Lindsay Pryor Arboretum

Yeah, we’ve got the National Arboretum… but as lovely as it is, it’s a little lacking on fully grown trees. Literally just across the Parkway is the Lindsay Pryor Arboretum, with a small but fully grown forests of native and exotic trees. Built in the 1950s at the ‘suggestion’ of the then Governor-General Field Marshal William Slim who wanted to improve the view from the GG’s residence, the arboretum was and is used as a place of scientific research and education. Better still, the arboretum is dog friendly, and a great place to explore.

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Kayaking Lake Ginninderra

It starts out with a few lighthearted tweets on Twitter, complimenting Paul Jurak on yet another great set of sunrise photos from his morning kayak. Paul and another friend talk about doing Lake Burley Griffin together soon, and then a local MLA joins in – suggesting she’d love to join in if they’re ever on Lake Ginninderra. I can’t help myself, and insert myself into the conversation. Before I know it, a day is locked in, a 5am start is confirmed, and I’m pulling myself out of bed to go kayaking and hopefully capture some lovely sunrise shots on Lake Ginninderra.

Mt Painter

We’re incredibly lucky to have so many good walks within Canberra. My favourite trek of these is Mt Painter. It’s nestled behind (in front of?) Cook and if you’ve driven down William Hovell Drive you’ve likely driven right past it.

Entrance from Bussell St, Cook to Mt Painter

Not Multicultural Festival

The following post has been written by our friend Kieran – our second guest blogger! Kieran blogs about politics and whatever else grinds his gears on his own blog, here.

As a guest blogger I feel the need to be a bit edgy and boldly declare that I did not go to the multicultural festival.

This is, of course, a complete lie. I did go (four times). Somewhere in between the first and second visits though,I paddled as part of a corporate team in the Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Regatta.What better way to justify eating myself into

DEEWR team members (who were not already gorging themselves at Multicultural Festival) with trophy

a food coma for the rest of the weekend?

But, just how does one end up with such a brilliant justification? I’ve yet to hear of anyone being born in a dragon boat, so that leaves achieving it (stumbling across the CDBA website) or having it thrust upon you (by friends and co-workers trying to make the numbers for a team).

With ample cajoling from my colleagues, I managed to make it to one out of the two training sessions before the regatta. Two would have been better but one is plenty; dragon boating is both deceptively hard and deceptively easy. Even one training session is enough to learn the basic movements, rhythm and calls; however, it takes hundreds of hours to perfect.

Dominating Mt Tennent

Mt Tennent in the distance

Mt Tennent is a bastard*. There’s no other way to put it. The first time I braved it was August 2011, and on finishing it I made the promise myself to never, ever do it again. That was until I got my new Heart Rate Monitor, which piqued my curiosity – if Mt Tennent is such a hard slog, how many calories does it burn? Of course, the only way to find out was by doing it again.  And that’s how, exactly six months later, I found myself back on Mt Tennent, and cursing it.

Bridge to Bridge – Lake Burley Griffin ‘jog’

As you may have gathered from my whinging about the act of hiking (even though I like doing it), I’m not fit. I’m definitely not one of those people who exercise during their lunch hour because frankly it seems like way too much of a hassle. That’s not to say that a lot of other people don’t like to exercise at lunch time (and risk me screwing up my face at them). Jogging the Bridge to Bridge around Lake Burley Griffin appears to be a favourite around these parts, with most people who brave it easily doing it in under an hour. After four years of avoiding it, I decided it was probably worth reviewing. (But not at lunch time. And there was not much running involved.)

Instead, I figured twilight at LBG would provide a rather stunning background for the Bridge to Bridge, and I was right. Most people seem to wonder just how long Bridge to Bridge is going

to take them. Well, it’s about 4.86 kilometres according to the GPS/Heart Rate Monitor. I started at the carpark near the flags on the Old Parliament House side and went clockwise, heading to the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge and over the Kings Avenue Bridge before back to the car in about 45 minutes. The only real ‘steep’ part of this is the steps heading up to the first bridge, so upping the ante is all up to you.

All in all, it’s a good walk. It’s under an hour, the walkways are generally quite wide, and it’s not unusual to enjoy a great sunset – both in the sky, and shimmering across the water.

Of course, I also had my trusty new HRM attached so you can see just how much effort I did (or didn’t) exert!

Date: Saturday, 28 January

Cost: Free!

Worthwhile factor: Worthwhile

Want more? Well, I don’t have any more. It’s hard to miss the lake and the bridges!

Not so sure about Foreshore

It had been raining. We’d been warned that it would continue to rain. Everywhere, shops were sold out of plastic ponchos. I remained hopeful that the weather would clear and we’d have a great and just slightly damp day, while T2 remained a bit more sceptical. But, being Foreshore veterans, there was no way we weren’t going. And, we both turned about to be right about the weather…

I woke up the morning of Foreshore to go to a dreaded exam. There were dark clouds and it was spitting, and I was rugged up in a jumper and ugg boots. But, on the other side of the three hour time warp that is an exam, there was a miracle: sunshine! And heat! And the ground was relatively dry! Amazing. It was time to forget about the exam and put on some summer appropriate clothes!

Foreshore is a music festival which claims all kinds of fans with a number of stages, and a big open area. Some of the big artists this year were LMFAO, Gotye, Boy and Bear, and even Salt n Pepa! It was a line up to get excited about, and we’d bought out tickets mid-year. But, that’s not where the costs stop. Music festivals are synonymous with exorbitantly priced drinks and Foreshore is no different, so we had a few pre-drinks beforehand before heading down to Parkes with our tickets in hand.