Day 13 and 14 Canberra

Friday was day 13, and we drove from Cowra to Canberrra.

Cherries were supposed to be on the agenda, however the area has had such wet and cold winter, that we were lucky to find one person selling cherries at the farm gate, with suitable parking.

$13 a kilo, and red, not the deep red that we are sold when they are available.  Just a little more ripeness required as the occasional one was a bit bitter.

Alivio Caravan Park is home for 6 night.  We decided on a cabin, in case of the forecast wet weather. It is quite handy, as we have a whole "dressing" room, somewhere to unpack the bags and sort out the clothes.  The cabins here and at other parks are designed for school groups who visit Canberra.

Ella stayed here on her recent visit, and somehow I cannot imagine 6 girls all with their luggage, their giggles, and their moods all sleeping in such confined quarters!


The purpose of our trip was to attend a 50 Year work reunion of people who worked for Defence, either Army or Navy, in the Computer industry.  Those were the days when a room full of CPU still was not as powerful as today's phone or tablet.

My computer days began in 1963, and I guess way back then we never ever thought of ourselves as "pioneers" in a very new and fledgling industry, completely misunderstood by anyone who did not work in the same place.  John's began in 1968, when the Commonwealth Government held exams all around the country, where people could take part, and the "smartest" were chosen.

Each intake was about 19 people and sometimes there were 2 or 3 intakes per year.  19 years olds all ran a bit of a riot in Canberra those days.  Here they are 50 years later, (almost) and 119 grandparents attended a great day.

The reunion was organised via another computer portal, facebook, and is a perfect example of how social media should be used.

To connect people.


I am also having a 50 year reunion, but with my first cousin Lachlan on Monday.  Quite amazing and I am looking forward to that.  Another facebook find!

John and Don.  We came to Canberra in 1973 and brought with us Ben another Labrador, he stayed with
 Don and his dog Woofie, and enjoyed himself.  

Another quite amazing fact is that within these photos are 6 of our lifetime special friends, something that not too many people can claim, 50 years of friendship with work colleagues.