Royal Australian Mint

Money, money, money, lots of money.

We were all quite keen to head to the mint so we could view the process of how our notes and coins are produced.



Of course there is always the obligatory ‘head in the cut out’ pose.



We headed upstairs to find a myriad of showcases laid out before us. This particular one depicting other countries in which our mint produces money for.



Large scale plates and original sketches from Australian coins. The kids quickly noticed the 1c and 2c designs.



The entire upper level is surrounded by class viewing windows, which allow you to peer down into the various work spaces, each of which have a specific task.



Being a Sunday the factory floor was quiet but this large robotic arm, which does most of the heavy lifting here, caught the eye of the boys.

The current exhibition “One In A Million” showcasing when things go wrong on the factory floor. Blanks, misfires, double inlays of coins. Screws melted into coins and an array of things like that, quite fascinating!



Something that we hadn’t considered before, is the fact that the mint also produces medals of various descriptions, such as the Sydney 200 Olympic Medals.

After watching a brief documentary on the workings of the mint in their small theatre we headed downstairs where the kids were able to mint their own coins for souvenirs.

Whilst it doesn’t take long to wander around the mint we were all pleased with the visit. Once again everything was superbly presented.

Happy Travels,
Kylie

*This post is from our travel diary dated 2nd September 2012

Freezing Our Tooshies Off At Black Mountain Telstra Tower

We arrived safe and sound in our capital today, Canberra. Bracing ourselves for the cold as we exited the plane. However finding ourselves surprised as it was nowhere near as chilly as we thought it may be.

After picking up a car, some food supplies and finding our way to where we are staying we decided to head up Black Mountain to the telecommunications tower observation deck.

The mountain itself offers fabulous views of the city of Canberra and the tower itself is perched up on top.

Making for a fabulous 360 degree view of Canberra and the surrounds.

The tower also offers an open viewing deck. What a dramatic difference a few hundred metres of height makes when it comes to weather conditions.

The wind gusts were so strong that I didn’t even dare go near the edge of the fence. To say it was cold was an understatement, it was absolutely freezing!

The kids did a lap or two of the viewing area and then back inside for a hot chocolate and to enjoy the view at a more comfortable temperature.

Here’s hoping that weather closer to the ground is a little more favourable

*This post is from our travel diary, dated 1st September 2012

Solstice Viking Festival

Recently we took a leisurely couple of hours drive south to partake in an annual Viking Solstice Festival.

We watched them plan, prepare and practice for battle.



It's quite amazing to witness how serious they appear to take all of their re enacting. They were certainly very convincing.

A complete viking village was erected, where they all spent their weekend.

A simple $2 per person was requested on entry, considering the effort that was put in for this wonderful display it was such a meagre request.

Every single person, right down to the babies were dressed in authentic, well as close to authentic as they can get, attire.

Sleeping quarters are pretty comfy, although I wouldn't want to be spending a Nordic winter in there, that's for sure.

Everyone contributes to the running of the village and small tasks were completed throughout the day. Here young girls are grinding flour ready to be make into bread.

This is the main kitchen area, where the feast for the evening of the solstice was busily being prepared. Just out the front a large pig was cooking over the fire.

Here a resident Viking prepares the Yule Log. Each year on the eve of the solstice they carve a new yule log, that is filled with their hopes and dreams for the coming year. During the evening celebrations last year's Yule Log is burned, along with the thoughts of the past. No dwelling, always moving forward, looking ahead to a brighter future.

Everyone was extremely friendly, chatty and very knowledgeable. They were so encouraging of the kids, always handing them swords and a allowing them try on various bits and bobs.

The kids were very surprised to find out just how heavy the head wear is.



There was no way on earth he was leaving this village without his own piece of the viking world.

Ready for battle, friends in real life but in the Viking world, who knows!

The finale of the day was the grand battle. A well planned, much thought out and prepared battle ensued. With the very vocal crowd looking on.

Again I was extremely surprised to see how they all really 'get into' this, often taking a blow or two from their battle rounds. I bet they've all had their fair share of injuries.

This wasn't a huge event, we had seen everything in a couple of hours, but it was nice to just hang around in the village and watch everyone go about their business of being vikings.

Given that we studied vikings last year this was a nice recap and a great visual for many of the things we only saw in books. It is definitely worth a trip if you or your kids are into vikings in any way at all!

You can keep up with the Viking Village Festival and be notified of future events via their facebook page. Great work to all involved!