Skyfire from Mt Painter

Skyfire is the Canberra fireworks celebration held in March. Launched mostly from barges located in central basin of Lake Burley Griffin, the best seats to view the fireworks are from the lakes edge. However not wanting to compete with the crowds and traffic, we decided to hike up the hill at the back of our suburb and views the fireworks from there.

Our group consisted of the Walter/Jones clan, Rothery/Chalmers clan, the girls from the Dent family and the Hogg/Smith family. After stopping for ice cream at the local shops, we walked up the hill arriving at the top just as the sun was setting. Great timing for some awesome silhouette shots of the kids playing on top of the large granite boulder on the summit of Mt Painter.

We donned our warmer jumpers to fend off the chilly breeze before opening the wine and cheese. Unsure whether the ridge of Black Mountain would actually block our view, it was a nervous few moments when the first booms of fireworks erupted around 8pm and we couldn't see any evidence of the fireworks! Fairly quickly though the fireworks shot above the ridgeline and we enjoyed the exploding fireworks of various colours.

The display lasted about 20 minutes by which time our newly-moved-to-Canberra-not-yet-acclimatised friends, Cath and Eoin, were ready to go and get warm again. It was a fun adventure in the dark with a lovely group of friends.