The last three days have been sheer joy as we explored the Oz capital- Canberra. After a very long time (nearly three months) we were stepping out of Sydney- life becomes routine and hectic here if it runs too long without a break- something that India had gotten us out of the habit of! (No two days in India are the same... routine is very tough to achieve there 😆💁🏻). Here on the contrary routine is a survival necessity, the kind of hectic jobs AJ and I have makes it all the more difficult to step away from it. So when a long weekend popped up in our calendars we started planning a vacation, I caught the flu (again!) last weekend putting all our plans on hold!! However as I was recovering I realised with all the more of a rigor that I needed a break!! So logged into my laptop and looked at various options before zeroing in on Canberra! The only decent hotel that still had availability was theLittle National Hotel.
The Aubergine coloured ones were lovely
We strolled around for nearly an hour!! Tu couldn't get enough 😍😘
Finally tired and happy we bought ourselves a coffee, picked a box of farm fresh strawberries and sat down for our very own lil picnic before heading back to the car. As we pulled out of Bowral Tu couldn't stop repeating how pretty the tulips were "sooooo many colors in the tulips" and that summed up our thoughts as well.
The ladies waiting on us were ultra patient with Tu and we left here sure that we were coming back for dinner tomorrow 😬
We decided to head to Aldi for some quick shopping. After that we were off to Floriade. Stupidly enough we decided to drive there and OMG finding a parking spot proved painful!! 🙆🏻💁🏻 we parked over a km away n for this we could have as well parked at Little National Hotel. Anyways it was too late to change our minds. Tu was already tired and so she offered to sit in the stroller if I pushed. We walked up to Floriade- the entry was free- but the crowds were in abundance. Tu immediately spoke our mind "Too many people here!!" We spread our picnic blanket and had our pre packed lunch (Aj had made some rice pongal and packed it for us) Tu was too distracted by the rides to eat anything at all. So AJ and I had a short lunch and then we packed up n headed to buy tickets to the rides.
We put Tu back in the stroller and headed away from Floriade for a stroll around the lake. Tu slept off but the weather was pleasant and so we continued walking. Soon I spotted a tree full of birdlife and Aj brought out his telephoto lens and put it to good use capturing white eyes and fairy wrens. As we walked back we saw several people jogging or walking their dogs. Tourists had rented bicycles too. We saw cruises going up and down the lake... blissful way to spend the afternoon..
The falls itself was gentle and beautiful. We did spot a platypus swimming here and that made our day!! Slowly as we headed further in, the skies opened up and a small shower greeted us. Thankfully we had a stroller rain cover for Tu and hence we continued on. I helped spot a yellow robin for AJ and he captured it in his camera. The mountains looked beautiful in the rains! Reminded us of trekking in similar weather in Chikmaglur in India
Cheers to many more such vacations was the sentiment AJ and I shared that morning! As we headed back from Canberra to Sydney another accident (a truck was all burnt up :-O) lead to a 30 minute delay. We decided to stop at Berrima for lunch. The courtyard cafe beckoned us, a lovely focaccia sandwich, some yum pancakes and an amazing coffee rounded up our lunch rather nicely. The restroom is praiseworthy completely with a baby change stand! We set off from Berrima and reached Sydney in about 90 mins!
We set off on Saturday after breakfast. Spring is a beautiful time to drive out of Sydney. The grasslands were all bursting with a carpet of flowers! Such a treat to the eyes!! 😍
Driving through such endless horizons we reached Bowral! We looked around for a restaurant and spotted Spice of the country. Turned out to be a bit disappointing.. but some food in the tummy helped. As we walked out Tu spotted some tulips and we realised that right across the road Corbett Gardens had a tulip festival on. So we put Tu on the stroller and stepped in. Entry fee of $10pp and a complimentary wine tasting glass in hand we entered even as a music band played some jive music
The flower displays were beautiful and we feasted our eyes on some beautiful and rare tulips
The Aubergine coloured ones were lovely
Finally tired and happy we bought ourselves a coffee, picked a box of farm fresh strawberries and sat down for our very own lil picnic before heading back to the car. As we pulled out of Bowral Tu couldn't stop repeating how pretty the tulips were "sooooo many colors in the tulips" and that summed up our thoughts as well.
