I suggested a drive in the country and Mike countered with "How about we go to Canberra and see the Renaissance Exhibition at the National Gallery?" Why not indeed! So with in half an hour we were packed and out the door stopping only to visit U Jack and tell him and the nursing staff we would not be in for a few days. Lunch was some leftovers eaten in the car while negotiating the roadworks on the ring road. Roadworks were to slow our progress numerous times over the day. We shared the driving and made it to Yass by 6.45pm where we booked in to the Sundowner Swaggers Motel. Dinner in the restaurant and back to our room in time to watch Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I have read all the books and was keen to see the TV interpretation...I thought it was great and can't wait for this weeks episode. Next morning we drove into Canberra using Mike's Samsung tablet's GPS function to find the National Gallery. We had used it on the drive up the day before to book our tickets to the exhibition. A car park was found right under the gallery (free even) and we went and collected our tickets with time to spare, this allowed us to wander around the gallery and view some interesting works by Monet, Matisse, Jackson Pollock and Sidney Nolan. A couple of hours of looking at all the fascinating paintings in the exhibition and my feet were aching and it was time for lunch. We headed off to find a local bakery and ended up at the Fyshwick Fresh Food Market. Nice filled bagel and a cuppa. After being recommmended a walk in Weston Park by the waitress we drove around Lake Burley Griffin stopping to take some photos of the lake and other landmarks. The Australian American War Memorial, The Captain James Cook Memorial Water Spout, The Carillon and both the old and new Parliament houses. It was a rather hot day in Canberra and we headed back to Yass late afternoon for a nice local pizza and a cool room to relax in before our long drive home on sunday. Sunday dawned as grey, wet and decidedly cooler. Again we shared the driving stopping in a little town called Coolac to check out the local market. It turned out to be a small offering in the local hall, where we bought some tomato relish and chutney. On the road again we headed to Milawa and the cheese factory for lunch. Here we wandered through the Muse Art Gallery and picked out some paintings and a kinetic sculpture that we would like when we win Tatts...LOL Home via Yarck for a well earned cuppa and cake, then through Marysville to see how it is faring 3 years post Black Saturday. The regenration of the trees is amazing to see, the rebuilding of the town slower but well under way highighting the incredible devastation of this community. So our long weekend ended back in a hot and steamy Melbourne.
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