Betten On Bike: DAYS 109 & 110 - 27TH & 28TH JULY 2013 - CANBERRA

Days 109 & 110 – 27 & 28^th July 2013 – Canberra – rest days

We were happy to have a few days off to catch up with family and friends. Saturday morning, a lazy morning then a drive into Canberra city centre for a walk and a bit of a look see. Walter needed to find a small round mirror to replace the one he has on his helmet as moisture had got in and it was badly tarnished.

We found a chemist and found one which would fit and then bought some super glue. All sorted. Coffee and cake in the sun at The Coffee Club and then a walk through the mall. There was an ice skating rink set up and lots of people enjoying skating. For children who were a bit uncertain there were push along penguins to hold onto. There was a full blue sky and sunny but it was chilly but nice to amble around at a leisurely pace.

Later back to Dianna’s to relax & chat & for Walter to study the maps for the coming days.

Sunday and we decided to go on a tour of The Australian Institute of Sport which we found very interesting and informative.. We learnt that the AIS was established back in 1981 after Australia’s rather disappointing performance at the Montreal Olympics where even New Zealand outperformed Australia in the medal tally. Malcolm Fraser the prime minister of the time initiated the policy for setting up the AIS. We spent 30 minutes in the interactive room where there are many displays set up where you can experience different sports. Walter tried the luge and also picked out his new bike “The Superbike’ haha but it has no brakes so maybe unsuitable for hills….. I re-lived the days in my youth when I played basketball. Lots of fun.

Then we had a tour of the facilities which are world class, especially the swimming facilities. Shaun, our guide is a 21year old athlete – a speed walker and he told us he conducts around 40 of these tours a week to help fund himself and his sporting career. Funding has been dramatically cut to the national program and the AIS and has been re-directed to each state’s sporting body so there is a lot of uncertainty within the AIS as to its future and importance as the national sporting body for elite athletes.

Then we drove over to Kingston to met up with Len, a friend of ours who we always make a point of catching up with when we visit Canberra. He is a vibrant octogenarian and has lots of energy and a great sense of humour. We went to the Stella Artois Hotel in Kingston as Walter was really keen to eat a meal of their mussels – It was great to catch up with Len.

Then back for a restful Sunday afternoon at Dianna’s as tomorrow its back on the road. Thank you Dianna - we really enjoyed our weekend with you (just a shame you had the flu and we wish you a speedy recovery !!!)