Canberra

Spending two days in Canberra to break up my return trip back to Bright and to see a few things. But the trip from Port Macquarie was a nightmare. First the train broke down and replacement coaches finally arrived over an hour later. Then we got stuck into horrendous Sydney traffic so I missed my bus to Canberra. Luckily they go regularly and I caught the next one. Then we got stuck in Sydney traffic again and so were late into Canberra by half an hour. I left Port Macquarie at 7.35am and didn’t get into Canberra until 10pm. Again during the trip I was approached by a fellow retiree who despite appearances, handlebar moustache and broad accent, turned out to be one of the most intelligent, insightful and funny people I have met on my trips. But did he like to talk. We shared many stories on why we hate cities and crazy Australian drivers.

The weather has finally caught up with me, it was pouring with rain on Saturday but I did see the Peter Dombrovskis photo exhibition (wilderness photographer) at the National Library and saw the Between the Lines political cartoon exhibition at Old Parliament House (including a tour). Today it was cold and windy but no rain. Went to the Hyper Real sculpture exhibition at the National Gallery - it was weird, creepy, disturbing and explicit (some photos below). I was surprised how many children were there. Also went to see Murder on the Orient Express but Kenneth Branagh is no David Suchet. Also when I was waiting at Donut King (I had to restore my strength after all the walking) a woman came up with hello hair, green eyebrows, red eye shadow with a complimentary colourful outfit. Clearly she likes her colours.

Some general observations from the trip....

Hotels

I have stayed at the same hotel chain a few times. I won’t say what they are called but they have the word “budget” in the title. The more I think of it the more I think that their room design principles are based around enhancing a sealed box. I also think they are really hostels which they call hostels. My suspicion was particularly raised in Sydney where my room had a double bed and a double bunk bed. The one in Sydney also offered breakfast for $1. Based on the quality I’d say that the price was about right. On the other hand, the hotels in Port Macquarie and Canberra were  quite good probably because you could open the windows and see out. However, I ordered the continental breakfast in Canberra and based on the portion sizes, I think it was more of a breakfast sampler than a full continental breakfast.

NSW Trains

When they run (which is most of the time according to other passengers, although have an tendency to run into things) they are much better than the Victorian trains, at least the Albury line. One feature of the long distance NSW trains is that they can travel as fast as a car and you don’t get jolted up and down like you are on a pogo stick.

Local TV News Presenters

I have uncovered a scam. The same news presenters doing the North East Victoria News also do the local Port Macquarie and Canberra news bulletins. I don’t know where these people actually live. They don’t look Philippine.

Back to Bright tomorrow.