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,
Link up here at WOTM or with another of us in the Lovinβ Life Linky team:
Leanne of Deep Fried Fruit
Lyndall of Seize the Day Project
Kathy of 50 Shades of Age
Deborah of Debbish
and Jo of And Anyways
It doesnβt matter where you link up as it will magically appear on all six blogs.
22 Comments
Wonderful pictures and capturing if your trip. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure – thank you, glad you enjoyed!
I love Floriade and your photos brought back many happy memories of last year when I took two of my kids there!
Ingrid
http://www.fabulousandfunlife.blogspot.com.au
I hope you and your kids had a good time there last year Ingrid! Glad you like the photos! π
Oh wow Min, so many stunning photographs there! I actually had more visitors (when I lived in Canberra) than any other time in my life and there’s so much to see and do there.
What an annoying experience with the cruise, but good you got to do another.
I actually have SO many more photographs I took with my phone. You tend to go a bit crazy with the photo taking! LOL I didn’t realise you had lived in Canberra. You often hear Canberra bagged out but I don’t know why. I think it’s beautiful and so, so interesting. There is much more I’d like to see and explore there yet!
Such beautiful tulips! My favourite flower. One day I will get to Floriade.
SSG xxx
Tulips are my favourite flower too SSG! I’m sure you will get to Floriade soon and you will love it! π
Yes I’ve been to Canberra a couple of times many years ago. Your photos have convinced me to return here and maybe should time it with the Floriade Festival. Those flowers are absolutely beautiful and the Nightfest looked spectacular. One for the bucket list!
Definitely time your next visit to Canberra with when Floriade is on and book a ticket to Nightfest one night too. A great one for the bucket list! π
We struggle with dragging our camera along too!! But you have to admit that the phone really takes some darn good photos nowadays!!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
The phone does take some pretty good photo’s that’s for sure! Especially in low light situations (better than I can get with the DSLR in those scenarios) but the DSLR does capture far superior shots. On this trip though it just wasn’t practical to carry my camera and various lenses around day after day, and it was killing me trying! LOL xo
The photos are gorgeous Min and I can’t believe the poor service from that cruise company – they deserve the review you just gave them! Now I want to go to Floriade – you do make the things you visit always sound interesting.
Thanks Leanne! Yes I was really quite upset about the lack of professionalism from that cruise company. We had rushed from the Australian War Memorial to get there. We could have spent more time there! We also had paid a taxi to get us to the departure point. Thankfully it was the only blip on our time in Canberra and annoying as it was we didn’t want it to ruin our trip so we ‘let it go’. However, I did feel a very strong need to warn other people off booking a cruise with them after our experience. Hope you get to Floriade one day. It’s lovely! π
I was born in Canberra, but don’t remember anything about it as we moved back to Sydney soon after and then two Auckland when I was about 18mths. Over the last few years I’ve had a nagging urge to go back and see where I first lived. Sadly our circumstances are such that don’t allow for oversea’s travel at the moment, so I really appreciate your wonderful photo’s.
I hope you get to Canberra one day soon Jenni. It would be lovely to see where you first lived and Canberra really is a lovely place!
I love all your fabulous pics from your Canberra trip Min. Makes me want to visit Floriade! π #TeamLovinLife
Thanks Lyndall! Maybe you’ll get to Floriade yourself one day. π
Love love love love your photos. We used to go most years & it’s my favourite time of year in Canberra. It’s a fabulous city to visit (& to live in) – & is really getting a soul now. #TeamLovinLife
Thanks Jo! Oh Canberra sure does have soul now. I felt it. The Uber and Taxi drivers are awesome and love showing off their city. That says a lot I think!
Pretty! I have not been this year. Enjoyed your pics though π #teamlovinlife
Thanks Leanne!