Canberra and Floriade

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The plan was to ride to Canberra to view and photograph the Floriade display, and spend some time with good friends Peter and Sarah. The plan was to call Peter when I arrived at Floriade, and plan accordingly. I avoided stopping in the larger centres for lunch, but by the time Collector appeared, refreshments seemed like a good idea. So off the Federal Highway and into Collector. Alas, being a Tuesday, apparently the town was closed.

The loop road through town was closed for bridge repairs, and the detour lead back to the road on which I had ridden in. And, surprise, up came this - St. Bartholomews Catholic Church, a fine old stone building. Not on top of the hill, as is common, but then Collector doesn't really have a hill. There is a bicentennial plaque beside the front door, reading:-

An Historical Building
St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church
1851
6
An Australian Bicentennial Project
To commemorate the nation's Bicentennary in 1988.

Floriade

Trees, colourful flowers behind, and temporary building

Floriade is a flower show, set up annually in Canbera's Commonwealth Park, on the north shore of Lake Burley Griffin. Admission is free, and this was nearing the end of the show. It was, however, extended by a few days for HM The Queen to visit on her visit to Australia.

Just inside the entrance are some vendor tents (no interest, given the limited carrying space) and once past those, this is the view. The buildings in the distance are part of Canberra City.

Further in, and the mass flowers show up in more detail.

Upon arrival, I called Peter who said he would come down to meet me about 4PM. On time, he arrived, and we eventually figured out a meeting place and then to one of the refreshment facilities for a coffee and a slice of cake for me (being a late replacement for the lunch not found in Collector!).

Other parts of Floriade are:

Street Organ
Gnome Knoll
Random Items


Photographer's view	Photographer in action

Thanks to Peter and his phone for those rarely seen photos of me!

Video

Rather than page after page of flower shots, they have been combined into this video, which runs for 2m30s, with music from Tchaikovsky's Nucracker, specifically Waltz of the Flowers! Well, what else would fit?

2m 30s

Floriade Display in Canberra

A series of photo of flowers taken at Canberra's annual Floriade display/show.

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