I'm a toy balloon

I'm a toy balloon that is fated soon to pop

I'm a toy balloon

After our Saturday night out on the Canberra gay scene Sunday got off to a sedate start. Gavin had some jobs to do so Rob and I headed out for brunch. We brunched at the Pork Barrel Café, which was just next door to the restaurant where Julie Gillard had been ambushed a few weeks earlier. She had lost a shoe as she was bundled into the car by the security team but despite a good look round we had not seen any stray shoes, comfortable or otherwise. We found a nice table on the patio outside and over a very tasty brunch we chatted about mostly inconsequential things. The one thing that I took away from the conversation was that Rob has a character in Doctor Who named after him, a certain Police Sergeant Robert Lines. Knowing what they can be like with their nerdy devotion to Doctor Who I imagine that Rob is the envy of a whole bunch of gays.

Dean and Horse outside Parliament

After brunch we made our way over to Weston Park. Rob had recently joined the local LGBT choir and they were having a bit of a picnic. As we got closer to the park Rob told me to keep an eye out for some pink balloons. The park was quite large so in order to help people find the picnic spot there would be a trail of pink balloons tied to trees, fences and posts to guide people in. We soon picked up the trail but it looked like they had been up for a little while by the time we arrived. With the heat of the day and the sun they were looking a little deflated. I commented that the half deflated ones resembled slightly saggy breasts and the fully deflated ones looked like used condoms. I am not sure it was quite the look that the lesbian and gay choir were aiming for but it made the two of us chuckle. We parked up and made our way over to where the choir were assembled. I was hoping that there would be no impromptu sing-a-long, which can sometimes happen at these sorts of events. Rob introduced me to a couple of people whose names he could remember, leaving me to introduce myself to the others. We were made to feel very welcome and it seemed like a good way for making new friends if, like Rob, you had only recently moved to a new city.

That afternoon, having collected Gavin, we headed out to the Botanical Gardens for a wander around before having an ice cream and then heading up to the nearby Telstra Tower to take in the views across the city. After a trip back home to freshen up we headed out for dinner. The centre of town seemed fairly quiet, even for a Sunday evening. We ate in a little Chinese restaurant that as a tourist with no knowledge of the city you wouldn’t have spotted. The door to the restaurant immediately led to a flight of stairs down to the restaurant and it was fairly busy. Food was ordered, drinks arrived and as we waited for dinner I asked my hosts about their move over to Australia, which to me seemed like a much bigger life change than my taking a year off to go travelling. They both felt that it was a good thing for them to have done but if it hadn’t worked out or if they missed England they could just move back. They say that you regret the things you don’t do more than the things you do do and this was Rob and Gavin’s philosophy too.

That is fated soon to pop 

The National Carrilon

Monday I had the day to myself as Gavin and Rob were both at work. I got a lift into town with them and had a little route planned out to keep me busy for the day and take in the main sights of the capital. My first stop was the old parliament building which I pretty much had to myself. There was hardly anyone else in the place. After the old parliament I went to the new parliament, stopping on the way over to get a photo of Dean and Horse out front. As I was setting them up on a handy bollard a police car drove slowly past, the window wound all the way down and the driver looking at me with a slightly puzzled expression. I smiled and nodded hoping he would just carry on driving, which he did. My day was taken up with touring parliament, wandering around the National Library, going to the National Portrait Gallery (and failing to recognise the vast majority of the people in the portraits), stopping under the National Carrilon as it chimed out a version of Waltzing Matilda and heading up to the War Memorial.

It had been a very hot day to do a lot of walking so when Rob messaged me to say that he would be done work on time so we could meet up for a beer (or two) while waiting for Gavin to finish work I jumped at the chance. I met him at his office and we wandered to a bar called Tongue and Groove, which despite the name, was not a lesbian bar. The first pint barely touched the sides so I was soon back at the bar ordering a second. Gavin joined us a little while later before we headed home for a quiet night in watching an episode of Sherlock and enjoying a nice home cooked dinner. I had an early night and slept like a log. I was still feeling a little tired the next morning so I decided to have a day chilling at the house, catching up on some writing and some admin that I had been putting off for a while. I also used the time to start to firm up some of my plans for the European leg of my travels, which now didn’t seem very far away at all. Before I knew it the day had gone and Rob and Gavin were back from work. 

We decided to mark my final evening in the city by heading out for a nice meal at a restaurant called Rubicon. It had been recommended to Gavin by one of his colleagues. I had looked at the menu online earlier in the day and was very much looking forward to dinner having already pretty much made up my mind as to what I was going to have. The food lived up to the billing. I started with rabbit ravioli and followed it up with a perfectly cooked (rare) steak, wrapped in bacon served with scallops. After dinner we were handed the dessert menu. I don’t have a huge sweet tooth so it was part of the menu I had not read when I had looked earlier. On the menu opposite the desserts was the cheese selection. When I noticed that the cheeses had been split into types – soft, blue, semi-hard & hard – I got the giggles. Both Rob and Gavin sat shaking their heads in what I hoped was mock disapproval. I was still laughing when the waiter came to take our order. Thankfully Gavin put in my order for me as I was unable to do so, tears streaming down my face. It was a great end to my last night and even just thinking back to the cheese menu makes me smile.

My final morning in Canberra had come round really quickly and it was time for another round of thank you and goodbyes. I had time for a spot of brunch before Gavin dropped me off at the train station ready for me to get the train back to Sydney for my final few days in Australia.

“I'm a toy balloon that is fated soon to pop” 
Lyrics from You’re the Top from the musical Anything Goes