We made a quick decision to have a weekend away in Canberra - Friday September 22 - Monday September 24. We booked a Club room at the Park Hyatt - a great deal at $280 p.n. + 8000 Hyatt points - figuring we might as well burn a few of orphan points.
Friday Sept 22
We left Sydney early, around 8:30am and drove via Wollongong with the roof down - it was a beautiful day. We arrived around 12:30pm and were able to check-in straight away. We had a light lunch (shared club sandwich) sitting outside in the Hyatt cafe. After lunch we walked over to the Floriade, about 15 minutes away. Floriade is an annual month long floral show. In additional to wonderful flowering gardens there are number attractions mainly aimed at families - rides and kiosks - there are an assortment of food and drink setups - none very appealing. During the day entrance is free but on 2 weekends it is open in the evenings with light displays and various entertainment - for $31 admission - we decided to give this a miss.
After happy hour in the club lounge we went to our favourite Canberra restaurant - Ottomans - where we over catered and went home stuffed.
Saturday Sept 23
It as a beautiful day - from a low of 8℃ to a high of 26℃ - mainly sunny and a bit breezy. After breakfast in the Club lounge we drove to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve about 45 minutes away - of course it was “rag-top” all the way. The reserve has a number short and long walks where you can see all sorts of local (and not so local) wildlife. The highlight was a baby koala - 9 months old - he and 3 others were in an enclosure so they were easy to see and photograph. The wild ones remained quite elusive. We also saw the long necked potaroo (a kangaroo-like marsupial about the size of a rabbit), wallabies, 2 brolgas, 2 pellies, numerous ducks, turtles, and maybe a few bubbles from a platypus. Lunch was an ice cream bar - the best choice in a very small cafe. We drove back to town via the Cotter Dam and spent some time walking around the parklands and dam-viewing area. Then it was back to the hotel for showers and a rest before happy hour.
After happy hour we had a quick dinner in the “fine” dining restaurant at the Hyatt - on weekends they have a seafood buffet and the place was full of large tables of noisy families - not exactly a fine dining atmosphere. We ordered a la carte and the food and service were excellent. It was off to bed very early but not before watching the Cowboys clobber the Roosters in the Rugby League semi-final. Dieter gave up all hope for the Cowboys before they even took the field.- they’re now looking for a new president of their fan club - it will be a close race between Fango and Muddy.
Sunday Sept 24
It was a much cooler day - 13℃ - 21℃ and windy. We set out as planned for the National Arboretum Canberra spread over many acres 94 forests of rare, symbolic and endangered trees from Australia and around the world. Most were planted following the 2003 Canberra bush fires which wiped out the area. There are many walks, sculptures and a wonderful bonsai exhibition. The impressive visitors center has a large cafe as well as a nice full service restaurant where we had lunch with a view over the city and surrounding area.
After more walking we drove to Black Mountain where the Telstra Tower sits on top. The mountain also has some great walks - we did the forest circuit. From here we returned to the hotel for a rest, showers and happy hour in the Club which doubled as dinner
Monday Sept 25
It was off home today - it was a pleasant but cool day (at least until we got to Sydney) - nevertheless we dropped the top and drove homw via Kangaroo Valley stopping in Wollongong for a quick lunch. Back at home it was hot (26℃) .- we had a quite evening at home with soup for dinner