As our My Summer series wraps up, here’s how RiotACT feature writer Zoe Pleasants plans to spend her time over the next few weeks, with Manuka Pool at the top of the list.
Check out Vanessa Jones’s My Summer here for a West Belconnen perspective on hanging out in Canberra in the heat or catch up on the entries from Amy Birchall, Charlotte Harper, Elias Hallaj, Suzanne Kiraly, Jane Speechley, Rachel Moore, Maryann Mussared and Rebecca Vassarotti.
This summer I’m most looking forward to … having a break. Part of this break was a much anticipated trip to Vietnam, from which I have just returned. Much less anticipated was my decision, made late last year, to change jobs. My new job starts at the end of January, so I currently find myself at home with the kids going to childcare and holiday activities for at least some of the time — bliss!
I’m least looking forward to … the dramatic temperature changes caused by air-conditioning. Sometimes I need a jumper in the office when it is 35 degrees outside.
The best swimming pool in Canberra is … Manuka Pool.
My favourite freshwater swimming hole is … the sprinkler in my backyard. More about running than swimming, and more about the kids than me, but still it is the closest I’ve got to freshwater swimming in a while. Maybe I need to change that this summer.
The best beach on NSW coast is … Narrawallee. It is a protected beach which makes it great when you’re with young kids, and my husband has fond memories of holidays spent there with his parents.
Aside from swimming and lounging on the sand/by the pool, when I’m on summer holiday I like to … fantasise about how I will be more organised, more disciplined and less stressed over the coming year. I will eat better, exercise more often, get up when my alarm goes off, and write a novel in my spare time.
My favourite summer drink is … chilled water. Still or sparkling, infused with lemon and mint, it is just what you need when the temperature soars.
My ice-cream of choice is … pistachio.
The salads I like to eat in summer are … inspired by my recent trip, Vietnamese rice noodle salads.
The al fresco dining spots I’ll be hanging out in this summer are … Little Brooklyn and Bitter Sweet in Green Square, Kingston; 7th & Bake and Walt & Burley at the Kingston Foreshore; and Snapper at Yarralumla Yacht Club.
The sport I’m looking forward to playing this summer is … swimming. I know it’s not really a sport you play, but come summer I love getting up early and swimming laps at the Manuka Pool.
The sport I’m looking forward to watching this summer is … tennis, particularly the Australian Open.
When it’s too hot outside I’ll … be in the Manuka Pool.
The must-attend summer events this are … the National Gallery’s exhibition – Versailles Treasures from the Palace; Ben & Jerry’s outdoor cinema; Googfest; and, because I haven’t seen it yet, the National Museum’s exhibition – A History of the World in 100 objects from the British Museum.
The best outings for children this summer are going to … Manuka Pool; the cinema (but take a jumper in case the air-conditioning makes it too cold); the water playground at Weston Park; and the oval in the evenings.
The summer flicks I’m planning to see are … Lion, Jackie, Edge of Seventeen and, I may as well face it now, Ballerina. You may note that, on account of being one of the few people left on the planet that hasn’t seen Star Wars yet, Rogue One is not on this list.
On my holiday reading pile this year are … The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling); A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler; Anger and Forgiveness by Martha C. Nussbaum; A Man called Ove by Frederik Blackman; Governomics by Ian McAuley and Miriam Lyons; Merciless Gods by Christos Tsiolkas; and the Lonely Planet Guide to Vietnam.
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