Canberra

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23-24 September 2002
Another eight hour drive, this time to the nations capital city of Canberra. The weather started fine but as the kilometers passed it started to rain. When I came to the suburbs of Canberra, blue skies shone down.
Seven photographers from our company are working in the suburbs this week. When I met up with them, they were discussing where to eat that night. With so many different personalities it always seem hard to agree. In the end three of us went one place, the others went somewhere else. I chose to eat alone for the rest of the time spent in Canberra. For the next couple of days I joined another photographer working in a very busy centre.

25 September 2002
Since arriving in town I have been sharing the unit with another photographer. He left this morning and I moved my gear into the main bedroom.
Around 9am I left the motel, not to a Kindergarten but instead I turned the car towards the nearby hills. A day off gave me a chance to visit a waterfall. Two hours in the bush is always better then working for a living. I followed walking tracks down into the valley then made my way upstream to the head of the waterfall. While I was there a helicopter flew low over me, then started practicing a rescue mission. It hovered over the waterfall, sending sheets of water into the air from the rotors downdraft. When it finally left, so did I. Walking back up the track I nearly stepped on a brown snake, as it disappeared into the grass, I made sure that area was avoided.

26 September 2002
Two photographers again this morning. We didn’t waste any time, and were finished by lunchtime. I was to return to the centre on my own in the afternoon. The afternoon session was finished about an hour after setting up my backdrop and studio light this time in another room.

27 September 2002
Quean bean today, I knew that the day was going to be busy. I set up my portrait light and got to work. The babies were the most part “grumpy” and I photographed those who would let me. Most of the children were shy but after a bit of messing around I did get smiles. I was surprised the morning went so smooth and around 11.30am, I had three group shots ready. Because of forward planning I was left with the big kids during the lunch break. All the other children went to sleep about mid-day. The session was finished an hour later.
I spent an hour sitting in a cheap restaurant watching the hustle and bustle of life passing the window. Cheap meals bring people out for a bargain. I watched a bus unload its cargo of elderly citizens. Watching them reminded me of my departed parents, I think of them often. It occurred to me, how unlucky my mum was being dealt such a cruel blow, not being able to walk in her last few years.

28 September 2002
From time to time I flip through the pages of this journal and it amazes me how many towns I have visited this year. Even with a break in August when I photographed the bands at Monash University. The car managed to clock up many thousands of kilometers.
Today I drove back from Canberra; the trip is now only a blur. Not much to write about but I should mention the journeys are not always uneventful. The Hume Freeway is still a stretch of road not to be taken lightly. On one occasion I saw a car and a caravan which had jack-knifed, the van was a wreck with it contents spread over the road when the side had been split open as if sliced with a can-opener. Large trucks also have had problems with the trailers finishing up in ditches at right angles to the prime movers. It was a while ago now but I even saw one semi-trailer on fire.
When I get back from a trip, figures that have been entered into my running sheet needs to be updated including kilometers and hours I have spent driving. Of course the accumulated washing needs to be taken care of. Not after this trip though because I did the washing in the motel room before I left.

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