Travelling Sprout

A Sprout Spends Easter in Canberra
By Shelley Banks

When you think of interesting travel destinations, our nation’s capital is not the first place that comes to mind. Full of politicians and public servants, and lots of roundabouts it doesn’t seem to be in the same category as many other capital cities. But on a recent trip, I was reminded that there is plenty of things to see and do.

After checking in at the Hyatt (the only place I stay in Canberra), we spent the afternoon walking around Lake Burley Griffin, taking in the changing autumn leaves. Rugged up of course; it was freezing. But it was not as freezing as a few hours later when we decided to walk to dinner along the edge of the lake. Between the afternoon and evening, the temperature had dropped 10 degrees, which is a lot for someone from Queensland. Thankfully, the restaurant was heated so we could enjoy our three-course fine dining meal which included crab, duck and a cheese platter.

The meal was much nicer than the attempted walk back with the wind having picked up while we were inside. We only got a few metres along the lake path before turning back and ordering an Uber. When we got back to the hotel, the bar was still full, so we stopped in for a nightcap by the fire.

The next day, we decided on a day of ‘nationals’- National Gallery, National Library and the National Portrait Gallery.

One of the main reasons I visit Canberra is to see art exhibitions at the National Gallery. This one was called ‘Masters from the Met’ and featured paintings from Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Monet, Cezanne, Degas, and Renoir, which are usually on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It’s much easier to get to Canberra than New York, and the one-hour flight was worth it. The art was spectacular. I could have stayed longer, but the exhibition was so popular that you had to keep moving.

Having seen the exhibition we came for; it was time for lunch and the National Library is just the place for that. The café serves delicious food and afterwards, we roamed around the library looking at the different collections.

The portrait gallery, the next stop on the itinerary, had an exhibition focused on the theme of love, with paintings and photographs from well-known people capturing the theme in their work.

That night, we ventured over to Braddon and found a tapas bar featuring timber furniture and a fireplace, the first giving the space a cosy feel and the second necessary for keeping the cool autumn temperatures at bay.

It was our second good dinner in Canberra, and it provided a great location for people-watching as we seemed to have stumbled across a place where ‘trendy’ people eat. Everyone was expensively dressed and conversations centred around recent trips overseas or the latest state-of-the-art equipment purchased for their homes.

The next day, we headed to the Australian War Memorial in Campbell and its permanent exhibits of the First World War, Second World War, Cold War Gallery and Afghanistan. We walked through each room, taking in the history and the information, which while often sad and always thought-provoking, is an important reflection of events that shouldn’t be forgotten.

The War Memorial was opened in 1941 and was originally intended to commemorate those who died in the First World War. But this was later changed to include those who died in the Second World War, then further down the track, changed again to include all other wars as well as all Australians who died in a conflict.

We exited through the Hall of Remembrance, looking for familiar names on the plaques. We then paused at the top of the stairs outside to look down Anzac Parade toward Lake Burley Griffin and the surrounding city.

From the memorial, we headed into Civic, walking by old unit blocks with broken windows and graffiti, so very different from some of the grand houses we’d seen. When we got there, we saw that many shops were shut, and areas deserted. It wasn’t as interesting as other places we’d seen so far, so we didn’t stay long.

The next day we decided to head further afield to Cockington Green, an amusing display of miniature buildings from around the world. It was fascinating to see the detail that had gone into making the houses and monuments dotted throughout the area, including a miniature replica of Machu Picchu. The displays were impressive to look at, the miniature steam train was fun to ride on and the homemade scones purchased from the café were delicious. It was a different day out but very amusing.

We only had time for one more thing on the itinerary and we decided to stop in at Parliament House. Parliament wasn’t in session, but we walked around the buildings, peered into the chambers, took in the art on the walls, and saw the replica LEGO Parliament House, which took 740 hours to build and was constructed from 152,690 LEGO pieces. Whoever put that together must be a very patient person.

From the old at the art gallery to the new at the great restaurants we ate at, we never had a dull moment. Canberra is a great place for a short holiday, and we’ll be back the next time there’s an exhibition we want to see.

Musings

The School Captain is a Cat
By Shelley Banks

Having been around for a few years now, it takes a lot to surprise me. But occasionally it still happens. One such recent instance was a discussion with a primary school teacher I met at a social event. The discussion turned to things that are now accepted when once upon a time they weren’t. Including some of the behaviours the next generation gets away with that we didn’t. Case in point, the teacher said, we have a boy at our school who identifies as a cat.

Pausing for a moment as she took in our reaction, she confirmed that we’d heard her right. To top it off, the school allowed a box of kitty litter to be placed outside the classroom door. Those of us listening to the story looked from one to the other, thinking the teacher was either making this up, or we’d lost track of time and had gone back to April 1.

Neither of these things were correct and this was indeed, a true story. That’s not the only one though, she said before continuing with how she’d told the story to her neighbour and he had a similar story to share. At his daughter’s co-ed private school, the school captain also identified as a cat and at a recent school assembly, he got up to address the students, complete with cat ears and a tail.

