EPIC Canberra 11 – 16 April 2014

After staying at Katies and Carls for a few days, we hurried home, packed the RV and drove up to Canberra for the National Folk Festival. Found a great spot with power and water and close to the entrance. Peter was volunteering, so had to get up early next morning to start work. In the afternoon had a look around Civic and went to an exhibition of work by Elioth Gruner, including some delightful landscapes of Jamberoo Valley – even though they were painted in the 1930’s they were still the same fields and cottages we see today. While Peter completed his shift, Heather went across to the Farmers Market and stocked up on fruit and vegies. We ended up with about 8 containers of plums, apples and quinces!

After finishing another shift on Sunday, we went for a drive to visit Calthorpes’ House. This house was built and furnished in 1927 in the arts and crafts style and remained intact until 1979, when the house and contents were purchased by the government. It is just like going back in time to see how a family lived 80 years ago. We then drove around the Embassy area (past stacks of AFP vehicles) and then headed to the Canberra Yacht Club for a drink. We sat on the grass and watched the sailing boats glide over the mirror-like water.

Over the next few days we had a look around Canberra and managed to get lost a number of times (curse you round-abouts). Canberra continues to grow rapidly and the GPS struggles to keep up. Went to the ‘Lost World of Peru’ exhibition at the National Gallery and caught up with Judy, Bill and Sally, who drove up to see it. While we knew some of the history of South America, we hadn’t realised the rich and sophisticated cultures that once flourished, but with little evidence of their passing. Caught up with Daniel who now lives in Canberra and is now growing his building business. The National Folk Festival finally arrived with some great bands on Thursday night. Katie, Carl and the kids decided to come down and stay with us for a few nights. They all had a great time and said they would come again next year. We enjoyed ourselves and reveled in the variety of music, dance and poetry.