14 May 2012 - Exhibition Park Camping Ground, Canberra, ACT

This morning saw the first in a series of -3 degree mornings forecasted. It was the first dawn I have woken and considered the transfer of Chris’s night-cap beanie to my own head. The water pipes in the caravan were all frozen and did not thaw enough for use until nearly ten o’clock when we were ready to head out.

We spent the rest of the morning in Canberra Central, the lovely big shopping centre in, of course, Canberra’s centre. Chris needed a few more winter clothing bits and pieces, all found conveniently at Target.

We drove over toward the museum, parked up by the lake, read the newspaper for a little while then lunched, before relocating ourselves in the museum.

Walking into toward the museum, we got caught up with another couple sporting a Queensland number plate and spent some time sharing travel experiences. They told us about the Very Best Spot on the coast in Western Australia, a place we have heard about a couple of times before so we will have to check it out for ourselves when we finally get there.

Once back in the museum, we resumed our tour of Old New Land gallery where we schooled up on the evolution of wool and grain, interesting stories partially investigated in our last visit. Here in this museum the guides do not stand around in obvious places pretending to be security guards and otherwise only there to take your questions; they are pro-active in accosting tourists and explaining in long detail any tiny artefact you may have just walked past not noticing how significant it might be. (I would hate to read their blogs!) The gallery of Landmarks explores Australian history since European settlement, through stories of Australian places from across the continent. It was here we were first “attacked” by Vicky who kept us captured for more than half an hour educating us and discussing the current political dilemma in Greece. Then suddenly there was her replacement for a handover and he kept us for a further half an hour offering tit bits of fascinating information. 

We finally broke free and set off to spend an hour by ourselves; a rewarding exercise however we still had not progressed more than half way through the museum when it was time to get back to camp and rescue the washing from the line before the dew fell. The museum will have to be returned to yet again.