The traffic fromSydney to Bowral had been crazzyy ,but thankfully Bowral to Canberra wasn't too bad. None the less we reached our hotel only at 5:30 PM 😱
We put away our luggage in the room, had a quick change and stepped out for dinner. Our hotel had no restaurants but we were told there were four others in the vicinity. When we walked up we realised none of them were kid friendly!! 🙆🏻
As we pulled the car out we did a quick search to see a Manuka village less than a km away that had plenty of restaurants. We drove up there and walked around and picked Caph's cafe. (We tried Belluci's first, but they were not kid friendly and told us the only table available was the one right at the entrance- didn't like the attitude or tone of the guy who offered us the table- so we decided to walk away). Caph's was very child friendly- they gave Tu some colouring crayons and paper. Even custom made her fav spaghetti with Napoletana sauce. We couldn't have picked a better place 👌🏼👌🏼
The next day was bright and sunny!! We had originally planned to go to Tidbinbilla, but were still so tired from the drive from Sydney that we changed plans as we had brekkie at Urban Pantry 😍👻 what a wonderful find this restaurant- with seating outdoors it was ideal for a leisurely breakfast with Tu. she enjoyed playing around the trees with other kids, loved the generous helping of scrambled eggs and avocado they served. We stuffed ourselves with the Creme Brûlée French Toast and the perfectly hot cuppa coffee!
We decided to head to Aldi for some quick shopping. After that we were off to Floriade. Stupidly enough we decided to drive there and OMG finding a parking spot proved painful!! 🙆🏻💁🏻 we parked over a km away n for this we could have as well parked at Little National Hotel. Anyways it was too late to change our minds. Tu was already tired and so she offered to sit in the stroller if I pushed. We walked up to Floriade- the entry was free- but the crowds were in abundance. Tu immediately spoke our mind "Too many people here!!" We spread our picnic blanket and had our pre packed lunch (Aj had made some rice pongal and packed it for us) Tu was too distracted by the rides to eat anything at all. So AJ and I had a short lunch and then we packed up n headed to buy tickets to the rides.
First up was the tea cup ride 😆 fun to go with her on that one
Then we decided to see the floral displays, it was beautiful but like I said earlier it was very very crowded. Further away from the rides closer to the lake it was a bit quieter, we spread our picnic blanket yet again and got some time to ourselves even as blue fairy wren birds flitted around us 😍😍😬 Aj bought us some fries and it made for an excellent half hour to ourselves
just as Tu woke up we headed back into Floriade to take her on the Ferris wheel, she had repeated a hundred times before dozing off that "we will come back and go on the Ferris Wheel" :-D AJ had also bought the tickets to the ride, but the queues were such a turn off....we ventured in hoping and praying the crowds had thinned down by now- it was 3PM!
We saw these artistes as we entered - reminded me of circus artists. There were many such in the grounds, we had seen trapeze artists, performers and music bands all day. We were however headed to the Ferris wheel. The queues were much shorter (yay!!) and in less than fifteen mins we were all aboard :-)
The views from up in the air were awesome, Tu had a wonderful ride! She met another 'friend' on the ride- Aditya, his parents were wonderful and most patient with all of Tu's comments. Both the kids enjoyed "Going up and up and coming down and dowwwnnnnn".
Once we were done with the ferris wheel we were all too tired and we headed back to the the car park. the one km walk made us feel all the more hungry and hence we headed straight back to Manuka Circle for dinner, again at Caph's since Tu wanted 'noodles'. the food was yummyyy needless to say and we had another good dinner at this place.
The next day promised to be rainy and hence we made very lil plans. We woke up at 8AM thanks to daylight savings!! Grrr) And realised the weather wasn't that bad after all. We went to Oliver Brown for breakfast, french toast, avocados and a warm yum potato lentil soup for breakfast!
Tummies full, we headed out with all intention of going to the National Gallery. but it was only 9:30 AM> the NGA wasn't open until 10!! So we quickly googled the nearest lookout point- Red Hill Look Out was 3 kms away. So we headed there. What a beautiful place it turned out to be! The cafe itself was closed until 11 Am, it looked good though!
