Braidwood to Canberra
Distance Travelled - 99.8 km
Woke to a cold morning at about 7 am but thankfully no dew. had breakfast and packed away after letting a slight breeze and a little smidgen of sun dry out the stretcher a bit. Was ready to leave just before 9 am and headed off to Bundendore and the wood gallery.
WOW! Most of the work in the gallery was absolutely amazing and really inspiring. Found a couple of things that might be able to be translated into student projects at school and other stuff that was just incredible to behold. Just inside the entrance to the gallery was 'a cupboard' - price tag $1.5 million. It boasts 18 decorated doors - inlaid with up to 34 different Australian and imported woods, shell and precious stones. It also has 140 drawers. It took 6 and a half years to make. Whilst it looks magnificent I think calling it a cupboard is either an understatement or the maker has gone into overkill mode with the project from the design brief.
After leaving the gallery I went to the leather shop next door and wandered through there for a short time before heading a few shops up the road to the antique shop. A few interesting things caught my eye but I managed to walk out without buying anything, just. By the time I had left the antique shop I had spent just on 3 hours looking through the 3 shops. Left Braidwood and headed to Canberra.
Upon getting to the national capital I headed to the closest Fire and Rescue Station to see how they are set up. The man I spoke to suggested a better use of my time would be to go to the Fire Brigade Museum just up the road. WOW! What a suggestion, I am so glad he did and that I followed up on it. They have 8 trucks they are either doing up or have done up in the museum along with other displays of helmets, uniforms, BA equipment and communications gear. They are self funded and have not received any government money to go toward any of the restoration etc and have done a fantastic job.
I was lucky that Tuesday is one of their work days at the museum as it is normally only open on Saturday for public tours. The man I spoke to, Lee, was ridiculously helpful and spent an hour with me going through the place explaining all the stuff they were doing to the different trucks, explaining various displays and pieces of equipment from yesteryear and talking of some of their future plans. It was a truly great experience visiting the museum.
After the museum I headed off to find a camp spot for the night. Went to the Expedition Park in Canberra (EPIC Centre) the apparently only camping spot in Canberra. Found out that it is somewhat of a rip off at $28 a night for an un-powered site. The camp kitchen consists of a stainless steel bench with 2 sinks attached to the rear side of the ablution block next to the laundry and is outside with very little protection from the weather. I will be finding somewhere different for the rest of the time I am in Canberra.
After finding a spot to set up I spent the remaining short time of daylight reading and listening to music before having tea and doing the blog and settling down for the night. Not much in the way of photography today except for some shots of various things at the gallery for future reference in regards to school woodwork projects and some cramped and hard to see fully shots of appliances and displays at the fire museum. No sure if any will be worth putting with the blog but will see how they go.
Tomorrow I plan to spend time looking through the War Memorial and finding somewhere else to stay.
Close up of doors and drawers in cupboard
Display of old uniforms in the station,
They are brave having the old brass helmets in the open
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