Sunday, 1 May
We could, as subsequent events suggested, have booked a continental breakfast the night before and had it delivered to the room without actually delaying our departure, but in the thick of the booking in process the night before those details had gone through to the keeper, so we found ourselves on the road bright and early, dealing with condensation issues as we left the motel car park just before seven forty-five.
A thornier problem was the question of the best route to get us to Canberra. A quick look at the Maps app revealed that the most direct route seemed to involve a twisting, turning road, probably through mountains, which was quickly ruled a non-starter.
Inquiries at Reception on the way out hadn't exactly been helpful, with suggestions we head all the way to Bathurst and double back, but a closer look at Maps revealed a reasonable looking semi short cut through Millthorpe and Blayney and we figured we'd be able to get further suggestions when we reached Cowra, where we hoped the Tourist Information would be open when we arrived.
That was, fortunately, the way things panned out, and those inquiries directed us towards the route the locals use when they're heading that way through Boorowa and Yass before joining the Barton Highway to take us to the national capital.
We were on our way out of Cowra when the first of Staggy's text messages arrived, a matter complicated by my inability to send a response from my mobile, and quirks on Madam's model made tapping out text on a moving platform a little too close to the too hard basket, so an actual call seemed a better option.
Since we were headed for the markets at the Old Bus Depot, that seemed like a reasonable rendezvous, so that was pencilled in before we hit the Barton, and we made our way into the national capital, through the downtown area and across Lake Burley Griffin without incident until a missed turn complicated matters in the midst of the Parliamentary Triangle.