30.9.23
The sweetie and I took a day out of our long weekend and went on a Magical Mystery tour to Captains Flat.
Our first stop was the Air Disaster Memorial at Fairbairn. You're no longer allowed to drive to it (perhaps all the stories of hauntings and cars mysteriously dying put them off) so you have to walk the twenty or so minutes to it.
From monumentaustralia.org.au:
The cairn commemorates ten people, including three Commonwealth Ministers and the Chief of the General Staff, who were killed in 1940 when their Royal Australian Air Force Lockheed Hudson crashed while circling prior to landing at Fairbairn Airport. The cairn was completed in 1958 and officially dedicated in 1960.
No ghosts to be heard or seen today though.
And then another twenty or so minutes walk back. Longer if you stop to take photos of flowers and paintballs.
Then we continued on.
Our next stop was Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) run by the University of Sydney School of Physics. I never even knew it was there. They ask you to turn mobile phones off, but the thing is located right next to the landing strip for the Queanbeyan Model Aircraft Club. Weird.
It's still pretty cool though.
As we were leaving a dude came driving up to make sure we weren't stealing any equipment from the place (since it was unattended at the time).
Pressed on.
We didn't stop in Captains Flat but drove straight through to the radar! I was fully expecting a gate across the road and we'd have to walk, but apparently not!
But this was super cool (and even cooler because there was mobile coverage on top of the mountain so I could do it)
We stopped in Captains Flat on the way back. I knew the pub wouldn't be open (they closed for renovations and it's for sale now), but even the cafe we had lunch in last time looked very closed.
There really is very little in Captains Flat - we drove all the way up to the end of town and back.
Then we headed home.
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