Capital cities tend to get poor reviews from travellers, and Canberra is no exception. It seems like one of those places you either love or hate. I'll likely be hitchhiking the Sydney-Melbourne corridor again and again so I thought I'd stop off at Canberra this time round. I arrived very late last night and in reaching the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) I've now been to eight out of nine Australian entities (six states and three territories). The only one left is Tasmania. Eric and his mum, Kate are hosting me for a couple of nights via CS. One full day is all I'd have here in Australia's "meeting place." The name "Canberra" comes from the Ngunnawal language word of a similar meaning. One my priority list this morning before exploring was a few geocaches, which means I've found caches in every mainland Australian state and territory. Today was a scorcher: 38 degrees! It wasn't a particularly good day for scooting around but I did it anyway. Kate gave Eric and I a lift into town where we parted ways. It's a good thing I brought my Razor scooter because the parliament house is a fair distance from downtown and it would have been a long and toasty walk. To make matters worse it's rather confusing getting to the actual facade of the parliament house even though it's visible from several kilometres away. As a fun spoof I got a photo of myself jumping on my scooter in front of Australia's most prominent government building. Police stand outside with large machine guns and there's airport-style security; they required me to cloak my scooter. The facade of the parliament house looks better than the interior but I really liked the marble staircase.
Only recently have I learned, from my friend Helena, that marble is a very porous surface and that you shouldn't set wine glasses on it. Australian coins from past and present are on display.
For the 50th anniversary of decimal currency, a special set of coins are being released this year. As an added bonus I got to watch Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in a live talk with the members of the House of Representatives. Whilst it was boring to listen it makes a great "been there done that" story. Founded in 1913, Canberra is Australia's largest inland city. There was a debate whether Sydney or Melbourne should be Australia's capital but it was later decided that a purpose-built capital would be built away from the coast. Not far from the parliament house is the National Library of Australia. The old parliament house isn't too far from there, and various museums are all within a stone's throw of each other. Questacon is Canberra's science and technology center, and Einstein certainly would have a hayday here.
If you look at this sculpture from the side it looks like a bird. Two days certainly isn't enough here! Nearly everyone who has told me about Canberra speaks of it as boring and dull, but I reckon Canberra would be interesting to the intellectual traveller. If your interest is libraries, parliament houses, and things like that, then Canberra is right up your alley. If you're after partying and must-see sights, you'll be bored after a day. The ACT doesn't only consist of Canberra; various hiking trails abound and a large swath of protected forest lies southwest of the city. Geocaching must be a really popular activity here as there are noticeably more caches within the ACT than in surrounding areas of NSW. After a coffee and some geocaching I went to visit the capital's most-visited attraction: the War Memorial. Unfortunately it closed by the time I got there but I snapped a few photos around the outside.
What's spectacular is how the War Memorial stands directly across from the parliament house, separated by the lake as though they're watching over each other.
Contrary to many other travellers (and Australians) I really enjoyed Canberra and it's a pity I only had one full day. Next time I'd love to come back for at least a week. When I returned to Eric's flat this evening I noticed something you wouldn't expect in Australia's capital: kangaroos just a few dozen metres from Eric's doorstep. For being my gracious hosts I offered to cook tea this evening but not before I went geocaching and watched a majestic sunset. As a "collector" of sunset photos I snapped a great one this evening!
A silly galah sculpture intrigued me as well as I searched for a nearby geocache last night.
Yesterday I undertook a challenge to find geocaches in three different states on the same day, so I managed one in Victoria at the train station in North Melbourne, one at the turnoff to Canberra in New South Wales, and one near Eric's home in the ACT. In one day I've managed to find nearly a dozen caches.
One day I'll return to Canberrra. My top priority then is a visit to the Royal Australian Mint. For now, I'm off to Sydney and then Norfolk Island!
