Holiday Packages Announced.

Rydges Capital Hill Canberra have announced their holiday packages for Floriade 2008. Info on the packages can be found here. Always good to get in early with these ones.

Interesting Places to see Whilst Visiting Floriade

As stated earlier in my about me and at the beginning of the blog, I am a local Canberrian, having been born and bred here for 35 years. Apart from the Gold Coast, I think Canberra is one of the best places to live!

Having lived here for such a long time, I have some very interesting places that I feel are a must see if you are visiting Canberra over the Floriade Period (or any time that you plan to visit Canberra). These places are not visited by a lot of people and are therefore very quiet and not very easy to find if you have not been there before. So... Consider yourself lucky as I am soon to post maps and pictures of some places that you must see, and the best part about all of these places is that they are all free!

One of the places to see presents a fantastic view of Lake Burley Griffin through to the Governor Generals house (the back of the house actually), a view that is rarely seen. This is part of the lake that is very calm and protected by lovely big trees and therefore does not get much of the fresh winds that can come off the lake sometimes.

If you haven't seen the GG's house from this angle before, you'll notice that there is an interesting statue right in front of the boat launching pad! So be sure to check this one out. Additionally, I you would like any of the pictures that you see here in full resolution, just let me know and I can either send you a compressed file or post out a CD.

• Cool place to visit Number 1: Near Yarralumla Nursery and Old English Garden. The Picture below is (part) of the view you will see.

 

Yarralumla Nursery is an ACT Government owned business within the Department of Territory and Municipal Services. As one of its core businesses the Nursery grows and supplies plant material for ACT Government landscape development projects, CityScape™ and the ACT Government plant issue scheme. Have a look around the Nursery, but the place to see is a short walk behind the Nursery...

So, the place to go is behind the Yarralumla Nursery in (you guessed it)

Banks Street
Yarralumla ACT 2600

Go Here if you are interested in some History and the Background of this fantastic facility.

What you need to do is first get over to Yarralumla , down the main street which is Novar Street, turn left onto Banks street and go the very end of this street (and past some very nice real estate too). Then, turn right and drive through the gates into Weston Park. Keep driving around until you see a road off to your left. Take that road right through to the end. This will take you to Yarralumla Nursery (see map above). Park your car here and walk down the past the coffee shop down the to front of the English Garden. By the way, the coffee shop <name here> is excellent too!

Walk right down along side the English Garden and parallel with the nursery. Soon, you will see the lake and some very old Willow trees. Keep walking straight down to the lake in front of you. Firstly, you will pass a bench seat. This seat will have a plaque on it saying "...". Keep walking until you see a second seat. This is where you want to be. Walk to this next bench seat, this one will have a plaque in it reading "...". Now, take in this magnificent view of the very calm lake and over to the left is the Governor Generals house, a view not too many people know exists... so enjoy!

• Cool place to visit number 2: Walking track behind Royal Canberra Golf Course.

This next place too see is close to the Governor Generals house view described above. I'll start off if you were in the car park of the Yarralumla Nursery as described before.

From the car park, walk diagonally across the park in front of you and away from the coffee shop. You will soon see a bike track that starts to wind it's way through some very lovely old trees. Basically, just keep walking along this track that makes it's way parallel with the lake and some excellent areas of the Royal Canberra Golf Course. Keep in mind that you cannot get onto the Golf course as it is private and behind a fence, but every now and then you just might hear the crack of a good tee shot off one of the greens.

Keep following the track all the way around. Pay special attention to the trees as some of the trees contain plaques as to what type of trees they are. This particular one is a California Monterey Pine.

The track that you will be walking on is actually the Lake Burley Griffin Bicentennial Heritage Trail.

Again, keep an eye out for hidden park benches and glimpses of the Governor Generals house too. At the end of this track section, you will see a wooden bridge. Walk across this bridge to see some sweeping views of the Golf Course on the other side. When done, make your way back to the car park.

• Cool place to visit Number 3: Picnic Area behind Water Police. Off Brown Street, Yarralumla.

This is another excellent place to visit that is not too far (driving distance) from the first two places. Also, this one provides a great opportunity to pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the view whilst have something to eat. What you need to do is drive back the way you came and get to Brown street. Across to your left you will see the Australian Institute of Sport rowing complex along with a boat ramp. Turn left here and park your car in the car park.

Cross the road and walk down to your right near the lake shore and on some pebbles. Walk along and around to your right. You will now be at the back of the water police complex and again, you will see a picnic park bench under some trees. Take in the view across the lake to Telstra Tower!

I you do get an opportunity to visit some of the these areas, I'm sure that you will agree with me that they are truly unique in the location and hidden away from the crowds. I hope you enjoy visiting these areas as much as I do whilst on your stay  in Canberra during Floriade.

