Day 4
The Sangeet👫💃💃👀👀
It was election day in NSW and the entire Aussie family had to run around to get to the voting station. There is a fine of AUD 500 if you do not vote during elections which was interesting for me to see. We arrived at the Sangeet hall a little after the morning and helped with some decoration. Post completing the decoration we were back at my uncle's place as we were helped by his friends.
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| The Bride and the Groom arriving As soon as they arrived, we welcomed them in a traditional manner and then the program began. Both the bride and the groom side introduced their immediate families and then began the grand show of Sangeet.  As soon the event was to begin we had the mandatory family introductions between the bride and the groom. Post that we started with the entrainment that was in store for all present. The first ones to present at the Sangeet were the brides Mom and friends and then the uncle and his friends. They had put together the dance moves that entrain everyone present.   Post the ring ceremony we returned back to Uncle's place and called it a day. It was interesting and tiring at the same time, but everyone enjoyed the ceremony. Day 5 Visit to Venkateshwara Temple - Helensburgh & Bulli Pass🚘🚙 So it was another small travel day. We woke up late the next morning and Uncles's longtime friend was there to take us for a day drive. He enquired with us for waking up late and mentioned that we need to be up early if we want to cover some scenic locations by the time we are here. The drive was of around 45 kms and it took us around an hour to reach the temple. The day it was raining and the view to the temple was very scenic.   The road was scenic and eucalyptus trees all around with sign boards showcasing that these trees may have Koala's. We reached the temple and it was very calm with the hymns of mantra's playing around.    The rain had got heavier by the time we were ready towards Helensburgh lookout point and then lead towards Bulli Pass and then our return journey back to uncle's place. Helensburgh Lookout and Drive to Bulli Pass🌊⛅🚗🚗📌 The view from the lookout was awesome. It was raining and the view of the beach from atop the mountain was mesmerizing. See for yourself the view from the lookout. In Australian terms such points are called look-outs while back in India we say a Point to view.  As it was raining and there was no cover to actually take cover from the rain, we huddled all in one umbrella that was available in the car. But since it was impeding the view we decided to click without the umbrella.  Post clicking picture's the rain had got heavier and we were to now move towards Bulli Pass and this road was even more scenic going parallel to the beach and ocean and similar to the Great Ocean Road. This was known as the Sea Cliff Road. Song playing and we steering through the road towards Helensburgh beach. This next image showcased the mighty ocean to our left and we drove for few more minutes and stopped at a place to take pics of the ocean.    The waves crashing into the rocks was mesmerizing and the calmness of the view was awesome to experience.  It had just been a few days in Australia and I was liking it already. With this we ended our day and further travelled to Bulli Pass which by the time we reached was dark. Hence no pics to showcase. Next up it will be a road trip again and this time to Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Day 6 Travel to Canberra also known as the Australia Capital Territory⏰⏳📷📌☕ There were still a couple of days for the Haldi Ceremony and before that Mamaji asked us whether we would be interested to travel to Canberra as we have some time in hand and dont wait till the marriage is over to travel. When you are aboard, please keep your travel plans and attitudes flexible. Australia is a vast country and every opportunity you get to travel to a different city you should. So we also bundled in with other cousins of Mamiji and we were 15 people travelling to Canberra. The plan was to leave as early as possible and we started our journey at around 7.30am. The distance from Sydney to Canberra is close to 250 Kms and as per the maps it showed us that we will reach there in less than 3 hrs. We had plans to visit - Cockington Miniature Garden, Australian War Memorial, City Center Canberra, Australian Parliament and Mount Ainsile Lookout which gives a view of entire Canberra. We were led by a young bloc named "Manthan" barely in his 20's and was driving a fully equipped tourist bus. It was their family business and he entertained us all the way. Our first stop for breakfast was Goulburn. It is known to house the Iconic Statue of the Marino Sheep. The wool from the Marino Sheep has contributed the most to the economy of Australia. So the city has dedicated a statue for the same. We stopped near the area for fuel as well as breakfast. Goulburn also houses the maximum security prison in Australia. Well that is the antithesis of the town.  All smiles enjoying the bus ride. While travelling we passed through Lake George. Lake George is the site of an experimental scientific wave behaviour platform established by researchers from Civil Engineering of the Australian Defense Forces. It is mostly dry most of the time but also fill-up of water from time to time.  Lake George also is beside what is known as the Great Dividing Range. This range is knowne to be as old as during the Carboniferous period of over 300 million years ago when Australia collided with what are now parts of South America. Next stop was the Cockington Miniature Garden.    It is mostly dry most of the time but also fill-up of water from time to time. We reached Canberra around 11.30am. We straight away visited the Cockington Miniature Garden. Cockington Miniature Garden🏡                      The weather was overall very chilly in Canberra and it was raining consistently as well. It was mid March and the same weather in India was extremely hot. We had to get used to this aspect of the weather. Our Indian summers are winters in Australia.😀 Spending about an hour in the Miniature Garden we were off to the Australian War Memorial. Australian War Memorial👀💪💣 The war memorial showcases various depictions of actual involvement of Australia in the Great War (World War) and other efforts where their country has been a part off. The experience is very humbling and people gave their lives for the freedom that we enjoy today.                          Post feeding our hungry dummies we flashed our way to the Australian Parliament Building. The Australian Parliament♕ Like India, Australia too is a constitutional monarchy with the Queen as the Sovereign. Since Australia follows democratic principles like in India which has the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the Australian parliament too consists of 2 houses - The Senate and the House of Representatives and also the Queen as the Governor General. The Parliament of Australia is very vast.                     Was lucky enough to get a view of Mr. Bean's car that was there in the parking lot of the parliament. Post the visit to the Parliament we were off to the lookout for Canberra on Mount Ainslie. The sky had turned out to be very clear and the view too was awesome.          Day 4,5 and 6 were contrasting but also very enjoyable at the same time. Thanks for reading through. See you soon. |
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