monique's mess: Canberra stay a holiday away, Sydney sights a quick dash overnight.

Monday 13 February 2012

Canberra stay a holiday away, Sydney sights a quick dash overnight.

My week away has gone so quickly. I flew to Canberra to visit my sister and family on the farm just outside of Queanbeyan. It truly is a beautiful place but not so far from civilization as to be remote in anyway.
I arrived on Yolanda's birthday in the evening and truly made her laugh with a present of the crotchet delight - the apple snug! I don't think she quiet knew what to think and suggested I make a matching one so they could hang from one of her Angus bulls - giggle! We headed off to dinner and caught up with the rest of her brood, my four lovely nieces and nephews and feasted on Thai food. Presents all round and my sister did receive several serious presents from me.
The next day we headed to Lake Berlei Griffin and roller-skated/ rollerbladed part of the way round the lake. I have not skated for twenty years and was fearful of breaking my neck and told her as much. Instead my rollerblades partially disintegrated. Being friable plastic that does not stand the test of time they tore away as I was doing up the laces but not enough to stop me from skating.

We generated much interest around the lake with several people asking where to buy adults skates and rollerblades.
I survived the day and pursued a new adventure of blackberry picking the next day.
Blackberries have sprouted up around the dams and are also in the pine forests surrounding the property.
Because of Canberra's cooler climate this year the blackberry fruit is just coming into season. In Adelaide we would be picking blackberries a few months earlier. It made the most glorious deep red jam which I bought some really nice jars from a store selling french provincial type wares. My mum and dad are at the farm at the moment,having driven across in the caravan, and are going to bring some jam back for me. Yolly has bucket loads of jam that I made, as I went out blackberry picking three times. It was really lovely getting out in the paddocks with just the cows for company and listening to the wind blowing in the trees and looking out over the golden fields. Really glorious.
The property that my sister and husband own is steeped in history. It still has the original cottage and a tiny school house and shearers quarters, although some are in a state of disrepair.
I stayed in the original cottage that is attatched to the main farm house. Inside the cottage some original photos and keepsakes from world war one and of that era are kept, left behind previous owners.
I photographed them as I find them facinating.

There is an autograph book which belonged to Alex D MacDonald and is full of illustrations and short versus from mates he served with and some of the women he met in his travels.
Included are also papers of discharge from service to the Australian army and stating his career as railway employee.
A small collections of cards sent back home at Christmas and some order of service from Christmas mass and rememberance services to those ANZACS whom died in Polziers in 1916.

The Homestead at the farm Murryong was also a guest house and many people wrote to Mrs fishwick to tell of their enjoyable stay.

Some of the photos found - of whom I do not know.

And more from world war 1 and the funeral of Sir Walter Davidson

After five pleasant days on the farm I headed off to Sydney to do a little work related learning - participating in a stomal therapy symposium held by one of the companies that supply products to patients.

In between lectures that ran for one and half days I managed to sneak out for a few walks around the city area, ride the monorail and whip up the Sydney "Ëye" Tower to take advantage of the circular view of the city.

Looking out towards Darling Harbour , Sydney out front of hotel room