We left the continental shelf and sailed into the lee of the mainland at Cape Howe (the border of Victoria and NSW). We now went from heading primarily east along the south coast to heading primarily north on the east coast. The wind slowly reduced over the next day until we were barely moving under full sail. After the lull, a northwest wind filled in. It strengthened and backed until we were once again heading smartly in the direction to which we wanted to go. We made such good speed that we arrived in Batemans Bay in the last of the moonless darkness, picking up our marina mooring at the very first hint of daylight.
After a brief nap to recover, we took the unreasonably long dinghy ride to the marina (I guess they assume everybody has a high speed RIB for a tender) for a look around. Maryanne did a bit of research on what there was to do in Batemans Bay, but most of the recommendations were for things in the area and not in the actual town, like going to the Opera House in nearby Sydney. Our wanderings of only a few hours convinced us that we had seen pretty much everything of interest, especially the ice cream shop.
Exploring the waterfront of Batemans Bay - plenty of artwork!
Wetland trails of the Watergarden also to explore
The main attraction to us of our stop there was that it is the closest port to Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). We rented a car and airbnb accommodation and headed off to explore Australia's only landlocked territory.
Since I was with Maryanne, our list of things to see there was small: Everything. We didn't quite manage that, but we did manage to see a great deal and decided we would just have to live with the disappointment of missing the National Adhesive Tape Repository. Ironically, we were tired enough after two long days of walking that we could have used being taped upright in our dining room chairs in the evening. {Maryanne: Hmmm, Kyle loves it really, renting a car and accommodation is a real treat for us, and I don't like to waste that for one minute!}
The most unexpected thing I saw was at the National Portrait Gallery. One of the photographs there is of a nude middle-aged man standing on a rock. The caption then explained that he was a Supreme Court Justice (Justice Robin Millhouse). Well, you don't see that every day! The description then went on to explain that he was a committed nudist and fitness buff who worked very hard to promote nudist rights (a champion for the creation of Australia’s first official nudist beach). Well, I guess that makes more sense, then. Still, he was on the Supreme Court. Makes you wonder what was going on under those robes during all of those important judgments...
Canberra is a lovely place filled with lots of important looking buildings all separated by wide greens filled with trees. In fact, from above, most of the major streets are so covered by foliage that it seems as if the city is just one big park. It is a perfectly agreeable place to wander.
Day 1 in Canberra we visited a bird aviary, the Arboretum, The Botanical Gardens, and the Telstra Tower
Many of the locals we met let out sheepish apologies for the ACT, hinting that it was a bit dull, but never saying anything specific. They seemed to think we would be disappointed that it wasn't Paris or Milan. Yeah, why would you want walkable, leafy districts where everyone feels safe? My secret suspicion is that the fishing there in Lake Burley-Griffin is not too good and therefore it is a national embarrassment. Try as I might, I could not find a t-shirt to buy that said “I Could Not Find Anywhere to Go Bungy Jumping in the ACT”.
This is clearly bit of reverse-psychology marketing. It reminds me of the Canadian troops who used to try to tell their superiors in Ottawa that Bermuda was a hardship posting. “Oh, Sir, please don't send me to the ACT instead of the fly and snake-infested Western Desert. Not the ACT!”
We poked our nose into the Ovolo Nishi Hotel
Day 2 in Canberra we did the 5km walk around Lake Burley Griffin (with lots of detours to see the many points of interest: art galleries, gardens, Old and New Parliaments, libraries, High Court, etc!)
For our last meal in Canberra, we went to Greasy's Pizza, near our rented apartment. Don't let the name fool you. It was greasy. It was packed, pre-pandemic style. We then ate more than enough food to replace all of the calories we had burned while walking. My strategy is that if I eat this way again, my body will think I'm about to train for another marathon – again, and respond accordingly with improved fitness. I'm not sure it's working, but maybe that's because I'm not doing it enough.
On our last day in Canberra we climbed Mount Ainslie for the views and visited the Australian War Memorial (and exhibits: somber but exceptional)
We, of course, arrived back in Batemans Bay a little later than we had planned. We still did have just enough time to do the one thing we hadn't before: go to Birdland Animal Park. That we did almost entirely because Maryanne loves me.
I don't know what I expected from the park, but it was just wonderful. On the phone, Maryanne confirmed that while I would not be able to pick one up, I could at least pet my new favorite non-avian animal, the wombat.
When we entered the park, there were only a handful of others – mostly families with other little kids. A sign on the wombat enclosure warned not to try to touch them, because they bite. It was soon explained to us by one of the teenage caregivers that Dolly, this particular wombat, was very good about sending out a memo a couple of days before any aggressive mood swings. “She's actually really sweet. Stick your hand in and have a go.”
Since this particular teenager had an honest face and was in no way sneering, I went for it.
Oh, Dolly was really sweet! When leaned over the fence and scratched her, she leaned in so hard that she fell over, then she used her hind legs to get more leverage. Every time I tried to leave, she would toddle on over and lean her soft fur into my scratching hand until she fell off her feet.
Others arrived, so we let them have some fun while we roamed the rest of the park. We found lots of adorable parrots, some of which said funny things in Aussie English as they gently took food from my fingers. We also saw a few kangaroos that were so tame they let us pet them. Their fur is even softer than Dolly's. We also got to feed a pair of ostriches, who towered over us menacingly, but were so gentle as they pecked the food pellets from our hands. They even let us stroke their necks and pat their backs. The necks are soft. The backs are coarse.
Kyle was ridiculously happy at Birdland Animal Park; so much so we were almost locked in at closing time!
We rushed back for the park's snake and wombat show. After demonstrating my wombat scratching technique for all of the other kids, I tried my best not to hog poor Dolly's attention so they could all have a go. Once they had all left, Maryanne and I still remained. That's when Maryanne sidled up next to the caretaker and asked if it was really true that we couldn't hold her. They did a quick look around to see that the other visitors had really gone and then I got the quick training session about holding a wombat.
Remember that wombats are extremely dangerous because of their irresistible cuteness. You have to hold them without looking at them, for if you do, their cuteness will make you weak in the knees and you will drop them (perhaps this is where the Drop Bear myth originated?) If you drop a wombat, they will turn to you with such a look of dejected adorableness that you will instantly die where you stand of shame and embarrassment. That is faster, they tell me, than the twenty minutes it will take for the snake venom to kill me.
To train me for holding one, they first teased a venomous snake to irritate it and then threw it at me. The purpose of this, they tell me, is to teach me to focus and not get caught up in the fear of having an angry, venomous snake flying at me. Instead, I am supposed to be concentrating on catching it right behind the head, where it can't hurt me. This is where having only one good eye put me at a bit of a disadvantage. Most of them I missed completely and they landed over by Maryanne. Ooh, they were mad!
Close enough, the staff decided, and handed Dolly over to me. She is sooooo lovable! She is also really heavy. In the photos, it looks like she is dangling from the arm I have around her chest. What you can't see is that most of her 20 kilos (44lbs) is being supported by my right arm cradling her back. She nuzzled up a little bit and then promptly became so comfortable that she fell asleep in my increasingly rubbery arms. I said she was like an adorable bag of cement.
We then wandered the park so long that we almost got locked in when they closed. We were off scratching some parrots when they did the last sweep and they must have missed us when we crossed paths.
Our trip to Batemans Bay turned out to be a pretty good one. Now it was back to Begonia for a crazy early departure for our next stop north.
1 comment:
I just loved the reference to Bermuda as a hardship posting. 🥴😂
Post a Comment