Canberra

Canberra, Australia’s capital in the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) is totally surrounded by New South Wales. It is a relatively short drive from Mount Koszciusko and was our next stop. Canberra is also known as the “bush capital” surrounded by farmland and bush rather than metropolis. It is well planned around a man made lake and boasts some great architecture. A case in point was our first stop, the Australian Parliament. It is built into the landscape with a grassy green roof, signifying that the people are above the parliament, and topped with a gigantic flag pole. We were able to park right underneath for free!!! Parliament was not in session, but we enjoyed checking out the houses, art galleries, halls and displays.



Our chosen caravan park had a pub right in the middle of it, made resistible by a very bogan (redneck-ish) set of local residents. I truly thought I had walked through a time warp back to the 80s with the number of mullets on display. Next morning we woke to celebrate The Festival of Kelly. Yep - he’s caught up to me again and I am no longer sleeping with a younger man as we are now both 42. Then we headed off to The National War Memorial Museum, a very moving tribute to Australia’s participation in conflicts since the Boer War. Mainly we focussed on WWI and WWII, to which the bulk of the Museum is devoted. The Anzac and Gallipoli displays are very emotional for me, and those associated with the Japanese massacres and the Nazi death camps in WWII. I anticipated Kelly, with his military background, would want to spend more time, but after two hours he was, like me, ready to go. I love visiting the museum and I love leaving it. Tragic stuff.