TheMy Diary Game || 29th December 2023 || My Day In Words and Pictures || A Holiday at Mount Ainslie and Dinner with My Wife

Morning

I knew 29th December was going to be another joyful day for me because it was the 6th day of our summer vacation and we had planned to go to a couple of places in the city.

I haven't had a chance to visit Mount Ainslie since we arrived in Canberra about nine or so weeks ago, so I was waiting eagerly to visit this place early.

  

Let me begin from the beginning. I woke up at 6.30 and asked my wife to get ready for a trip. She was not that sure but she made puris for the breakfast and packed a few for the trip. We were ready by 9 a.m., having had our breakfast.

After that, she left for the local mall to top up our grocery requirements for the week, and in the meantime, I cleaned the house and fixed the dishwasher.

She came back from the mall at 11.10 and spent a few minutes in the bathroom, and then we two had a glass of juice and left for the trip to Mount Ainslie, which is about 12 km from our residence. Let me briefly describe this beautiful place for your information.

Afternoon

We parked the car in the parking area

I love the place because if you're on Mt. Ainslie, you get the best view of the entire city of Canberra, the capital of Australia, including every place worth watching. I am sure that when the great Walter Burley Griffin designed this city not so far ago but only 110 years ago in 1912, he knew that this city would be best seen from this point.

The view of Lake Burley Griffin, the artificial lake named after him, and the entire city located around it is a picturesque site from the point where I am standing right now. Can you see the Australian Parliament House across the lake?

And now look in this direction, where you can watch another point of interest, the Telstra Tower. We spent more than four hours walking at Griffin's land axis, at Mt. Ainslie, through Camp Hill, and Capital Hill.

My wife, I know, does not love walking as much as I do, but she never says no when I insist on walking with me on this hilly terrain, which is the highest point in Canberra.

You can watch almost everything from this point, but to watch the National Garden, you will have to walk down a bit and start walking from here. Canberra is a beautiful city, but its main attractions are the Lake Burley Griffin, the National Library, the High Court, the National Gallery, and, of course, the Parliament House, where I will take you any other day.

But mind you, I am writing a diary post, so I will come out of my travel mode and tell you we had a cup of coffee from the only place providing it at this point, this temporary food van. He charged $7 for a small paper cup of coffee, but that was okay.

Evening

So we spent about five hours walking and watching the glorious scenes this point offers to its visitors. We kept walking and watching the views of buildings, suburbs, Black Mountain, forests, and the green belt of Haig Park, which is clearly visible.

The beauty of the pine plants, cypress, and eucalyptus kept us mesmerized, and we kept walking and watching rows of trees on the cliff and downwards. They say this park protects Canberra from the severe cold and the hot and dusty winds, and I believe it does because the last week of December is the peak of the summer, but the temperature right now is within the 20s and the strong wind is making it even colder.

We left Mount Ainslie at about 5.45 and reached Griffin Center which is not far off as we had our plan to eat at "Blu Ginger." Mind it, the place is not even "Blue," but "Blu," but I love its preparations. We arrived at Griffin Center, parked our car, and took a walk in the shopping area.

As expected, Canberra is almost empty as this city has no nightlife, so most fun-loving Canbarrans leave for either Melbourne or Sydney. But we two are not interested in nightlife as much, so whatever Canberra provides as nightlife is enough for us.

We walked from parking to the shopping area and watched youths having fun riding e-bikes available on a hire basis in the vast allies of the center. We also watched several young couples sitting in different open and closed glass-walled restaurants in the area.

At 7.30, we walked to the Blu Ginger, but our table was not yet vacant, so we waited outside for maybe 10 minutes before a waitress asked us to take our seats. We ordered Nan, butter roti, Dal fry, green peas for dinner, and cauliflower Manchurian for a starter. I also ordered a glass of white wine and a spicy cold drink for my wife.

We stayed in the restaurant for about 45 minutes, then paid the bill at the counter and left for home. That was all for the day, guys. It was yet another amazing day that I would love to share with you.

My best wishes for a wonderful Happy New Year 2024 to all of you

Canberra 2.20 p.m. December 31, 2023.
@ngoenyi