The real guided tour of Canberra!

Well to say my day picked up would be an understatement! Mum dont freak out coz it all worked out perfectly and i ended up having the best couple of days ever.

I was sat at one of the restaurants in the main square next to my hostel. Id just finished my meal and with my best international sign language asked for the bill. There were two girls sat at the table next to me who turned round and asked where i was from. I said just outside Manchester, and they asked me to join them. I declined but was talked around and one of the girls kept asking me questions about my travels and home. So i went over to join them, they introduced themselves, Carly and Suzy both locals. They asked me what i had seen of Canberra and what i thought, so i told them all the really touristy places i had been to. Carly asked if i wanted to see the real Canberra, and then the 2 of them started talking about random places all over Canberra which are a "must see" and asked if i was interested. Of course i was a little unsure of what to do but i thought sod it why not! It was only 8 something and the idea of going back to the hostel at that time seems a bit dull.

So Carly and Suzy finished their meals and i asked Suzy how they knew each other as it was made quite clear Suzy was years younger that Carly. (Suzys actually 22 on Tuesday so im just a couple of days older than her and Carlys 27 i think) Suzy explained how they both attended the same church but hadnt seen each other in a while and just on the off chance Carly had rung Suzy as asked if she'd like to have dinner. She hadnt been into the city in ages. Anyway we went to Carlys car and started our adventure. First stop the Telstra tower, there seems to be a tower like this in very city, the view was truely beautiful but Carly said she knew somewhere even better for a view. We tried to go to some observation place where your able to look at stars etc but it was closed so we ended up going up to Mt Majura, "make out mountain" which is just behind the War Memorial building. She was right the view was so much better and there were so many couples up there. Apprently its the number 1 place in Canberra to propose or something, i can understand why. Seeing the city all lit up just showed it in such a different light. After that as promised we went to their favourite place in the whole city, The Pancake Parlour. Best pancakes and banana splits anywhere so i was told. I stuck to the Hot chocolate fudge sundee and i have never seen an ice cream so big. Didnt think id ever seen the day when i couldnt finish an ice cream. From there we went for a drink in the Irish bar, King O'Malleys. I walked in and the girls both got stopped for ID, it was like being with Marris. They thought it was really weird that i didnt even slow down and i was going through the door, i said come on if your over 18 just smile at the guy on the door and walk in. Your old enough to be in there so where act as if your not. It was a really really good night, there was a fantastic live band playing and as always a fantastic atmosphere. The girls asked if i was up for going to Kingston Markets in the morning. I said i planned to go to the zoo but why not.

So before you guys were all out enjoying yourself Saturday night (yes, Marris thats you going out with next to nothing on! and you boys having a quiet pint in the Barge) I was getting up to hit the markets. The girls picked me up for another adventure at 9am on a Sunday... we drove up to Kingston and got some breakfast as the market didnt start until 10. The market is on every Sunday in the Old Bus Depot, id read about it in LP. The market was full of one off stalls all with really unique things. Carly bought this gorgeous bag off one stall, this lady never made 2 of the same bag. Shes just be creative and see what happend, the collects fabric from all sorts of places and see shes how her mood takes her. Theyre were truely gorgeous but i was very good i didnt get myself one, really should have done though. They were so cheap as she said it cost her next to nothing to make so she didnt want to charge someone a lot of money for other people cast off which was really lovely. They were between 8 and 20 pounds. BARGIN! The food side of the market...wow...free samples everywhere. Oh i had fun...we stopped and spoke to one lady on a Thai Curry paste stall and Carly was talking to her about the "King and I" and the history behind it all. Apprently it was very very interesting but i was distracted by the Thai Green Curry paste. Interesting fact for you...did you know that every state in Oz has a place called Kingston!