The lookout itself was brilliant, we saw hordes of crimson and eastern rosella flying around. Lovely vistas and endless horizons to gaze at.
As we walked around, every corner had a lovely view, the azure skies certainly made for a refreshing sight!!
At the very back of the cafe we discovered a trail and a short walk lead us to the sighting of some Galahs and Rosella feeding on the grass. AJ and Tu had a field day chasing (not literally, we never disturb wildlife) them and trying to get some good pics :-)
After a short jaunt of 1 KM we came across several kangaroos with their Joeys all in tow staring at us. Tu and I took a short breather parking ourselves n a couple of rocks! It's so heartening to know my daughter loves trekking! :-*
Once done with the trek we had every intention of heading to the NGA, but Tu was sleepy and the weather seemed bright. So we made a last minute change of plans and headed to Tidbinbilla! Even as Tu dozed off, our car meandered through the Aussie Alps, lush green meadows interspersed by some meandering and brimming rivers. Every turn revealed a new vista and it was one helluva drive to the nature reserve. Once we got there we bought the day pass, packed up some food- whatever was available in the Visitor Center at the entrance- and headed off to the Sanctuary. The signages are real bad here and after a couple of false starts we realised we have to 'enter' the iron gates and so began our hike for the day. An easy stroller friendly 2.5 km hike lead us to the dam.
The falls itself was gentle and beautiful. We did spot a platypus swimming here and that made our day!! Slowly as we headed further in, the skies opened up and a small shower greeted us. Thankfully we had a stroller rain cover for Tu and hence we continued on. I helped spot a yellow robin for AJ and he captured it in his camera. The mountains looked beautiful in the rains! Reminded us of trekking in similar weather in Chikmaglur in India
There's something about hiking in the rains that gets me and AJ all excited! Nature's greenery seems more vivid and the smell of the earthy soil makes the hike itself all the more relaxing and wonderful! We spotted several more birds- geese, pelicans, moorhens, cranes!! We headed to the Koala enclosure and spotted a koala and a rock wallaby in the wild. All in all, a wonderful day- Tidbinbilla had no mobile connectivity and that only made the day all the more enjoyable!! :-)
By the time we got done we were all set for a cuppa coffee and so on the way out AJ stopped and got us a couple of flat whites.....gosh what a day it had been!! Tu dozed off in the car - it had been a hectic day even for us adults, poor thing dunno how she coped with all our antics! But an endless smile on her face and half asleep she mumbled "bye kangaroos, bye koala, bye wallaby" and that truly made our day!! :-D
Weary and tired we headed back to Manuka Circle- this time to an Indian restaurant- Jewel of India, located on the first floor. Although we reached as early as 5:30 they were kind enough to take our orders and serve a scrumptious meal!! We had our fair share and headed back to LNH to have a bath and drop asleep right afterward!! Had been such a wonderful day- physical exhaustion and a aching body ensured 10 uninterrupted hours of sleep :-D
The next day was the end of our vacation :-(. By no means is a vacation, that too one with so much physical activity, easy with a toddler in tow. There is a physical and mental exhaustion at the end of it that can be a put downer, but when you see your child recognising butterflies, stopping by the trails to take a closer look at flowers, spotting or identifying birds- you realise it's probably worth it. Any day, the whole experience is wayyy better than just shopping in a mall and coming home with a mentally exhausted baby!! With these thoughts running in our mind we were back at urban Pantry for yet another breakfast. I grabbed my skinny flat white and was all smiles- after all coffee a day kept my blues away! :-D I raised a toast (with my coffee) to a vacation that was truly awesome! Took us into the floral adventure OF FLORIADE as well as the wildlife encounters of Red Hills and Tidbinbilla!
What a nice getaway this had been and though we missed most of Canberra's noteworthy sights we had brought back our own set of memories that smelt of fresh rains, colourful tulips, endless vistas of rolling hills and groups of roos! This was surely a getaway to write home about and let's hope we get to go back some time soon! :-)
