Friday, September 16, 2016

Cold Canberra

After Ali Prepared breakfast yesterday , we gathered our things and left sunny warm Eden and headed north. The Forecast was for rain and we were prepared for it.  about an hour into the ride a sign showed a steep incline for 10 km and that's when we moved from being in 16 deg C weather to 8 deg C weather with overcast. And after I couldn't handle the cold any more we stopped briefly to put on a layer of clothing. While we were on the side of the road I saw something hopping in the woods, it was a kangaroo I showed Husain but by the time the news reached Ali it was gone. Finally we saw a live wild kangaroo.



We stayed at a hotel a bit out of the city and closer to the embassy. We then left for a shopping center were Ali and Husain got a haircut and I was trying to recall when was the last time we saw a shopping center. Perth yup we didn't see any until we reached Canberra, and since we were here we decided to go see a movie too.



Since we were staying in an apartment style hotel there was no breakfast, so I volunteered to go into town and buy what we needed for our meal. it was 8 deg C at 7 am when I ventured to the closest supermarket that was open at the time and rode back very careful not to break the eggs I was carrying.



Later that day the clouds subsided and the weather was just right for our ride to the embassy. We met the embassy staff and Mr. Mahdi Alajmi, Mr. Abdulaziz Almenaifi, and Mr. Abdulaziz Aldekheel. Later we Met with his excellency the ambassador Mr. Najeeb Albader.



We talked all about our travels and took some photos, the ambassador insisted that we see some of Canberra before our dinner with him tonight. And assigned a car to take us to the Australian War Memorial which is a highly recommended visit.



Later in the evening we went to the ambassador's house where we met more staff as well as the current and future cultural attache. And as we talked about the great role our embassy's and ambassadors play we got to know that the former ambassador to Ethiopia when we visited in 2011 is now the ambassador to New Zealand where we hope to see in a few weeks. The meal and company were very well enjoyed and we went back to our hotels to get ready for Sydney.