... and this is why it is the bush capital! (Canberra: AUSTRALIA)

Canberra has always been described as the "bush capital" of Australia, and taking a quick look at a map reveals why that is the case. The national capital is completely surrounded by large tracts of bushland and reserves... and even when you are in the suburbs of Canberra, you are never further than a 5 or 10 minute drive from a tract of bushland... or even a large reserve area. In fact, the houses and bush are often quite tightly intertwined... and there is a really nice serene beauty to that. Things are flat and spacious... and there are very few high rises... those horrific monsters can quite happily stay in Sydney and Melbourne!

So, it is no surprise that when natural forces sweep through the area... there are definite impacts on the humans living around. The last couple of decades have seen some fires cross into the suburbs from the surroundings, and in one particular hot summer... destroy quite a number of houses. These houses wouldn't even be really considered to be outlying... but actually along fairly normally populated streets!

Likewise, in some particularly stormy conditions... it isn't that uncommon to hear reports of trees falling on cars and houses... causing quite a bit of damage. Interestingly enough, it is often the local gum trees that tend to drop a large branch or two on an unsuspecting dwelling... or just topple over and pile-drive themselves onto a roof.

So, a couple of weeks ago... we were headed out to family favourite summer picnic spot. It is about 15 minutes drive out from where we are staying in Canberra... but already, you are free of the urban landscape (well, what little there is in Canberra!).

Unfortunately, we came across these little road block signs as we descended down the hills to the river crossing. Well... it appears that the heavy rains from the previous nights had also been strong in the higher areas surrounding Canberra... and the waters were still making their way down and out on the way to the ocean (which is still a fair 3 or 4 hour drive away!).

So, it turns out that the river was swollen and the bridge was covered. Not completely flooded, but I guess that just out of safety they decided to close the road... just in case someone lost sight of where the road sides were and toppled into the water... or more likely, the shearing sideways force force from the fast moving water would just push lighter cars straight into the river.

So, a touch of a close up through the trees... this is where the road crossing should be clearly visible. Sadly... no longer... and this was in the middle of summer, but much preferable in some ways to fires!

No big loss... we went back and found a different picnic spot... but there would be no swimming! That current was pretty damn strong and fast moving! However, that is a post for the next time... where one bridge closes, another new favourite picnic spot is found!