Friday: At last – the whole reason for the trip -> to welcome Rachael to Australia and introduce Priscilla to Rachael and James. Once more we caught the bus into the city from Epic and met Rachael at the National Library for lunch (delicious!). The Library had a display about Australia during WWI. It was very good. Some of the recruiting posters were very powerful – I nearly signed up there and then! Must have been hard the men who didn’t enlist. Interesting that compulsory conscription went to a referendum twice, and lost both times. We left Rachael to keep on working and did a bit of shopping.
That evening when James got home from work we went out for dinner at The Loading Dock and had a lovely evening together.
Dinner with two very special people.
Saturday: The farmers markets are on in the Epic showgrounds every Saturday morning. We had a lovely wander through them, bought some organic meat and fruit and veges, and some black garlic (interesting) and had breakfast there, before driving in to the city because we planned to do a bike ride with James and Rachael around Lake Burley Griffin on our Bromptons – their first real trial. Unfortunately I can’t say they were a howling success this time – both Steve and I having problems with the gearing. Anyway that is fix-able and we’re still very optimistic about future rides while travelling. The bike path around the Lake is excellent – great views, well maintained – iconic really!
After a shower we wandered in to the city to see the Multicultural Festival. Wow – it’s certainly big, with lots of stalls from just about everywhere. Crowded!!! So much so it wasn’t pleasant. We saw a few dances on the main stage, bought some ethnic food and headed back to James’s for dinner, drinks, chatting and back to Epic for us, rather late.
Multicultural Festival
Sunday: We left Epic this morning, found a great park right outside James’s unit. Today we’re all lunching with Nicola and her husband, good friends of J and R’s, at Poachers Pantry. Love this place – they have their own smokehouse and delicious smoked meats and fish. Nicola’s mother Pauline was also there – she’d been the principal of an international school in Burma for the last 8 years. Fascinating stories.
Tonight we stayed in a carpark at Yarralumla Bay which is a popular free camp. What can I say – it’s a carpark beside the lake, lots of vanpackers. We spent a quiet night, can’t complain.
