Thursday, November 16, 2006

Oberon

The morning is cold and fresh - all the snow has gone.

Jenolan Caves

You must see the Jenolan Caves! We only saw the obvious ones from the road which are impressive.

There are nine show caves open to the public.

I've put this on my list of "do it properly". We could have easily spent a day here.

Unsealed Roads

No, Mr Thrifty, we didn't drive your nice motor on any unsealed roads. And if we did we would have had to drive really slowly, and then we would have to put the car through a car wash before we handed it back.

The cross country route we took to Canberra was, er, interesting.

The TomTom had no hand in it. It was in our bad books. Yesterday it tried to make us go down dirt tracks from the power station to Oberon. (The Aussie mapping database has a few wrinkles.)

No sat-nav technology today. We used the classic approach of reading from a printed road map and associating observations of the scenery from the moving vehicle. (I think this is how people used to navigate.)

We take the road marked on the map. The road is empty. After driving an hour and a half we actually see another driver. "Richlands" a town marked on the map has one house.

The woman at the petrol station at Taralga was delighted to see us. We were her first customers and "What about the snow!"

At Goulburn we join the Federal Highway and we're soon in Canberra.

Canberra

"Canberra is full - there's a golf tournament on!" we are reliably informed at the Tourist Information Centre. "The only accommodation you'll find is a some cabins or try Queanbeyan." 

So Queanbeyan it is, and we book the fine Best Western Central Motel.
 

Telstra Tower

Telstra Tower is about 5kms from Canberra city centre, built on top of a mountain.

What a contrast! We spent most of the day driving though deserted bush; now we're in a high tech building with swarms of visitors.

I suggest to the good woman at the ticket kiosk that it wouldn't be good for business if I wore a thong.

She agreed.

(Apparently thongs are beach footware.) 

The view of Canberra is fascinating.

We enjoy an fine evening meal. Yes it's a formal restaurant, but the waiter is happy to deal with us scruffy tourists.

Good old Martin drives - Merlot for me!