After the Market we headed back into town to Lake Burley Griffin and hired a paddle boat...im sure we always called them peddelo's. My legs havent worked so hard in ages...an hour on one of them things is hard work especially in the heat. Middle of the day was a bad idea especially with tempatures of about 35c! The girls then took me to Manuka to the best restaurant, My Cafe. It was so good, i had a Kangaroo Burger! Not as tasty as Alpaca but it was good. By this state id convinced Carly to drop me and Suzy off at the Zoo while she went to her Wedding Fair (she makes Wedding invites and wanted to see the competition). So in the burning heat me and Suzy went to the Zoo. Can you believe the animals were sleeping or just hiding for the heat! I only got to see the tummy and paws of the Tigon, she was very pretty though and i did get to see the other Tiggers playing. They werent being boring. It was a really nice Zoo actually, only quite small but had all the native animals and yes there were lose Kanagroos... i was not happy! For those who dont know im scared of Kangaroos i am...even little ones! We had a lovely afternoon and even got to feed the otters, we some how joined a tour who had paid to feed all the animals. Suzy has never been aboard so was asking me loads and loads of questions about England. Something that made Carly smile was over lunch Suzy asked me if we had birds! Bless...i knew what she meant though. There Zoo didnt have many monkeys and had no bears or elephants! How can you have a zoo without elephants! Anyway we had a really lovely afternoon and when Carly picked us up to say we were a little pink was an understatement!

The girls had asked me if i wanted to come to church with them for the evening service and once again i thought why not, its part of what Canberra is to them so ok why not and im so glad i did. Never seen anything like it. It was at the Canberra Christian Life Centre, which was like i huge community centre and when we walked into the hall, where the service was held i was even more confused. We got there about 30 mins early and the girls said its ok we can go watch the band warm up. I have to admit i was ready to make an excuse not to go in and then i could hear this guy singing...and at first it wasnt what i class as a church song there was nothing traditional about it, it was just like something you'd see in the charts or something with a twist to it. Anyway we went in and me and Suzy went and got some seats and i just sat there watching these 10 young people singing or playing drums, guitar or whatever, and they were amazing. One of the guys on a normal guitar he started to sing and it was...wow. What a voice. Then the place started to fill with people and they werent old person infact most of the people there were between 15 and 30 and the place was packed. The weirdest things about it these...kids...young people just looked the the kids who hung round on the streets they all still had their boardies on (including me) etc and just looked like normally people. Not that they arent but its not what i expected at all. And when it all started...i just cant descrip it. Ive never been a church goer other than parades etc but this was just something else. The started with the musicians on stage performing 3/4 songs...and everyone joined in like they were some rock band. It was all filmed and played on the two big screens on either side of the stage and then a lady got just and started the evening..service and a couple of people came on and spoke about whats happening with the church in February etc. Then a girl came up and told a story about how she lost God and her faith or something and how she found it again when she just needed it, it did get abit heavy at times but then the guy i meantioned before started to sing this song and then the rest of the band joined it etc and i could have cried. It was so...inspirational, i think thats the only way to descrip it. Wow. Then some bloke who obviously normally leads service came on and started talking about reaching out to individuals and showing kindness to others etc. His words just rang true for what Carly and Suzy had done for me, i had so much fun with them and i only ever paid for my lunch and dinner, Carley refuged to let me pay for anything else and i was their guest and a visitor. They made sure my experience of Canberra was something id never forget and i dont think i will. I had such a fantastic time over the last couple of days and its because they went out of their way to make me feel welcome.

The whole church experience was something like ive never seen before and i can totally understand what draws the community to go to this place. There was so much energy. Carlys planning on coming back over to Europe again soon, her grandparents live in London so ive promised to show her the real side of England...well the North West anyway. She absolutely adored my accent and my little saying and was trying to pick up as many as possible. I told her i'd take her when you live where i do, so close to Lancashire, in Cheshire, spend most of my time in West Yorkshire and between Liverpool and Manchester you have accents all over the place and she'd love it.

Just got back to Sydney and Amys just got home with goodies! Kirsten, John and Jack are going to come up to Avoca with us this weekend which will be great, not seen John since the wedding.

Love you xxx