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| Red and friends at Kambah |
Sure, overpaid bureaucrats
government workers and fat cats politicians form a
disproportionately high percentage of OZ capital Canberra's ~400,000
population, with champion drinkers students
making up much of the balance, but why should this be a barrier to
adventure?
But even I didn't anticipate the high
tension and thrill of meeting new challenges in what should have been
a routine work conference held at the Kambah Club.
Canberra's taxi-cab system, a
masterclass in how to incorporate government immigration policy into
a high-demand monopoly in a one-employer town meant waiting for a cab
took almost as long as the flight. It also meant no one in
the cab (3x interstate conference attendees + 1x cab driver) knew how
to get to the Kambah Inn. Problem?
Nah!
 |
| M finds our accomodation! |
Familiarity with the intricacies of
mission statements, butchers paper and political double-speak more
than adequately equipped us – three monolingual conference veterans
armed only with a street directory and destination address – for
the challenge of successfully directing our new Australian driver
through unfamiliar streets to our destination.
BUT … perhaps the nearby Kambah Inn's
significantly lower tariff on the list of nearby accommodation
provided to interstate attendees should have been a clue. If it
was, we failed to heed it – preferring to trust the organisers
rather than do a bit of extra research. But, in our defence, it
shouldn't have made the list if it was dodgy. Should it?
Maybe 'accommodation' was a euphemism.
Was the darkened building looming out of the carpark at the street
address on our conference booking sheet REALLY where we'd booked in?
It looked more like the Addams family mansion, or the Frankenstein
house than a motel. Or a hotel. Or even an inn – at least not by
cutesy standards involving signs preceded by 'Ye Olde …'!
 |
| The glorious Kambah Inn! |
It was a pub. While a little on the
skanky side, it DID offer accommodation – if the minuscule sign
above the bottle shop wasn't false advertising. And although
surrounded by complete darkness, a light glimmered from within.
Within nanoseconds of paying, our cab screamed ecstatically into the
night towards its next victim passenger. And we
entered the Kambah Inn.
The manager's displeasure at our late
arrival demonstrated a deep-seated misunderstanding of the Canberra
cab situation. Or perhaps the Inn's customers usually arrived by
alternative methods of transport? Like hearses or Black Marias. He
led us past the walk-in freezer (freezer??) into his 'office' to
'check-in'.
 |
| M finds fun at Kambah, Australian Capital Territory |
Was it an error of judgement to a)
enter a darkened pub without witnesses; b) allow ourselves to be
lured into its depths; or c) pay with cash?
Nah! But this WAS the kind of
experience better shared with others.
SEVERAL others …
SEVERAL others …
 |
| Red and Lollipop - the good sheep!! |
The twin novelties of sleeping in a
room without windows and sharing a bed with my friend and work
colleague, M – at her suggestion once the dodgy fold out 'twin
share' spare was found wanting – made a salacious little story the
next morning for our boss!! AND … I'm not sure what the buff
stacked muscular young man, with a towel draping his
otherwise naked body was REALLY looking for when he knocked on our
door asking for the ironing board – but it almost made up for the
lack of windows.
ALMOST.
Later, at the conference, M and I
exchanged pleasantries with a couple of local attendees, as you do.
It's called networking. Or, in the real world, chatting. Take your
pick.
'Where are you staying?' they enquired.
 |
| Sheep may safely graze ... |
'The Kambah Inn,' we replied, wondering
how many others had fallen into the 'cheapest and closest' trap. The
Inn's mention seemed to kill the conversation stone dead and silence
spread around us.
'Why?' one finally ventured, visibly
flinching as she exchanged glances with her colleague. 'Huh,' said
the other one. 'Just as well it's not Thursday night.'
'Yeah,' the other one piped up.
'They've got live music that night. It apparently goes quite late.'
Of course their reaction and
revelations demanded that we record our Kambah adventure as a
warning for posterity. And now, as keeper of the pix M and
I took with the disposable camera we bought AND as blogger
extraordinaire*, Kambah's place in the Aussie adventure destination**
pantheon must surely now be assured.
 |
| M finds room at the inn ... where are the windows??!! |
And we're still not sure why Kambah is surrounded by fake eccentric
sheep – it certainly doesn't need any more
surrealism – but they fit right in, don't they?!?!
What better time to recount these
recollections than on that traditional day for reminiscence and
reflection – New Years Eve! Thank you to all my wonderful readers,
commenters, subscribers and drop-ins – it's SO nice to know my
words aren't dropping into a black hole …
I'll be visiting you in return starting
ASAP now that my unforeseen and unexpected personal issues are out of
the way! See you then!!
*By my own definition
** Unless everything's changed in the
several years since these events unfolded ...
# Apologies to Philip K. Dick
AND ... not only is it now New Year's Day - it's Scenic Sunday! Happy New Year - and check out other great Scenic Sunday posts from around the world!
# Apologies to Philip K. Dick
AND ... not only is it now New Year's Day - it's Scenic Sunday! Happy New Year - and check out other great Scenic Sunday posts from around the world!
