Ride W: 34km; total: 320km
Walk G: 5km; total: 113km
Walk W: 7km; total: 115km
After a morning coffee, Wendy set off on her morning ride - the usual route. Because Greg's bike chain had broken yesterday, he could not ride. Instead, he climbed on the roof and grabbed the branches of the tree next door (which were hanging over the roof and dumping leaves in the gutters) and hacked them off. After her ride, Wendy had a quick breakfast then we both headed out on the bus to the Australian War Memorial. We arrived at the City interchange and had about 30 minutes to wait for our connecting bus. As it was well past coffee time, we decided to have a late mornos at Maccas directly adjacent the platform. Well, the ordering and receiving process took longer than anticipated and we had to wait another 25 mins for the next bus.
The War Memorial is in the process of an enormous upgrade and expansion. Like everything done in Canberra it is all going to be amazing when finished. As we had been to the AWM many times before we concentrated our efforts on the newly opened sections. The Blackhawk helicopter, Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV), F-111, and F/A-18A Hornet and the nose cone of a RAAF C130, are the newest members in the memorial's fleet. The Blackhawk chopper, when seen from below, is a very large aircraft; when you are conducting casualty evacs, it doesn't seem so big. We decided to have lunch at the AWM, however, changed our minds when we saw the queue at the cafe. We were fortunate enough to catch a bus about three minutes after exiting the AWM and we were back in the city in no time. We made our way to the Canberra Centre food court and had very delicious fried rice dishes - one with seafood and one with chicken. We did not have to wait long for a bus to Belconnen. We then went to 99 Bikes to get a new chain for Greg's bike, but didn't know the number of links, so we had to continue home. The next bus was not far away.
To avoid having to wait for buses, Greg removed the broken chain, counted the links and Wendy drove him to 99 Bikes. She parked in a parking lot not far from the shop and had to wait about seven minutes and Greg was done. Back home to affix the new chain.
Because we had largeish lunches, we were not feeling like much for dinner, so Wendy had bacon and eggs, and Greg had fruit salad and yoghurt.
Australian War Memorial
ASLAV - Australian Light Armoured Vehicle
Bushmaster - Protected Mobility Vehicle
The Military Police remembrance plaque
A new staircase with lots of what look like glass birds
The new Dome
A rather unflattering view of the front of the F-111 - that is why they called it the flying pig
F/A - 18A Hornet
Nose cone of a RAAF C130 - Hercules
Special Forces gear
Civilian dress for Op Bel-Isi in Bougainville, we both did four-month tours, same lanyard and hat, different uniform
The old faithful Huey
The unfinished section of AWM, which you can view but not enter
CH47-Chinook under wraps
"G" for George under wraps
The Australian War Memorial
Greg took a pic of the bike multi-tool he got from Secret Santa this last Christmas, thanking him/her - the chain breaker worked a treat and will be a welcomed addition to the tool kit on tour