• Governor Generals house lookout.

This one is a real beauty. This look out point is one of a few that provides a truly magnificent view up to the Governor Generals house, along with some facts about the house too. To get there, you need to go along the cotter road until you get to a round about then head down Lady Denman Drive. Keep driving along this street until you see a turn off to the right, about 1Km down and again parallel with the Royal Canberra Golf Course. Turn into this area that is basically a gravel car park. Park your car and walk toward and up the steps leading up to the lookout point. Get to the top and take in the uninterrupted view of the GG's house!

Floriade 2008 in the Making!

Here are some really interesting pictures that I took on the 12/5/2008 at around 12:45pm. It shows a perspective of Floriade that is rarely seen, the garden beds under construction before the explosion of colour! As the beds progress, I will be adding new pictures, so check back regularly.

Preparation for Floriade starts months in advance of the event, in fact, this year, the marking out of the beds that you see here actually began on the 18th of February 2008, and I've been able to capture some of the preparation work for you. These pictures have been cropped to fit on the Blog, so if you are interested in the full size pictures, please contact me and I am happy to either send you a compressed file or post you out a CD, they are truly unique pictures so enjoy!

1. Garden Bed Under Construction.

2. Low angle, bed under construction.

3. Bed Under construction showing pegs and design markings.

4. Built up soil.

5. Garden Bed being built with mini bob cat.

6. Garden Bed clearly marked at "Number 3".

7. Lots of Pegs. Gives you a good indication as to the detail of the flower bed design.

8. Close up of the detail at ground level.

9. One of the main pathways leading through the main area.

10. View of a large garden bed looking up to the picnic area at Commonwealth Place.

My Top 8 Tourist Walks and Drives

So, If you are interested in doing the "Traditional Tourist Thing", then these are my top 8 self guided recommended ones, they too will not disappoint:

• Magna Carta Walk (3.5 Km / 2 Hours).
• Lakeside Walk (2km / 1 Hour).
• Anzac Parade Walk (2.5Km / 1 1/2 Hours).

Anzac Parade is set along Canberra's magnificent land axis. This forms a key feature of Walter Burley Griffin's original 1912 plan of the city. The parade is visually stunning, with the famous red gravel centre strip and dark "eucalypt" walls.

• Yarralumla Diplomatic Estate Tour
• Military Memorials in the National Capital
• Old Parliament House Gardens Walk (1.1Km / 1 Hour approx).
• Burley Griffin Walk (5Km/ 2hrs 15min)
• Governor Generals House Look out points

I'll be adding detail to these self guided walks and drives soon.

Quick Canberra Information at a Glance:

If you are an interstate visitor planning on driving to Canberra for Floriade, then I encourage you to check out the following link. Even if you have come here in the past, this site provide a very up to date snapshot of various services around Canberra that you might need to know about. Basically, info ranging from but not limited to:

· Parking

· Roads and Road Closures

· Gungahlin Drive Extension Information

· Public Transport

· Cycling and Walking.

The Site is managed by the Territory and Municipal Services and is always very up to date.

If you haven’t already seen this article, it’s an interesting write up on Floriade, including the history of the event on WikiPedia with a few pictures: The article can be found here

Here’s a great site if you are planning on driving to and around Canberra for Floriade: Speed Cameras in the A.C.T.

Welcome to my Floriade Blog!

Hello! I Hope You will find my Floriade Site Useful and a little different from the Standard Floriade Sites available today.

As it is still a while out until Floriade opens, I though I'd start a blog to get things going as this is something I wanted to do last year but didn't get around to it. I hope that this year brings in lost of comments and pictures of the event!

As a local, I will also be offering some interesting additional information on places to see that don’t normally appear in the standard tourist brochures, complete with maps on how to get there too, so check back for that.
Additionally, I will soon be adding some interesting pictures of Floriade Under Construction for this year’s exhibition, so check that out too.

My Floriade Blog will provide you with an alternative perspective on Floriade and on Canberra when it comes to visiting the flower show and other things to see as well.
My directory site is obviously not the “Official” Floriade site. The official site can be found Here
What you can expect to find on my site is everything from information on the Floriade event itself, local Accommodation in Canberra, some really great restaurants to eat at and interesting places to see that are easy to get to.
Floriade in 2008 is going to be huge as the flower show turns 21, along with the night time show of “NightFest” with the central theme being

“Floriade 21, Films that Shaped our Nation”.

This iconic flower show that started in 1988 attracts visitors from all over Australia as well as Overseas. It was originally a once off event to celebrate Canberra’s birthday and has evolved from there. I thought I would get in early this year and start my Blog a few months out from the event starting.