Saturday morning walk

Instead of our normal Saturday rush about - trips to the supermarket and hardware store (my DH loves visiting the hardware store on Saturdays!!), cleaning the house and doing the washing - we decided to go for a walk along the banks of Lake Burley Griffin in the centre of the city.  At 9am it was still very foggy and grey (as you can see by the photo below) but not too cold for walking.  However I wasn't concerned about the fog as it usually clears by 10am, and as you will see from other photos, it did.
Very foggy view of the lake looking towards to the bell tower and bridge.
This lake was created in 1967 and is integral to the design of the city.
A water bird warming its wings, didn't seem to be afraid of us at all.
Autumn along the shore line.
This lake is very popular for rowing, some of these are our Olympic athletics doing their training.
We saw a number of black swan families on the shore, I wasn't sure if the one at the front was going to chase me so I didn't hang around. Interestedly each group contained 5 swans.
Bell tower situated on an island on the lake.
The National Carillon was a gift from the British government to celebrate the 50th birthday of the nationals capital in 1970. It contains 55 bells and each bell weighs between seven kilograms and six tonnes. The carillon is in regular use, chiming every quarter hour and playing a short tune on the hour along with tours and recitals on many days. 
By the end of the walk the fog had gone and this beautiful blue sky and warm sun was revealed. The above photo was taken at the same angle as the photo at the top of the page - looks better without the fog! The photo below is taken looking the other direction.  It is such a pretty lake. I cross this bridge ever day to get to work and admire the lake in all its change moods.
Do you remember the water bird on the pontoon in an earlier photo - here it is again, still warming itself, now in the water. Along with this bird and the swans, we saw many ducks, bats, seagulls, fish and one water rat that could swim very fast.

It was a great way to spent a Saturday morning.  Afterwards we visited the markets for hot chocolate (me) and coffee (BH) and to buy some veggies.  Then we went to the hardware store!!!

~oOo~



Comments

  1. Wow, VERY beautiful photos, Jo! Sounds like a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning, too. :)

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  2. Lovely photos .... and now I'm feeling rather homesick.

    There's no sign of Autumn here in Brisbane.

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  3. Oh my Jo- this is a gorgeous post! I loved seeing all of these photos- what a wonderful way to spend a weekend morning! I love that you wrote a out the history of the bell tower- what a fabulous gift to the city. I would love to hear those bells- many you can post a recording sometime.
    Thanks for a walk around that beautiful lake- your autumn is very lovely.
    Vicki

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  4. Your bird is commonly called a shag. They are very common here. They perch on the channel markers in the middle of the ocean & do exactly the same thing, spreading their wings to dry & preening.Lake Burley looks like it hasn't changed much & the fog made me shiver. It's too cold for me where you are. ☺

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  5. Ganeida - My husband rugged up thinking it would cold, in fact it wasn't that bad, with all the cloud cover it was a "little" warmer than expected. By the time we were walking back DH was stripping off as he was far too hot. I don't mind foggy mornings as it almost always means a nice sunny day afterwards. Saturday reached 24C - quite warm!!!!!

    Thanks for the name of the bird, as I wasn't sure what it was.

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  6. Beautiful photos Jo! I know Sydney siders put Canberra down but both hubby and I have always loved it on our visits, such a beautiful place!

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  7. Jo,
    These pictures are AMAZING! I would have love to been on that walk. :)

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