Autumn in Canberra

It's autumn in Canberra and the trees are starting to turn. That's something about Canberra that I do miss. Spent a gorgeous morning in Commonwealth Park with Mae, Nick and their wonderful wedding photographer, Rowan Atkinson http://www.rowenatkinson.com.au/

He was in town, getting to know them and taking some preliminary "engagement" shots.

This one is by me. Taken with my phone because I forgot I had my camera in my handbag. Der.  

Perhaps you have seen the startling new orange coloured pedestrian bridge over Drakeford Drive? It had to be sampled, so I did, on my morning walk one day. See those photogenic grey clouds? They contained rain.

Another day, Mae took me to the Canberra Arboretum. It's great that she is well enough to drive and to walk some distance. She's feeling much better since completing chemotherapy and has even had one shift back at work on the reception desk. She's itching to get back to the nursing, but has to be patient while she builds her strength and stamina. The Arboretum is a delight for a garden tragic such as me. Wonderful even for non-gardeners, with its panoramas, its sculptures, its dramatic visitor's centre.

View over Lake Burley Griffin and the city, with Government House visible to the right. Taken from The Eagle's Nest, a sculpture by Richard Moffat.

The sculpture "wide brown land" by Tasmanians Marcus Tatton, Futago and Chris Viney (2010).The three words used in the artwork come from the second verse of Dorothea Mackellar’s poem My Country written about Australia when she was just 19 years old. Inspired by Mackellar’s own handwriting.

The interior of the visitor's centre, all wood, glass and polished concrete.

The Bonsai Pavilion

A dramatic Canberra sky over Mae framed in the rock-lined corridor leading from the visitor centre. It was a lovely outing. I enjoyed a few outings this time, lunch with Malise, dinner with Sarah and Grant. Thanks you guys.

This was nearly my final outing of my trip to Canberra - visiting friend Sally in her newly renovated house in O'Connor. Here she is sitting on imaginary cushions on her new window seat, reading an imaginary book.