Friday - Monday 9th April - Holiday to canberra

Gaz and i have been away this easter weekend for a trip down to canberra to visit gaz's cousins John, his wife sue and their son, Rhys. It was a 5 hour drive to canberra made half hour longer by the heavy traffic but it was well worth it. Friday night gaz and i checked into a 4 and a half star hotel in Canberra city centre. Rhys and his girlfriend sarah came to pick us up later in the evening to take us for a meal in chinatown. Gaz really enjoyed seeing rhys again although he did say he's quietened down a lot! The first restaurant we ventured into was almost empty until a sudden rush of asian people just as our order had been taken. we waited...and waited....and waited....eventually our entree came out....then we carrie down airing....drinks empty....waited...over an hour later and our main course still hadn't come. We asked one girl how long the food would be but she went to the kitchen, came out with a cup of coffee and completely avoided our table. We then asked another guy how long our food would be...he went to the kitchen and then started serving other people and taking food out to all the asians that came well after we had arrived! We weren't the only ones getting annoyed...a table net to us with aussies on were also being ignored and they got up and left. we did the same and were so disgusted with the service, didn't bother paying. We headed down the road to the next restaurant where we were served much quicker and the food was excellent.

The next day gaz and i took a trip to cocking ton green. This was a place one of my dental assistants told me i should visit. It is a place full of miniature models and people and buildings from all over the world. Gaz was very disappointed and moaned the whole way round although he did enjoy the train ride. The models were a little naff i must admit but i enjoyed it...it was different. The only black person model we saw though was lying dead on the ground being resuscitated by some white person...very strange! We then went to visit the war memorial. I was very impressed with the museum...which was free....and had lots of war memorabilia...they even had a sound and light show which tried to give you an idea of what it was like flying a plane in the war...it was very well done. We went to the place where all the names of those who died were up on the wall. Very sad.

Next was a trip to the old parliament house where we saw the aboriginal camp outside...what a mess! and then to the new parliament house. We didn't stop to have a look around as our bellies were rumbling and food was on the cards! After lunch, gaz drove us to John and sues house.

They were excellent hosts and have a beautiful house near captains flat just outside canberra city centre. It is in the middle of lots of hills and is a very interesting house. When we arrived, they served some cheese and biscuits down on their little veranda over a little bridge int he garden. John let his very friendly chickens out which would come up and let you stroke them. They have a new fox terror dog called millie who was very anxious of gaz and i but she's only 4 months old and very small. They were also puppy sitting for their friends 8 months old cocker spaniel, Rylie (its a girl). She was beautiful! her big droopy ears and her big fluffy paws...she was so sociable and her temperament was lovely. Her whole bum wiggled when her tail wagged and she loved attention! In the evening sue and john cooked a steak dinner with all the trimmings...it was lovely. They appear to have an open house policy so a lot of the locals would just call in to the house to say hi, have a chat and then disappear. It was a lovely atmosphere.

On sunday morning sue and john did a cooked breakfast for us which we ate int he company of the king parrots that attend their tree next to the porch every morning for their feed which john puts in the bird feeders for them. John bbq'd the meat on the bbq around the corner and the music played...it was so relaxing and sue and john made us feel so at ease. it was great. We talked the whole time.After breakfast, sue and john had arranged for us to visit the kangaroo rescue place at their friends house at the top of the mountain. This was so nice of them! The track up to the house was VERY worn and luckily john was experienced at driving the 4x4 up the road because there were times when the car felt like it should topple on its side. I was starting to think i should have sorted my income protection out before the holiday! Sue was funny...she said she didn't like going up the track because it scared her so every time we were coming up to a big hole she would be like "oh john, i don't like this!' every time sounding more and more panic. Gaz and i flew around in the back of the truck until eventually we reached the kangaroo rescue place. The woman who run it was called cindy. She was very friendly and let us in the cage with the little joeys. She had them in comfy looking sacks to imitate the mothers pouch. She had reared these kangaroos from little babies coz their mothers got hit by cars or died from other incidents. It was lovely to see them being cared for. they all looked so chilled! She had other older kangaroos in another cage and said that even some of the kangaroos she has released still come back for visits and have started bringing little joeys with them! Gaz and i would love to one day do something similar, looking after kangaroos and koalas!

After our adventure up the mountain, john drove us into little town for a milkshake. It was beautiful weather so we sat outside and even bumped into cindy again!

In the evening Rhys and his girlfriend sarah joined us again for a meal in a very nice restaurant. It was called 'the outsiders' and although the restaurant was closed, the owners opened it up especially for us to cook us an evening meal. The food was fantastic. The restaurant was an interesting place...full of the owner, gunthers, art on the walls. The wife, christine has a sad story to tell. her daughter, ebony simpson, at the age of 9 was kidnapped by a man from the bus stop, thrown into the boot of the car, taken to the nearby river where her hands were tied with speaker wire and she was raped, before being thrown into the river with her legs tied and rocks put in her satchel. The next day there was a search for her and the murderer even joined in the search. he later confessed to everything and has now to life imprisonment. There is a painting on the wall to show the story...it is very sad.

This morning gaz and i woke up to yet another cooked breakfast which we again ate outside on the porch in the shining sun. Although it was getting very cold in the evening, the days were warm. Gaz and i are back in salamander bay now but we have had a great weekend and we will deffinately go back and visit when we come back out to aus again.