Futsal Dinner

As the gang were not all together for the final round of games, a dinner was organised for the girls to celebrate and catch up again. A good time was had! Some of the girls will play netball while others have chosen soccer as their winter sport.

Homemade Passata

With all the tomatoes ripening in our veggie patch, we are having trouble consuming them at the same rate. One solution was to give away excess tomatoes to family / friends and the second solution was to make a jar of passata. Stored in the fridge, the passata was used in various pasta dishes over the next few weeks. Yum!

Waiting, waiting

Monday and Thursday nights involve dropping Katy's to gym (for a 2 hour session) then heading off for a run with Indi around the streets and creeks of Mitchell / Franklin. Returning to the car, we hang out together until Katy is finished. Now that daylight saving has gone, the evenings are much darker.

Life Up North

Daryl, Michelle, Tobee and Jesse are enjoying settling in at their new residence in Tom Price and have recently celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary up there! Good to see them happy and the boys looking cheeky as ever!

Late Nights and Early Mornings

After returning in the darkness, Ella exclaimed that she would like to go to the watch the balloons in the morning. The Canberra Balloon Festival runs for just over a week in March with around 25 balloons launching each morning (weather permitting). Inflation starts at about 6.15am from the Patrick White Lawns adjacent to the National Library with balloon taking flight around 7am. 

We woke early before the sun had risen and made the short journey to the National Library parking close by. As we arrived in the area, balloons were already inflating and the sun was beginning to rise. It was perfect conditions - cloudless, clear skies with little wind! 

Wandering amongst the balloons, we soaked up the atmosphere and admired as numerous balloons took to the sky. 

After the launch area thinned, we walked over to Commonwealth Avenue Bridge in the same directions the balloons were drifting. As I was running home, I left Andy and Ella to it.

From the bridge, the view was spectacular - the soft colours of the sky over the Brindabellas, the still waters of the lake peppered with kayakers, SUP's and canoes and of course the main attractions the balloons at various levels. A common trend is for the balloons to touchdown on the lake surface. It was very impressive.

After crossing over Commonwealth Avenue bridge, my route home followed the lake's edge westward. Soon I realised that as the balloons drifted up and down, I was keeping pace with a few. Tico, Qatar and the RAF helmet were a few that stood out. 

As I was coming past the Aranda snow gums several balloons conveniently touched down in the paddock on the corner.

A gorgeous morning spent with balloons definitely made the solo run a very memorable one. I love Canberra in autumn!

Enlighten

Back again after a year hiatus. We arrived at dusk for the main event deciding to skip dinner at the noodle markets. We walked along the edge of Lake Burley Griffin between the rows of flags naming the countries while the sky got darker as we made our way towards the National Gallery of Australia arriving just as the lights illuminated the side wall of the National Gallery. The light show here was excellent and especially like the Escher sections.

From there we made our way through the crowds towards the Portrait Gallery to a very average light show.

Venturing into the noodle markets, we wandered around looking at the vendors all with very long lines. Eventually donuts were bought and we move on towards Questacon. The light show here was better.

Finally the last spot on the walking route is the National Gallery. Again not a favourite.

By this stage, we had all had enough of the crowds and walking and decided to call it a night. Overall it was a little disappointing this year. Our group thought the light shows were a little under done and there was a distinct lack of individual smaller light displays which had created lots of interest in the years before. Perhaps another thing impacted by Covid. There is always next year.

New Training Partner

Indi thought it was great that she has a new training partner in Leo. After the excitement of seeing Leo arrive, they both settled down during the run. Indi though is still very much on alert for any signs of anything that looking interesting with kangaroos and rabbit on top of the list!