Canberra ACT (Oct - 5 days)

Huh? Canberra….what’s this entry doing here in the midst of our WA story??? We actually had the privilege of flying from Perth back to Canberra to join Tim’s extended family in celebrating his mum’s 60th and cousin’s 30th birthdays. This was a surprise for the family who were convinced (due to our careful deterring) that we had already begun our journey eastward home. We drove back up the coast to Perth, left our van in a caravan park near the airport and then with the generous help of Tim’s grandfather flew to Canberra. The most economical way to achieve this for the six of us was to take the ‘redeye’ flight from Perth to Melbourne, departing at 12.10am! This was no easy feat getting four bleary eyed children onto the plane at this hour. We then had a two hour wait at Melbourne airport where we dozed on the airport chairs, before the second (much shorter flight) to Canberra. We arrived, picked up our hire car, checked in to our apartment and all had a sleep for an hour or so to cope with the sleep deprivation. This was all so very worth it when we got to see all the family later that day and were able to enjoy the surprise factor! The kids were so thrilled and excited to see their grandparents and cousins. We had a fabulous weekend spending time with various family members and celebrating two very special birthdays. To top off this memorable time gorgeous friends (the Reeves) from Sydney, visited Canberra for a night. It was extremely lovely catching up with them and their two kiddies. The only down point of our Canberra trip was an insidious tummy bug that spread through half of the 32 family members present! All but Hannah went down in our family. It was horrendous for about 48 hours. Consequently we saw less of Canberra this time than we have done previously, but Questacon, the Art Gallery and the new Glassworks did feature. It was a shame that our sickness limited our activities with family and friends somewhat. We actually tried to change our return flights, but were unable to do so without a hefty penalty. As a result a few of us flew back ‘home’ to Perth a little queasy. The return flight was considerably more pleasant, through the evening and had us tucked up in bed before midnight. Our five days in Canberra were all over too quickly, but it was certainly one of the highlights of the trip

After a spacious apartment it was mentally a bit challenging facing life in the confines of our van again, but this last leg of the trip has come around very quickly and each day will be precious as we begin our journey home.