...We would often be Sorry If our Wishes were Gratified.-- Aesop...
We've spent the last two days in Canberra and tonight I'm exhausted. After driving for 3 hours our first stop was Cockington Green where we spent over an hour wandering the paths and looking at the miniature displays of famous international landmarks and the splendidly colourful gardens that surrounded the tiny buildings. Cockington Green is characterised not only by the painstakingly accurate miniatures - built to scale by founders Doug and Brenda Sarah and family - but also by the care and attention put into the gardens surrounding them. The display lawns in particular, are spectacular.
We were all over-awed with the work that went into the miniatures. The detail was incredible and both Carly and Alex loved pointing out little figurines and models. The weather was beautiful and lots of people had the same idea because the place was crowded.
The Farms
The Canal
Colourful Gardens
Stave Church
It's the Labour Day Long weekend and everywhere we went there were big crowds and parking was a hassle. Saturday afternoon we went to Belconnen Mall and Carly and Alex got lots of new things. We walked around the three floors of shops for hours and spent lots of money. I kept getting lost and Carly's sense of direction was much better than my own, and after driving around we found the Belconnen skatepark. Alex was totally rapt, and took his BMX for a spin through the tracks and bowls. One was an 8 foot vertical wall and Alex decided it was a bit much for him.
Finding somewhere to stay for the night turned into a bit of a nightmare. The first place we went to in Belconnen was fully booked, and a motel a little further past Belconnen at Hawker had one room left that we booked. $150 for the night with a spa. The kids were thrilled, but I thought that price was a bit steep, so we drove into the city and tried 3 there that were all booked out. Another one just out of the city was $240 for the night so I decided $150 wasn't bad at all so we stayed in Hawker.
We went to a movie at the big Hoyts at Belconnen and it too was over-priced, the popcorn terrible and the movie doubly so. It was Jack Black in Nacho Libre and it was really stupid, with only a couple of laughs. Even Alex, who picked it, wasn't too thrilled. After the movie we went home and watched The Italian Job on TV and enjoyed it immensely. We own the DVD but it's a much-played favourite. Alex especially loves the Mini Coopers.
Today we enjoyed a cooked breakfast at Civic, and went to Floriade to check out all the colour of Spring. According to Alice, at A Growing Delight,
Alice has 28 images of the floral display that is well worth the look. Today you could hardly move for people, but Alice's photos show a wonderful tour of the flowers. My visit there today didn't look as good, so for all those commenters on A Growing Delight, I wouldn't feel too badly about not being there.
We had planned on going to the National Zoo and Aquarium, but when Carly suggested that we go home, and Alex didn't argue, we headed off home. I was relieved to spend no more money and be able to sit for a while. All the walking around in the heat and the crowds had totally exhausted me and the thought of sitting in the car for the next few hours sounded pretty good. It's always good to get home after being away. Alex was straight off the the skate park when we got home and Carly went off with a friend for a couple of hours, so I laid on the lounge and had a half-snooze.
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