Category: Travel

EP and I (JMP) have done a little more exploring around Canberra in the last few days.  Yesterday we went to the National Botanic Gardens, conveniently located about 8 minutes from our place.  It actually took a bit longer due to a wrong turn that literally led us up a small mountain.  It was not entirely a waste of time though because the view from the top was stunning, even from the car.  There is a tower up at the top that one can go up to get a better look and I’m hoping to do that (with the camera) soon.  Upon coming back down I found the correct turn and we had a nice time exploring the botanic gardens a little.  We didn’t get very far in because EP tends to zig and zag and get distracted but we saw some of the Tasmanian rainforest section, lots of wonderful smelling Eucalyptus trees, and a bunch of Paperbark trees which I had never seen before and looked just like their names indicate.  We also saw (and heard) some truly wild birds, I will try to get some pictures of them as well.

Today we tried to go to a story time at a local library but it didn’t take place because it is apparently a school holiday right now.  I wasn’t the only one who was confused, there were lots of other kids there roaming around.  This town of Dickson was only a short 10 minute drive from the center of Canberra but felt like an entirely different place.  Next to the library was a rather extensive pedestrian area with a butcher, baker, cafe or two and a pharmacist.  It was quite charming and it was a fun place for us both to watch the locals go about their days.  The best part though was the grocery store.  We’ve been going to a grocery store at the giant mall complex downtown and I had forgotten from our days in Indonesia and Malaysia how annoying it is to try to buy a week’s worth of groceries and then have to haul heavy bags through the mall and parking garage to the car.  Turns out this is even harder to do with a toddler.  So I am excited that we found a place with its own parking lot.  This and the fact that we found a Target (actually quite different from the ones at home) have been the things that excited me most since we got here.  Funny how times change.

EP Wreaks Havoc on Cockatoos’ Dinner Time

EP and I (JMP) went on a little adventure to downtown Canberra today to look around.  Not that it’s really much of an adventure but I find driving on the other side of the road a little hair raising.  There is a nice pedestrian zone in the City Centre and we had fun roaming around for a while.  TP asked if it reminded me of our pedestrian zone in Ithaca and my response was yes, except they have nice shops and restaurants and there were actually lots of people there.  There is a small outdoor skating rink for the month of July and EP enjoyed watching the people glide around.  I also scoped out a few cafes and Asian restaurants that look like fun but we’ll have to see if they are toddler friendly.

Yesterday EP and I visited the National Museum of Australia, a beautiful, free museum that is a 3 minute drive from our place.  I have a feeling we’ll be spending lots of time there, especially on windy, rainy days.  It was actually very interesting and I’m looking forward to going back with TP so we can trade off chasing EP and actually looking at the exhibits.  From my quick glances around I was struck by just how new everything was.  Their idea of artifacts included old farm equipment and clothes from the 1800’s.  To be fair, there was a large section dedicated to the Aboriginals which did feature some ancient artifacts, but overall the museum just didn’t seem that historical.  It was however a lovely place to chase a toddler and I hope to get to examine the exhibits more in depth one of these days.