Day Seven: Thursday

Day Seven: Canberra and the ACT

We got an early start this morning to make it to the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) and Australia’s capital city, Canberra (they say it more like: “cam-bra”). It was a pretty good drive up a pretty steep mountain side. Once we got up the mountain, it leveled out much more than it is on the coast. It was similar to the experience of going from Seattle to Yakima. We went from fairly green and lush scenery to flat and dry scenery. We saw hundreds of kangaroos, tons of sheep and cattle and a few other unidentified creatures (which were usually road kill) on our way.

Along with the change in elevation came a change in climate. It was only seven degrees in Canberra, which was a bit chillier, than the typical eighteen or nineteen degrees on the coast (rule of thumb for converting Celsius to Fahrenheit: double it and add 32. So it was about 46 degrees in Canberra, instead of the usual 68-70).

In Canberra we did some basic sightseeing. We toured the Parliament Building, sat in on a sessions of both the Senate and the House and read all about Australian government. We were surrounded by school field trip groups, which brought back some memories. Then we drove through and looked at the national buildings like the National Archive Building, the National Museum etc. but chose to go in and tour the National Portrait Gallery. The NPG was basically an art museum that took you through Australia’s history and modern culture. Quite interesting! We also decided to tour the Australia War Memorial, thinking it might shed some more light on Australia’s history. It was interesting to see their involvement in the First and Second World Wars. It was also a sharp reality check, as any war memorial is, about the costs that each country, large or small, has paid for the world we live in today.  

After that, we found our way through town to find “Canberra’s only micro-brewery” which we had read an article about, Blake has been wanting to try an Australian amber, which they don’t seem to serve in many places. It was good, pretty similar to the microbreweries that we’re used to.

It was a fairly treacherous drive back home, over the mountain in the dark and in our little ‘tin can’ rental car, but Blake managed quite well and we are home safe.

It’s time to pack up, eat up some leftovers and do some laundry because tomorrow we head to Sydney!

At the Parliament Building,
our first realization of how much colder it is here!

They are pretty proud of their tall flag
pole, which is flying a flag bigger
than a double tall bus!

National Portrait Gallery entrance.

In front of the orange glob at the NPG.

A view of the Parliament Building from
the war memorial

The Australian War Memorial Wall.

Trying to get a picture of ourselves with the
Parliament in the background, but we
blocked it mostly and, it was so bitterly
cold out there we didn't try for another!

Warming up with a brew and a snack before we head home.