Canberra: June Long Weekend 2015–Sunday 7th June
We woke up & put the TV on – fantastic …it was minus3 degrees out side..holy moley that is cold…When we opened the blinds it was to find fog every where…hmm, not a great start to the morning…is this a bad omen
Brendan didn’t have a great night – he is starting to get a head cold now…more Panadol & look for a chemist sometime today
We went down stairs to the restaurant and had a buffet breakfast – there was a mixture of hot & cold breakfast favourites as well as plenty of fruit, cereals & breads – it was quiet a large spread – there was even a special chief to cook your own personalized omelettes..
We packed our gear up for the day, we had reservations at 10.00 for an hour Segway tour- we were all looking forward to this. It is now a barmy 4 degrees
We signed all the paperwork , donned our very fashionable helmets & watched our 5 min instructional DVD intently – yeah we could do this – ha , piece of cake – well maybe David & Brendan, I am not the most graceful at balancing..
We were individually helped onto the Segways & given a quick demo before being let loose on the practicing area, hey this wasn’t too bad, I can do this….before long I was manoeuvring around like a pro
David & I borrowed gloves – another fashion statement – they suggest this, as you can get a bit of a breeze – you can go up to 12km speed wise, I was now starting to regret my decision of not having my jacket on.
We followed the guide in single file, going back over the bridge, avoiding pedestrians and bicycle riders, crossing roads etc, we had the first of 2 free times on a grassy park – we had a few photos & tried to do a bit of videoing. We had another free time in front of the old parliament house where we saw the aboriginal tent embassy, after this the people who were only on the 1/2 tour departed & the rest of us continued on,we then went down to the lake foreshore, sight seeing such places as floriade – doing a neat loop back over the bridge again and back to the centre – the tour seemed to go really fast, but at the end we all had really cold faces, David’s & my feet were aching – from not moving them around, Brendan’s hands were numb .. and we all had huge smiles…….we all agreed that this tour was great fun and definitely worth the money.
Next stop the Royal Australian Mint – we stepped inside ..at least it was warm in here..the first thing that your eyes are drawn to it a cone filled with $100,000.00 of $1.00 coins – so pretty !. There are other displays of old equipment that has been previously used,as well as different coins- such as a $5.00 coin. We also saw a gold plated $100.00 & $50.00 note. As you make your way up the 5c steps( the faces of the steps are covered in 5cent pieces), you can view the working areas – but being Sunday no one was actually working. There are many displays of how the coins are actually made – from design to end product. There are also other displays of coins designs which were rejected etc, Olympic medals, even coins which have been made incorrectly
Only coins are made here in the ACT- notes are made in Victoria.
Brendan paid $3.00 to have his own $1.00 uncirculated coin pressed.
We decided to go to the war memorial & have lunch, once we got there & eventually found a park, it was a huge wait for lunch – seemed every man & his dog was visiting today..change of plans – find a McDonalds’, then back to the hotel , find a chemist & let Brendan have a rest.
This was a good plan except the GPS seemed to want to take us the long way everywhere, & when we found the chemist it was closed…we did find another one inside the mall, where we bought some cold & flu tablets – as well as some wine & coolers – maybe we could get a better sleep tonight… Once back at he hotel Brendan had a rest & then the boys watched the sharks take on the roosters – 2 happy boys – sharks won
We noticed a Mexican restaurant last night, while walking around, so we thought we would give it a try…bad move.. it wasn’t very nice. 
David had a chimi-changa which didn’t look too bad, but was dry, Brendan and I had burritos, which mainly consisted of rice & beans..sorry but we wont be going back there.
