The House(s) of Fran_mart

 The drive up was pretty reasonable apart from surprisingly heavy traffic on the Cooma to Bombala  section.  There were a couple of groups of Italian cars - 3 Alfas and about 10 km later about 6 Ferraris - but I have no idea what they were about.   After settling in the main attraction was the sun setting behind Black Mountain. On the morning of the 9th as we set off on our morning walk we noticed the abseilers were doing the business on people's windows.  These were on the South Tower in Allara St: the images are a little out of the order in which I took but seem to sequence OK> This continues to be a job for the imagination-challenged! We got to Commonwealth Park and to my amazement found Floriade being rebuilt.  My suspicion is that it is less than 6 months since the beds were removed!  An alert auditor might like to explore the value for money given by this rubbish - especially the astonishing amount which must be paid for hiring the tempor...

 The basic calculation for this trip was when the Mazda would reach 20,000 km and thus need its second service.  A twist is given to that by wanting to book the service 4 weeks out to ensure I get a courtesy car for the day of the service.  So it was set for 11/7.  It has been annoying that something in the car system has been set so that it gives warnings about service interval and oil change every time the car is started once I passed 10kkm after the last service/  I was able to blot it for a while but that has now come back.  GRRRR. A second calculation came about with the price of diesel.  Using the petrol spy app (even though the Mazda uses diesel) showed the price on Thursday 6 July to be 209.9 c/l in Mallacoota - ripping the community off? no, no  not us - 178.9 in Cann River, 185.9 in Bombala and 168.9 at Costco in Canberra.  The Mazda suggested we had a range of 450km and it is about 370 km to Canberra.  So the decision was...

 Frances has a developing interest in geology and "Stories beneath our feet " had a number of references to features between Bombala and Berridale.  We had never driven the Snowy River Way so it seemed like a few ducks lined up.  As well as this innovation we decided to come via Cann River as the fuel price there was the cheapest (diesel 181.9 c/l, cf 215.9 in Mallacoota or 186.9 in Bombala) between home and Canberra.  Here is our route: about 20km and 40 minutes longer than our normal route We had taken the Pajero as:  I wanted to get a new rear light assembly as the sticky tape I had been using on it for the last 8 years was getting a bit iffy;  I wasn't sure what the road from Ando to Berridale would be like; and We might want to go into the mountains while we are in Canberra. I have added a 4th element having done the trip: the Monaro Highway from Cann River to Bombala is in very poor condition.  We were pleased we weren't taking the Mazda which is...

 This covers our drive from Mallacoota to Sale. We paused in Cann River to get fuel.  The Shell servo there had closed: presumably their recent bout of low prices was simply selling off exiting stock before they switched off the pumps.  No biggie, we just went to the United station up the road: still about 10c/l cheaper than Mallacoota.   As we had plenty of time we swung into a Reserve at Nowa Nowa.  The Boggy Creek Walk was certainly boggy, but more of a swim than a walk. On, on to Bruthen where we had heard good things about the bakery.   Indeed it appeared to be good with a pie rating about 8.5 on the official scale.  The main issue - losing a point - was that the crust was a little underdone. We called in to the very adequate Visitors Centre where a display of teapots caught my eye. A memorial to an explorer.  He seems to have been an unpleasant person : I am surprised the memorial is still standing! Although I am no longer seeking ...

 In case you are wondering about parts 1 and 2 please be patient.  I decided to compose part 3 while it was still in my memory. The day began foggy as shown by Ingrid's photo from her apartment. That caused me to take a couple from our window. We began our day  with a trip to the Victoria Markets.  (A useful landmark for later in the day!) A Silver Gull flying around inside the meat and fish area seemed a little unusual. A guy using a bowsaw to open up a carcass possibly a little less so. The beer shop in the deli area still had a good supply of interesting beverages.  I got 6 beers, earning a 10% discount.  Thus far the one I have tried is a White Russian Stout.  Not much Stout about it, other than the 6.5% ABV but it was quite pleasant to drink.  I couldn't pick the coffee or cherry that had been added! I have now tried the other two beers I bought.  Boatrocker IPA is definitely not "love in a canoe" at 6.2% ABV and very fruity to drink....