Day 4: Canberra (short drive in the city) --> Long drive via Hume Highway to Clayton
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| The motel room we stayed in Canberra |
We went for a short city tour of Canberra in the morning. It was rainy fairly heavily then ... We drove to Australian War Memorial, then along Anzac Parade (with eleven memorials lining the boulevard), then to Lake Burley Griffin (but the Captain Cook Memorial Jet wasn't spurting any jet on that day!), National University of Australia Campus and finally Parliament House, before driving all the way via Hume Highway to Clayton.
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| Lake Burley Griffin, without the Jet! |
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| Lake Burley Griffin |
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| Driving towards Parliament House |
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| A view of segment of Parliament House |
By the time we met up with Cheng Yee, it was almost 8pm. My wife and I dropped Cheng Kai and Cheng Jie at Cheng Yee's shoebox hostel room, went to Dandenong Motel to reserve a room for the night, drove back to pick up the three children (CY, CK and CJ) for dinner at Springvale Centre (yummy Vietnamese noodles which my wife and I had been yearning for since our last visit in Feb 12).
All five of us in the family bunked into the motel room (which could cater for up to 6 individuals) for the night, and checked out around 7 am for Mansfield (enroute to Mt Buller).
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| Staying overnight at Dandenong Motel, before embarking on trip to Mt Buller |
I had already made reservation for 2 nights accommodation at Arlberg Aparment in Mt Buller Ski Resort. As a rule, all vehicles parked overnight at Mt Buller have to carry snow chains just in case it snows heavily. I only realized that our rental space wagon could not be fitted with snow chains when I tried the rent the chains from the shop in Mansfield. Instead of parking our car at Mansfield and boarding a bus to Mt Buller, we decided to take a risk ... drove up all the way to the car park in Mt Buller, keeping our fingers crossed that it would not snow heavily over the next few days!
After having our lunch at one of the cafeteria in Mt Buller and buying goggles for eye protection during skiing, CY, CK, CJ and I went out to pick up our ski equipment/attires from the ski equipment rental shops located in the Apartment Hotel. The three children zoomed down the slope,leaving me behind struggling to find my balance... By the time I reached them at the compound near the Ski School, it was already 3pm ++, and the chair lift would be closed in 1 hour or so. Reluctantly, we had to call it a day ...
There were some sporadic snow during our stay in Mt Buller, but nothing dramatic. The help of snow machines was still essential to ensure there was adequate stretch of snow covered area for skiing.
Arlberg Apartment
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| It was quite spacious and comfortable... |
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| View from the apartment |
The next two days were spent essentially on skiing.
I took up a one hour ski lesson (together with Cheng Yee). I could only "master" the bare essentially skills of standing, walking up to slippery slope and skiing down gentle slope; but was still unable to brake and stop confidently. After struggling for almost 2 hours after the ski lesson (and fell / tumbled off countless times), I decided to call it quit.
And of course, Cheng Yee, Kai and Jie had been happily hopping up on to the Blue Bullet Express chairlift and then zipping down the slope to and fro countless times... (Truly have to admit that age is catching up with me ....)
Mt Buller Ski Resort
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| My 3 children in the background, with me posing right in front... |
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| Cheng Yee (left), Cheng Jie (in orange) and Cheng Kai (right) |
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| Cheng Kai and Cheng Yee |
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| Cheng Yee |
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| Yours truly ... posing of the camera. |
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| No, it wasn't a lover's kiss ... |
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| Cheng Jie |
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| Cheng Jie (left), Cheng Yee (centre) and Cheng Kai (right) |
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| Cheng Yee with her angry bird cap... |
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| Taking the one hour ski lesson |
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| Cheng Kai (right in front) and Cheng Jie (in orange attire) |
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| CK and CJ on the chair lift |
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| Resting in the Apartment |
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| Waiting for shuttle bus outside our Apartment |
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| Mt Buller |
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| Cheng Kai |
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| Cheng Kai |
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| Cheng Yee |
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| Cheng yee |
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| Posing in front of snow machine |
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| Taking a break ... |
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| Snow machine |
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| Cheng Kai |
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| Cheng Jie |
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| Cheng Yee |
Around Mt Buller's Sterling Road
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| Lamp post -- looks like a cartoon, but it is real ... |
We finally left Mt Buller at 4pm, and did not need the snow chain after all. We then drove another 1 1/2 hour to Wangaratta and stayed overnight there.
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| Stop over at Wangaratta, FREE WIFI !!! |
Our next itinerary: Great Alpine Road!
