Canberra

We fancied going away but as the holidays from work are not great (only 20 days a year) we decided to just head off somewhere for a weekend.  At the end of Sept, when we were planning this, the weather in Victoria was quite changeable and so we decided to go to Canberra for the weekend.  I had been there before when I was backpacking and remembered being none too impressed by it but Chris wanted/felt that he should go so off we went....

We flew up there with Virgin Blue on the evening of the 16th October.  It was a really quick flight - only about 45 mins in the air and really easy...  We were staying in the Novotel and were really happy when we checked in to find that we had been upgraded from the cheap room we had booked :-)  It seems that in the week Canberra is vvv busy and expensive to stay in but at the weekend I would not have been surprised if we had seen tumbleweed rolling down some of the wide tree lined roads!!!

The first thing we did on the Saturday morning was head off to the War Memorial.  This is a fantastic building/museum with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Eternal Flame. 

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is kept in a most amazing room with a fab mosaic for the roof and on the walls.  The photos don't really do it justice but certainly give you an idea of what it is like....

There were lots of walls with all the names of Australians who had died fighting for Australia...  These walls were covered in poppies.  At the end of the corridor there were statues of a pilot and a sailor.

There is a huge museum as well at the War Memorial which details Australia's role in many conflicts around the world.  It is quite interesting to see - for example getting their perspective on the World Wars which I had only previously really heard about from a European viewpoint..... 

There is also a number of aircraft and other vehicles etc.

From the War Memorial you can see the Parliament if you look straight down Anzac Parade - it really it is quite stunning

We decided to walk down Anzac Parade towards Lake Burley Griffin.  There are a number of statues on it in honour of a number of different conflicts or groups of service people which was interesting.

We then arrived at Lake Burley Griffin.  This is the centre piece to Canberra which surrounds this lake - or that is how it feels anyway!  In the middle there is the National Carillion - a large bell tower.  On the day we were there a wedding was being held and so we could not go out to it.  In the middle of the lake there is a water jet as well which is reminiscent of the one in Geneva.

 

Following even more walking (if you ever go to Canberra, hiring a car or a bike is probably a good idea - it is not really set up for people walking!!!!) we arrived  at the Old Parliament Building.  We did not go in but just had a look at it from the outside.  Across from this was the Aboriginal Tent Embassy but Chris did not take any pictures of it (http://www.aboriginaltentembassy.net/ if you are interested in it!).

We then continued walking to the new Parliament Building.  This felt a lot less secure than you would have thought (even on a Saturday!). All we had to do was walk through a metal detector and pass our bags through an x-ray machine and we were in and free to wander.....  which we did!

We went to the House of Representatives and the Senate and sat in them for a bit.

It was also possible to go onto the roof of the Parliament and we got some good views over Canberra from this.  Unfortunately by this time it had started to rain and so we did not spend very long out there.

After a long and tiring day walking all around Canberra, we admitted defeat and took a taxi back to the hotel and headed out for some dinner.

On the Sunday we decided to catch a taxi up to Black Mountain Tower.  This is a transmitting tower for TV, radio etc.  It provides some stunning views over Canberra as well as being an area with lots of walks etc.

To get up to the top of the tower you have to go in a lift which tells you how far about sea level you are!!!!

From the top and the outside viewing gallery you get some awesome views over Canberra, Lake Burley Griffin and the surrounding countryside and National Parks.  Canberra itself may not be the most exciting place to live but there is certainly some really cool outdoors stuff to do close to it...

We then jumped in a taxi back down to the city and went to the National Museum of Australia.  This was very interesting again detailing Oz's changes over many many years and is definitely worth a visit.  No pictures of it though!  After all of that and seeing some baby ducks in the Lake it was time to head back to the airport to get our flight back to Melbourne.