Staying put with Jac

As noted in the last blog, Jac and me are in Canberra for an extended stay.  It's work related but we have an air b n b that is more or less dog friendly.  If the dog was a wanderer it would not work, but for me and Jack it's fine.

Jac doesn't wander, she likes to stay close to me and the car, so I don't need an enclosed yard.  I can just open the door here and she wanders over to the garden, has a pee or whatever and wanders back in.  Generally she finds a cosy spot under my feet or on the bed.  She likes to indulge herself.  Although, unlike me, food does not have to part of her indulgence.  She is the fussiest eater in the world.  So I cook chicken for her, sometimes with a bit of pasta, sometimes a bit of carrot or kale.  Although if I don't cut the carrot up into teeny tiny pieces she will take it out and leave it by her dish.  I like to think of her as a bit of a gourmet traveller.  But sometimes despite my dedicated cooking she still turns her nose up, walks away leaving the lumps of chicken lying forlornly in their dish.

Canberra is a much maligned place, and yes, in the past I have been a part of the maligner bunch.  But spending time here does mean it grows on you.  The place we are staying in is nothing short of weird.  the home of embassies, so huge houses with long long driveways, guard boxes, flags everywhere and Federal police permanently stationed at each end of the street.  Could be because we are across the road from the Iraq embassy, the Arab Emirates, Turkish and the Kuwait Embassy.  Sensitive I imagine.  Disconcerting though.  

Lots of walking, managed 5 kilometres the other day in between work and eating.  I got myself one of those doovylackers that counts steps and kilometres.  It's been interesting to see that I get caught up in wanting to achieve the target I have set, so it does encourage me to walk more.


Jac behaves very differently walking through the bush, constantly on alert, looking around her, testing every bush and stopping at every strange noise.  Going into her pointer pose when she spies kangaroos off in the distance.  There is a nature reserve across the road where we walk most days.  And it is the home of kangaroos, counted 24 once on one of our morning walks.  They are funny creatures, stopping to watch with their ears cocked when we walk past, hopping slowly away if we get too close.  Also the home of snakes - two people have told me about their dogs discovering snakes in their backyard recently, one where her two dogs played tug of war with the snake and tore it in half, then the head half reared up ready to attack.  freaky freaky..... So I worry about her going off too much into the bush and I am hyper vigilant about snakes with her around but, touch wood, no threat of them yet.


Speaking of eating - weren't you?  Snapper in Yarralumla, fish and chips and wine or beer by the shores of the lake.  Not just dog friendly but dog welcoming.  As are most places here, very dog friendly city, all the ovals are off leash areas and very few signs around saying no dogs.  

What adds to the enjoyment of Canberra is having friends here, Ol who used to work with and her delightful family, who are always so welcoming and who look after Jac on the days when I can't take her to work with me.  Although when I drop her off it feels a bit like taking a child to childcare, I get a bit peeved when she wanders in happily and doesn't sulk when I leave.  We went together to a perfect river swimming spot less than 30 minutes away Uriana - sandy beaches, trees, green grass, shallow water and then deep swimming hole.  Heaven.  Dogs everywhere, noses up bums, Jack gets a bit touchy if that goes on too long and will give a 'excuse me did I give you permission to stick your nose there' snap if they spend too long on the sniff.  Pete drove us up to the Mt Stromlo Observatory, great views and would love to do one of the night star spotting tours, next time ...

I was lucky enough to be here for the Hot air Ballon festival and doubly lucky that the morning I decided to get up at dawn so I could watch them launch was a good weather day.  They are tetchy things these hot air balloons and won't take off if it's too windy, raining or the sky doesn't look right.  But I picked the right day.  There were around 30 balloons and it was quite magical, blowing them up with the hot air and watching them silently taking off with just that occasional whoosh whoosh as the flame goes up.

My favourite balloon

And the 'tree library' as Ol's daughter described the Arboretum.  Whenever I see old trees, particularly slow growing ones I think what foresight the people had who planted them, often knowing they would never live to enjoy the full splendour, to rest in the shade of branches that spread out or marvel at the height and width.  The Arboretum was established after the last Canberra fires and aims to have trees from all over the world.  It was windy and blustery the day we went up there but we sheltered in a grove of old cedars. I think it's the Swedish who talk about the health benefits of forest bathing and it is so true.  Time spent wandering through tall trees or even the rugged bush that you find in a lot of the nature reserves here is good for the soul.

The other good part about Canberra, for me anyway,  is Parliament.  As a good Labor supporter and, of course, a feminist, I was delighted when my time here coincided with an Emily's List function with Tanya Plibersek.  So Ol and I went along, I had to join a huge long queue to get through security, then we had to wait to be picked up to be taken to the Labor Senate Caucus room.  Seemed appropriate it was the same day that Christine Keneally made her first speech.  Ged Kearney put in an appearance and I felt incredibly proud to be part of a party that has now almost 50% representation of women in the lower house and 67% in the Senate.  And what good women - Ann Ali, Tanya of course, now Ged, Penny Wong, Linda Burney, the list goes on and on. 

Joined in the refugee rally as well.  Was quite impressed with how it was organised, with the different groups gathering together, then marching individually to the square and being announced and applauded as they arrived.  Not like the rabble in Melbourne.  No Grandmothers Against the Detention of Refugee Children so we joined the Labor Left but then saw my favourite banner - The Vintage Reds which would have been much more fitting.

Em and Sean were in Canberra as well fleetingly so had a catch up with them and Joe which was good.  So it was a pleasant way to spend a few weeks and I can understand the appeal of Canberra.  But a long way from home and the grandkids.