Yes, I have been slack in updating things.
We had a visit from a niece and spent some time showing her local sights. But that will be for another post. Back to Canberra.
Sunday in Canberra is a market day and we meandered through stalls, some selling handmade wares, but quite a few offering rather tacky clothing, perhaps made locally, but from cheap, hideously-coloured fabrics from somewhere in the north western Pacific. One day, people will wake up to the fact that we have put far too many eggs China’s basket!
These were, somewhat, offset by hand spun and knitted garments. Higher prices, but at least locally produced.
Something else, also locally produced, caught my attention. Black garlic! How can I not have come across this before? My life has been missing a significant taste treat all these years! Some enterprising chaps have set up a company near a hamlet called Bredbo, about an hour south of Canberra. https://capitalregionfarmersmarket.com.au/directory/listing/bredbo-black-garlic-ingelara
We sampled it at the market. We bought some . We ate most of it at lunchtime! And Sue said she was sure she had seen black garlic in Coles supermarket.Yes! Not the Bredbo garlic, but an import from NZ! (The other supermarket giant does not carry it, but my local branch of Coles does, so for Australian readers, you can buy on-line from Ingelara or the NZ brand).Do yourselves a favour and try some. You can thank me later.
Another highlight of my visit was the National Library. It has a stunning entry, featuring some amazing stained glass. I could write much more about this, but this link will do it far better, and with professional photographs, far beyond my clumsy phone cam attempts (which featured quite a few photo bombs!)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-19/stained-glass-window-art-national-library/10126590
I could have spent the rest of the day there, but the weather was not sure it wanted to cooperate, so we cruised the bookshop (!) for a while then went outside to look at the sculptures. Next time I’m there I think I’ll spend more time and with a bigger camera!
The thing about Canberra that strikes me is that its modernity of lay-out allows for BIG features, some permanent, some temporary displays. And you don’t have to brave chaotic traffic to get close to things.
The steps of the Science Museum feature cut-outs of famous scientists.Here are some…
and Charles Darwin
Some more from Sue’s lovely garden…
And, finally, the bus that carried me up over the crispy-dry Monaro and down to Eden .(see current header)
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