Drive to Canberra
07 March 2019 | Canberra
Helen
Up just after 7 am. We both had cereal for breakfast. Mark added the last banana. Once done, we worked on finishing our packing and cleaning up and getting the boat ready. Mark took a load of things, including our suitcase, by dinghy to the car. I was looking for some shoes and went thru every storage area and could not find them. Found another pair of shoes to take and my flip flops. Then finished up cleaning and clearing things as Don said he may have someone to see our boat this afternoon. Finally got ready to exit the boat by 11 am. Helped Mark hoist the dinghy. He secured all the lines. Then called the marina. They told us they could only take us to the point. So, we got the ride over and Mark called Don, who drove down and picked us up. We really appreciated the ride. Got to our car. Don suggested going thru the park and that is the route we selected. Once thru the park, our Google Maps started working. We drove until 1 pm and stopped for fuel as well as some lunch. I had some ground beef, beans, cheese, salsa and taco chips. Mark had two small quesadillas. Continued our drive. It took us a very long time to get out of Sydney. Lots of hilly areas with everything from cows, to horses to sheep farms. Mark said this was the outback. The dry areas had fields that looked dead grass. However, the animals must be finding something to eat. I actually had a nap along the way. I was in a very deep sleep. Woke up and kept Mark company. We were listening to radio stations. Lots of good music along the way. We stopped a couple of times at lookout spots. Took some pictures. Then we stopped at a rest stop. It didn't look like they had a restroom. But they did. There were two stalls with outhouse like toilets and a tap to wash out hands. Mark asked if I would drive some. Can you believe that I hadn't driven a car since October 2017? Plus they drive on the left side of the road. The driver's seat is on the right side. I actually did okay. The speed limit was 110 km/hour. We'll have to see if we have any speeding tickets. Apparently, we saw all the speed cameras and were doing just over the speed limit. We were told that they send fines out if you go one over the speed limit. I drove for about an hour until we stopped at the next lookout. There was not that much traffic on the road. I had to remember which side the signals were on. Arrived at Graham & Pamela's home in Canberra around 4:30 pm. We had a short visit before heading out to the Viking Lanyon Club. Beautiful place with rugby fields and mountains in the distance. Enjoyed a lovely dinner. Then participated in their draw but didn't win anything. Pamela was the lucky one. Then got a tour of the area on the way back to their house. Had a great conversation while watching a movie. It's way past our bedtime and I realized that we hadn't put out our blog. Thanks for your emails and messages received today. Looking forward to seeing some of Canberra tomorrow.