A Weekend out of Canberra

Oh no! Next week is my week of exams, but we’re not quite there yet… First, we have a bumper post all about the last few weeks.

I promised I’d tell you about what I’ve been up to here at ANU, beginning with Valete. A celebration of the residents of my hall who are graduating this year, it was held in Australia’s Parliament House, and called for smart attire from all.

Taking the coach to the home of the Australian Goverment, we were greeted by waiters offering free champagne and appetisers, before we were ushered through to the Great Hall to find our seats. We were welcomed to the event, and during a performance of traditional Chinese dancing, we were treat to a very posh starter of some sort of sea food. Then, through various award ceremonies, motivational speakers, and greetings from the Head of Burton & Garran (as well as free fine wine) we were served perfectly cooked chicken with posh vegetables, before fine chocolates led into a closing disco. I sadly don’t have any more photos from the night, but with the waiters obliging to bring free beers, you can be assured that I enjoyed myself.

Speaking of beer, we recently had ANU’s Oktoberfest, a whole day of well-priced drinks and German chatter, spent with friends in the Sun (summer is on it’s way!), which was extremely relaxing since we’re near the end of term. Certainly more relaxing than the lectures which reached a new low, as one of our lecturers directed us to two different university websites (one in Australia, one in America) which can offer better lecture notes than himself.

And, while on the topic of relaxing, that brings me to the main point of this blog, which was this weekend just gone. I spent it not in boring Canberra, but the intriguing city of Sydney!

It was just me and Emily on this trip (yes, the same Emily from the NZ trip) and it was a great weekend. Heading across on Friday morning, we spent the first day trying to fit in as much as possible, passing Mrs Macquarie’s Chair (and her viewpoint), Woolloomooloo Bay (which is my favourite place name ever), Darling Harbour, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, before finally retiring to the hostel in the small hours of Saturday morning. For photo’s, check the photobucket (link in sidebar)

Saturday was poorer weather, but we weren’t to be put off – I was determined to cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge (made in Middlesbrough, you know!) despite the drizzly weather, and we also wandered round Chinatown to find some wonderful snacks to grab.

Added to a long wander round Sydney’s most Christmas-sy store, and the market in the Rocks, we tired ourselves out walking. The chocolate coated strawberries went some way to remedying that though! We sadly couldn’t get too close to the Opera House on the way round as it was being readied for the MTV ARIA awards, but we did get rather close to nature as we cut through the Botanic Gardens. A usually nocturnal baby possum had made it’s way out, where a magpie was doing it’s best to attack it. As we watched on, a park ranger came to the rescue, taking the possum to a safe place until it could be safely re-released at night time.

Sunday was a much better day, and with it came the Red Bull Flugtag event. For those who have never heard of Flugtag, it is a competition to build a human powered flying machine, which is then tested by the team by running off the end of a pier over the sea. Take a look at the video at the end of this blog to see what people generally achieve. (The winning team travelled just 20m!)

Letting a couple of hours pass by watching various contraptions fly off the end of a pier in hot Australian sunshine is a fine way to let an afternoon pass, but we had to make the most of such a lovely day, and so explored the City streets without needing an umbrella, and strolled right round Darling Harbour, including the Maritime Museum area, where an exact replica of Cap’n Cook’s Endeavour can be found.

This isn’t just any old River Tees style replica though, this is a proper, sea-faring, exactly the same as what Cook discovered Australia in kind of ship.

And what better way to round off Sunday than with a more Chinatown snacks (they have an amazing bakery), and a proper meal of steak and chips at a charming pub in the middle of Sydney.

The weather held out through till Monday, so as we were now carrying our bags as well, we decided the best option was to relax in Hyde Park, and enjoy the scenery.

Pictured, enjoying the scenery.

We caught the bus back to Canberra just in time! Our drive back was accompanied by the impressive sight of three raging thunderstorms, throwing down forked lightening without a care in the world. It left quite a sunset though.

Wish me luck for my exams next week, and I might share my tentative end of year travel plans with you!

And finally, as promised: Flugtag!

**Before I go, a couple of quick things. I have youtube links to some of the things mentioned in this blog. You can only see these from these links, Youtube search will never reveal them!
Darling Harbour Fire Show
Magpie attacking Possum
Endeavour @ Flugtag

Also, the order of photos in my Photobucket has switched round, so the most recent photos are listed first. This should be easier than having to skip the first 200 photos everytime you want to see what I’ve been up to. I’m unlikely to put up any more New Zealand photos as Australia is interesting enough!

And very last thing – hyperlinking to images is very time-consuming and tricky, so I haven’t done that on this blog. Many of the things I mention do have related images on my photobucket!