Monday, 25th March ~ Canberra

We have a 'very first' event .. it's the first time we've stayed long enough in one place to claim our free night! Last night, as the weekend was coming to an end, and both feeling tired and not quite ready to move on as planned, it dawned on us that we could stay another night and claim our 'freebie'. Done deal.

We enjoyed a lovely weekend with the added bonus of more time with Anna and Sarah. Sarah lives in Canberra and Anna makes the 3 hour (or so) journey from Nowra, to stay most weekends. The Old Bus Depot Markets are not to be missed and us three girls did them over pretty well. Ivor stayed with us for a bit, then flittered here and there, finally leaving us to it to enjoy some birdwatching in Telopea Park. We all enjoyed ourselves. Ivor luckily picked up a Gang-gang Cockatoo! Now that's special (but no camera with him).

After lots of sampling at the market with some yummy purchases made, it was time to head back to the van to fully relax and enjoy our market pickings. Followed by a sad good-bye to my girls. Ahh well, we might be back.

That was when we realised we were feeling a little tired and may not be quite ready to move on. And with the extra time, head back to Telopea Park, this time with the camera.

Ivor takes me to some pretty special places. Over breakfast we were making plans for smoko in the park, but then Ivor threw in a couple of extra birdwatching spots. Let's go to the 'poo ponds' (always good for birds you see) as the Freckled Duck and Blue-billed Duck (which we want to see) have been seen there recently. We dipped on the poo ponds as it is a construction site at the moment. Dam .. ? !  Across the road is the Jerrabomberra Wetlands, so we dragged our (disappointed) selves there again. We were trying to think like ducks and thought, well, lots of construction going on at poo ponds, just across the road (pretty close) is another nice area, maybe the ducks will be there. But obviously our duck thinking isn't like real duck thinking. No ducks to be seen (well, not the ones we wanted to see).

On to Telopea Park with a side trip to the bakery for some yummy treats for smoko. As we pulled into the car park, Ivor said, that's it, I just heard the Gang-gang. I couldn't, but maybe I'd become starving deaf. Once I'd had a half of a gorgeous, yummy spinach & cheese quiche, I could hear it. Amazing. There he is ...

there she is ...

Now, how happy would you like to be? happy with our yummy smoko; happy with our bird views; happy with our pictures snapped; we wandered around the park and soaked in the colours of a beautiful autumn day.

 

 

But there's more. We spotted this Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

And as we wandered back to the car, the Gang-gang showed up again and few down to the ground. WOW...

Pretty special.