Day 30 - Capital Culture

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Waramanga - Canberra - Gurney VC Rest Area at Lake George  67km

It always takes a while to get back into the rhythm of things after a few days off the bike. We leave Iris' safe haven of kindness just after she leaves for work and hit the cycling trails into Canberra like locals. The lady from Google Maps is not required and soon enough we find ourselves in front of probably the second most recognisable building in Australia (after the Sydney Opera House). The AFP kept an eye on us while we set up a special selfie construction.

"Look Kerstin, you have an Australian flag on your helmet!"

It's too early for much to happen in Parliament zone and so we move on to get cultured. After watching ABC's "The Exhibitionists" which is set in the National Gallery, we couldn't just ride past.  Unlike the women in the show, we waited until the gallery was open to see the exhibition #knowmyname.  We got to laugh along with Sarah Lucas' feminist humor in Project One https://knowmyname.nga.gov.au/events/project-1-sarah-lucas/ but loved the indigenous art from Jean Baptiste Apuatimi and Jenny Kee's classic Aussie wattle knit dress.  A warm up stroll around the Sculpture Garden and it was time to bid Canberra farewell.  


Like a miracle, we had tailwind!  And we absolutely flew in a NE direction to our final destination, Lake George.  In an effort to avoid the Federal Hwy, which was very welcoming to cyclists in ACT but you had to be brave in NSW!  We rode the Federal Hwy service road, and the Old Federal Hwy.  Where a very nice police officer stopped just to check we were OK.  To be fair, judging by the amount of roadside dumping and evidence of burnt out cars, the backroads were a bit dodgy.  The final 11kms put us back on the M23 it was flat, Lake Goerge and the pelicans kept us company, the wind was right behind us, the surface was smooth (except unfortunately for all the flattened turtles) we zoomed along at 22km/hr!  I can hear the road riders laughing already, but this is almost double our average pace!  Free camping at tonight at the Gurney VC Rest Stop.












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Location: Lake George NSW 2581, Australia

Comments

  1. FrancieMarch 9, 2022 at 6:29 PM

    Love the photos and I'm getting to know more of Oz. Your tent looks tiny even beside the
    "mini-bike-shelter" aka picnic bench.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BrendaMarch 13, 2022 at 7:02 AM

    grateful the weather is kind to you

    ReplyDelete

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