Saturday - Day 4 - 29 April 2023

We didn't have far to go today - just to Canberra - so we allowed ourselves a late start.  The decision was made easier because it was raining.  We were in a ground floor room so we were able to reverse the car in so we could pack up without getting saturated.  That would have to wait until Canberra when we pulled in to the motel and then the heavens opened.  I had packed a couple of umbrellas but (note to self) they need to be a bit more accessible next time if they are going to be of any use - and it has to work, first time*. 

The drive down from Orange was okay - wet but okay, and there were a few sections of roadwork along the way.  What's the rule with roadworks when there's no actual roadwork taking place - when there is no roadworking equipment, no workers, just signs saying "60km Roadwork".  Do you have to slow down from the otherwise posted 100km/hour to 60km?  I am still confused. 

Our first stop - where we thought we were going to have breakfast (bacon, eggs, sausages and toast were on our menu) turned out just to be a stop at a small curio shop which seemed to be a cafe but only had toast or raisin toast out of a kitchen the size of a broom closet as their breakfast offering, and then another stop at a cafe recommended by them - but the best they could do was a bacon and egg roll.  So we set off for Cowra;  although we almost went back for the couple of things we hadn't bought in Shop No. 1 - a Fred Flinstone wooden doll, a large green frill-neck dinosaur (the name of which escapes me) and the Pinocchio wooden dolls (one large, one small).  And let's not even talk about the T-Rex pens they had at the counter. And from Shop No. 2 - the Turkish Delight and Pashmak!  Who knew? 

Because it's so soon after Anzac Day, the Cenotaph in Canowindra still had flowers and wreaths from their services. 

The drive into Cowra was uneventful except for the Learner driver who insisted on driving at 80km/hour (good for them) except when there was a viable stretch of road for them to be overtaken, and then they sped up to at least 95km/hour.  It didn't bother me because we all know I would rather sit behind someone than risk overtaking - especially in the wet, and raining - but the cars that banked up behind us were less than patient.  I know, I know, sometimes it's safer to overtake but given how predictable Learner driver was, I just pulled back a little to make sure those following cars had room to pull in front of me if they needed to while they were overtaking. 

The cafe we'd been directed to (by Shop No. 2 in Canowindra) was not where Waze said it was - so we drove on - and were almost ready to eat at a Cafe in a service station but were saved from that because they had no seats.  We went looking and happened upon the Rose Garden Cafe - which was wonderful - except for one tidy, minor, inconvenience - when we fronted the counter to place our order they had just that moment run out of sausages.  Nooooooo!  But the bacon and eggs and toast were yum. 

Next stop was the Yass Service Centre which, surprisingly, is not really anywhere near Yass.  It is colder here than we're used to I have a feeling it's going to get a little colder on the way. Just as well we have flannies and woollies on board. 

We found our motel in Canberra easily (thank you Waze) and as we were ready to unpack the car the rain started falling, quite heavily. We took the electronics in with us, and left the rest of our goodies (including the coffee machine and wonderful milk frother) in the car until we came back from dinner.  It was still raining but we needed to bring things in - in retrospect doing it in one trip may have been a folly, but you do what you need to. 

Dinner was wonderful.  The motel is only a few minutes' drive from the Pho Phu Quoc Vietnamese Restaurant.  We've been there before and it was as good as we remember!  

Back at the motel, we had an early night.  Our lights were off and there were snores from around 8:30pm - for me at least, which is why I'm finishing this blog at 5am. Have to love being on holidays! 

*Update:  The black umbrella died - it wasn't opening or closing properly so we left it in a bin in the car park near the restaurant. That's one less thing to pack!