old Parliment and then took the Kings Avenue Bridge to the other side of Lake Burley Griffin. On the other side we had good views of the National Clarion (a gift from the British government in 1963 to celebrate Canberra's 50th anniversary), the Captain Cook Jet Fountain, and some black swans.

Our walk then went up the ANZAC Parade and to the War Memorial Museum. This is an outstanding museum that doesn't celebrate war, but memorializes those who have sacrificed in any way for all of us. Arriving late in the afternoon we were not able to spend as much time as we would have liked, but we were there for the daily Last Post
Every day at closing visitors gather in the courtyard for the laying of some wreaths at the reflection pond, the singing of the Australian National Anthem, a Lament played on bagpipes, and then the story behind one of the more than 102,000 names of soldiers written on the walls of the museum is read...a different story every day. Following the reading the Last Post is played by a single bugler to signal the end of the day's activities. It is a very moving event.

From the museum we could also look back across ANZAC Parade, the old Parliment, and up to the new Parliment...a nice end to the day.

Wednesday we were able to squeeze in a ride along some of the many bike paths in Canberra. Paul, Cheri and I headed out from Gowrie (the suburb where Sarah and Andrew live) and peddled about 20 km to the edge of Lake Burley Griffin. From there, if we'd had the time, it would have been several more hours to bike around the lake. Instead we pedaled part way back and stopped for a coffee and cannoli (a very civilized way of biking) before heading back to Gowrie.

That evening was the weekly Walker Family dinner only at Andrew and Sarah's this time. Paul and I jointed forces to make a grilled pork wrapped with bacon...a huge success.

Thursday was our last full day in Oz and we spent the time doing some last minute shopping (wine, cookies...the essentials). Then we met Andrew in the City for a picnic lunch on a local park...aso some last minute paparazzi time...

This adventure wound up on Friday with over 30 hours of traveling from Gowrie to Woodstock. We caught a 9am (7 pm on Thursday in Woodstock) bus from Canberra to Sydney Interational Airport. Our flight left at 2:57 pm (local time) Friday afternoon, and we landed in San Francisco at 11:30 am (local time) Friday morning...we flew east from Sydney faster than the earth rotated in the opposite direction...so with crossing the date line we arrived before we left.
It was then a flight to Boston and a car ride back to Woodstock arriving home around 1 am Saturday morning. The end of another great adventure.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Another Day at the Beach...in Oz

We woke up on Friday to the sun shining through the clouds over Point Perpendicular...across Jervis Bay.

Before heading out for the day we thought this would be a good time for some group photos...

We didn't have to check out of the house until 10 am, so we headed off to Hyam's Beach Cafe for breakfast and the spent some time on the beach. Hyam's Beach is a beautiful area and since we were there at the start of the off-season there were not too many people around. This gave us some time to walk along the beach and Sarah some time to shoot some "plain old film" photos. I stuck with my nice little digital camera...and still got a few nice shots. Cheri also got some great photos...

And then Miss Evelyn was ready for her morning nap...

We drove back to Canberra by way of the coast road, with a short "stretch" break in Bateman's Bay (a nice resort town) before turning inland towards the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). While stopped saw some pelicans relaxing...now that most of the tourists are gone...

We did make another short stop at the Braidwood Bakery (in Braidwood, NSW of all places) to have a quick lunch of meat pies...a popular stopping point and well worth it!

Footy on Saturday...

The next day Andrew and I met up with a a couple of his mates in Tuggernong, ACT (a few kilometers from their home) and rode a free bus to GIO Stadium for a Canberra Raiders National Rugby League game.

The bus got us to the stadium just before warms ups were over so we saw a little practice on the field first...

Our seats were in the "end zone" so a Try (touchdown) made at our end had them kicking the extra two points towards us (if you look closely you can see the ball in the air). The extra point kicks are taken for a point straight out from where the ball is touched down and it is basically a free kick with no defenders.

Unfortunately, although the photo is of a Raiders' kick they did not make enough to win the game. But it was "Knit Beanie Day" so we brought a present home for Evelyn...and she looks like a fan already.

The Adventures in Oz continue for a few more days.

Posted with Blogsy

Thursday, April 10, 2014

On the Coast of Oz

We have been in Oz for several days now (or in Cheri's case several weeks), and besides taking a trip to the coast it is time I did a little blog work...so here you go.

Of course the first thing people will want to see if Evelyn...so here is the early fix...

We--Cheri and I, Paul and Judy, Sarah, Andrew and Evelyn--left Canberra on Wednesday and headed east towards the coast. After about three hours and a few stops we were in Vincentia, New South Wales (about 100 miles south of Sydney).

Sarah had arranged for a beach house and we were going to close out the Australian summer with a final few days. From the road side you get some feeling that we were near the beach,

but once you get out on the back deck you can see how close we were to the ocean...the sound of the waves lulled us to sleep each evening.

From the beach you can see the upper deck through the scrub brush...

Since it was early afternoon we decided to take a stroll along the beach and the Tasman Sea just outside the house. It gave us a nice walk before an evening of barbequed chicken, good wines (US and Australian), and then some cards.

The next morning we were treated to a special pancake breakfast by Sarah (pancake like muffins covered with a maple buttercream and crumbled bacon) along with Judy's eggs and fruit salad. Of course Evelyn had Vegemite on toast for her breakfast..our own little Aussie...