Floriade 2017 – Canberra

Floriade ….. TICK!

If you follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook you’d know that I’ve recently been in Canberra for Floriade.  I went with a friend and we had a lovely time.  We stayed at the Crowne Plaza Canberra Hotel which was in a fantastic location.  It was an easy walk to Floriade and also to the city centre.  The room was a little dated but clean and tidy and really comfy beds and pillows!

It’s not my first time to Canberra.  I’ve been once before – probably at least 10 years ago.  It’s my first time to Floriade though and my first good look around the lake area.  Last visit was only for a couple of days as part of a big family road trip and was spent thoroughly exploring old and new Parliament Houses, Questacon and the Australian War Memorial.

I went to the Australian War Memorial again this visit.  My friend had never been to Canberra and this is one place she really wanted to visit.  I was happy to go again because it is a very special place.  It’s beautiful, respectful, informative, educational, and very moving.  It’s quite an emotional experience.

We went to Nightfest at Floriade on the Saturday night and that was a wonderful experience! Whilst entry to Floriade (during the day) is free, entry to Nightfest does require the purchase of a ticket at $31.70 per person.  You can purchase the tickets online via Ticketek (like we did) or at Floriade’s on-site box office.

My favourite place to have breakfast was at Gus’s Place.  Service was great and the food was delicious!  We were surprised when wandering the city at 8:00 am looking for somewhere to have breakfast that most places were closed and not opening for hours!  Thank goodness for Gus’s Place which opens at 7:30am!

A great place for an inexpensive dinner is at the City Labor Club.  We ate there one night and can’t fault the food, service or prices.  Another great place we had dinner was at King O’Malleys Irish Pub though meals here were more expensive than the City Labor Club.

On the Sunday we went on a cruise of Lake Burley-Griffin onboard the MV Southern Cross.  It departed and arrived back at the Canberra Yacht Club.  I highly recommend a cruise with MV Southern Cross Cruises.  The staff are super professional and friendly.  There was a very informative commentary throughout the cruise.  There’s a bar so you can sip on a beverage as you cruise and if you’re on one of their dinner or lunch cruises, you can also enjoy a meal as you cruise!  We were on the Sunday Sightseeing Cruise.

Sadly, there is one business I will have to NOT RECOMMEND and that is Lake Burley Griffin Cruises.  At just after 8:00am on Saturday morning I phoned the mobile number provided to book us on an extended cruise with this organisation on the Saturday afternoon at 1:30pm. There was no answer so I left a voicemail message.  A man phoned me back when we were out at breakfast and confirmed our booking.  We were to pay upon boarding. He advised us to be at the departure point 15 minutes before the cruise was due to leave.  We were not familiar with the departure point so we caught a taxi, giving the driver the details we had been given.  We were there in plenty of time and waited…and waited…and waited…and waited.  Once departure time had been and gone and still no boat had turned up, I called the number again.  The same man answered.  He told me the cruise had been cancelled as it was too windy.  His excuse for not phoning to advise us was that apparently he had phoned some other mobile number trying to contact me which wasn’t answered.  I have no idea where he might have got this mystery mobile number.  When I queried him regarding the fact that my number had been provided in a voicemail message AND would have been logged on his phone from my call, he advised that apparently my voicemail message had mysteriously and accidentally been deleted.  There was no apology.  He didn’t care.  So, though this is something I don’t recall ever doing before, I don’t recommend a cruise with Lake Burley Griffin Cruises at all!  As it turned out the cruise we went on the next day with MV Southern Cross Cruises was cheaper and a far better boat and experience anyway!

When we were on our cruise we couldn’t help but notice Telstra Tower up on Black Mountain and decided we simply must go to the top of the tower so we can see the 360 degree view of Canberra and its surrounds.  So we did and the views were magnificent!

I really must include a shout out to the Uber and Taxi drivers in Canberra.  They were so friendly!  Superior Uber cars – wow!  Many of the drivers gave us our own personal tour and commentary on our trips. We learned lots of interesting little tidbits about Canberra from these guys!

Photography – most of my photos were taken with my phone’s camera.  I struggled with carrying my DSLR camera and lenses around, particularly as we were basically out all day, every day and mostly walking for that time.  They are SO heavy – even when carried in a proper camera bag.  It also wasn’t really the right situation for full-on photography sessions – not very sociable or polite when you’re with others.  The one day I did decide to take some photographs with my camera it was very windy and the flowers were blowing all over the place, so I took very few.  I did capture a few nice shots though.  Turns out the phone is just so much easier and convenient to capture photos when you’re out all day on the move, even though they’re not of the standard of the DSLR.

So here’s some of the photos I took.  DSLR photo’s first (includes the photo at the top of this post), followed by some of the many phone snaps I took, in gallery form.

FLORIADE

NIGHTFEST

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

OUT & ABOUT IN CANBERRA

TELSTRA TOWER & VIEWS, CITY LIGHTS, GUS’S PLACE, OUR CRUISE BOAT, GLEBE PARK, CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL & MORE

And that, in a nutshell, was my second visit to Canberra.  We were truly blessed with the most beautiful weather.  You’ll notice the blue sky in every photo that shows the sky.  There was only one cold and windy day but still there was sunshine and blue sky.  I love Canberra!  I think it’s a beautiful city.  It’s beautifully designed and very pretty and there’s lots to see and do.  I will be back because there is so much more for me to explore!

Have you been to Canberra?  Been to Floriade?  Maybe I’ve inspired you to go sometime?

Ciao for now,

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