As we listened, mouths open in shock, trying to understand how things like this have come into being, especially, given that when we were at school, we would have been escorted from the school grounds if we’d tried anything like that.

Having finally realised both these stories were true, I couldn’t help but wonder what happens when both of those boys graduate. Cat ears, tails, and kitty litter are not accepted in most workplaces, and I can’t imagine that changing by the time they get there.

Short Stories

The Party
By Shelley Banks

A surprise party. That was it. Tony would never suspect a thing, Angela thought. All that was needed was some careful planning and the first thing Tony would know about it was when a room full of people yelled “surprise”. So she made a list of attendees and started writing out the invitations.

‘Angela, I’m home,’ Tony called out as he walked through the door an hour later.

‘How was your day?’ Angela asked as she hugged him. 

‘Nothing out of the ordinary. What about yours?’ 

‘Same. I was just about to start dinner. Can you give me a hand?’  

As Tony followed her into the kitchen his thoughts turned to his upcoming birthday, in particular, what Angela was organising. Every year she went to a lot of trouble to make his birthday special but this year he’d decided, he was going to turn the tables. A surprise party. The perfect solution. She’d never guess. And since their birthdays were in the same week Tony figured she’d be too preoccupied with whatever she was planning for him to notice what he was up to. He planned to organise it for the 15^th, the Saturday before her birthday.

While they chopped, Angela glanced over at Tony and wondered what he was thinking about because he looked very pleased with himself. But she didn’t have time to think about it too much. She had a party to plan for the Saturday before his birthday, the 15th.

After dinner, Tony went to shower, and Angela took the opportunity to finish the rest of the invitations before putting them in her handbag to post the next day.

‘Why don’t you go and have a bath?’ Tony suggested as he came out of the bathroom. ‘I’ll pour you a glass of wine.’

Angela smiled. ‘That’s the best suggestion I’ve heard all day.’

Making sure she was in the bath Tony started writing out the invitations for her party. When they were done he put them in his briefcase to post in the morning.

As the invitations to both parties were received on the same day by their friends there was a lot of confusion until everyone realised what must have happened. But, because both invitations came with strict instructions for secrecy all those invited saw no reason to tell Angela or Tony. Replies were sent and the fifteenth was marked on calendars with a smile.

The day arrived and Angela and Tony were both preoccupied with how to get the other out of the house. They each had decorations that needed to go up. Angela had already bought the food and drinks, which were safely stored at their neighbour Evie’s house. Unbeknown to Angela, Tony had done the same thing.

With one hour to go, they were both in a panic. None of the suggestions either of them had come up with could get the other out of the house. Then the doorbell rang.

‘I’ll get it,’ they both yelled running for the door.

Surely no one was this early.

It was Evie. ‘Sorry to bother you but my glasses have fallen behind the lounge chair, and I need some help to move it. Can you both give me a hand?’

So they followed Evie back to her house to help. But just as they were about to shift the lounge a loud shout of “surprise” rang out.

‘What’s going on?’ they both asked in unison, looking firstly around the room, then at each other.

‘The party is not supposed to start for another hour, and it’s supposed to be at our place,’ Angela declared.

‘How did you find out?’ Tony asked, disappointed. ‘I thought I hid the plans so well.’

‘What do you mean?’ Angela replied, a puzzled look on her face. ‘This is for you. I planned a surprise party for your birthday.’

‘But I planned one for you,’ Tony exclaimed. ‘This is your party.’

They looked at each other again and then at their neighbour.

‘Surprise,’ Evie said, a large smile spread across her face.

Something Light

Guinness at 8 am
By Shelley Banks

Travel is wonderful for so many reasons. The places you see, the experiences you have and the people you meet. And sometimes, any one of those things can surprise you in ways you didn’t expect. Like my visit to the small town of Ballintoy, a few years ago now.

And when I say small town, I mean small town. Located on the northern Irish coast between Ballycastle and Bushmills, it only has a population of about 200. It does have a lovely harbour though and a cemetery on top of a hill overlooking the ocean where the headstones are on a lean from the strength of the wind.

I happened to arrive in town on the same day that the publican of the local establishment was retiring and the whole town had been invited to the farewell party. While eating lunch at this particular pub, I received an invitation to come to the party as well as the use of the last guest room available.

Staying the night wasn’t on the itinerary but how could I turn down such an offer?

The party kicked on until the early hours and featured a live band, lots of drinking, dancing and good-natured shouting above the noise.

It was when the clock struck midnight that the band suddenly stopped, and the crowd broke out into a song I didn’t know. Turns out it was a Protestant marching song. Why it needed to be played at midnight, with all the locals singing along, I wasn’t really sure. And given how much everyone had to drink by that stage, I wasn’t sure I’d get a coherent answer.

Not being something I’d ever experienced, I put it down to one of those great travel memories that stays with you.

And then the next morning, I was surprised again, when entering the pub, hoping that breakfast was available, I instead found revellers from the night before still propping up the bar, full pints of Guinness in front of each of them. I was offered the same but assured the person behind the bar that a coffee would be just fine. And not one of the Irish variety. Just one with plenty of caffeine.

Books

If you like my short stories I’ve published ten books.