Canberra is a bizarre city, it's like... something out of Stepford Wives or Edward Scissor Hands. It has some parts from the early 1900's but you wouldn't know it as most of the city was built in the 60's. We drove in past green fields and were nearly at the heart of the city before we reached any buildings. We stopped at tourist info and were told that most attractions have free underground parking. I thought it would be a doddle! Canberra is an architects dream. It exists as a city purely because Melbourne and Sydney couldn't decide who should host the federal government, so they built Canberra between the two instead. On a map it's an orderly system of roads built around Parliament house, with sight-lines to the war memorials, old parliament house, the science museum and other important ceremonial buildings.

Parliament house was an interesting building. We went through security then had an extortionately priced sandwich at the canteen. We decided to do the free tour as you got to see a bit more behind the scenes and I wasn't 100% familiar with the Aussie political system (which, it turns out is much like our own). We were shepherded around by the softly-spoken Maggie and told lots of interesting facts. The building itself is an award-winning 1970s design encompassing Australian woods with Italian and Portuguese marbles, aboriginal inspired patterns, tapestries and paintings of former premiers. From the outside it is all big curves, manicured green turf and entirely dominated by a stainless steel flagpole towering some 80m above the building (apparently the largest stainless steel structure in the southern hemisphere dontchaknow). To be honest I found it pretty ugly and it reminded me of a school exam hall with its polished parquet floors. Grim.

However, functionally the building is incredible. The Senate and the House of Representatives have their own chambers on either side of the central great hall. Public access is only on the first floor, where they can view parliament sittings and question time from the galleries. There are 2100 synched clocks all over the building and members have exactly 4 minutes to return to the chamber to vote or they get locked out including the PM, this was apparently decided by timing the oldest Member of Parliament from the furthest point in the building to the chamber. All of the party offices and the opposition are on ground level and below that are immense cellars where all of the buildings maintenance, kitchens and administration run from. It all feels very open and accessible to the public, but the staff themselves only hear about the political goings on what goes in through the press. It was a very interesting tour and I certainly learned a lot.

Canberra doesn't really have a heart, that is to say a centre where there are shops and cafes and businesses but these are all neatly contained in modern shopping malls. It doesn't really have many old buildings, or areas that have grown and developed over time. We went to the art gallery which had some interesting aboriginal art, and then to the museum which was a very on eclectic mix of all things Australian. Maybe we were too tired to give it enough consideration but it had us both a little baffled about what the exhibits were actually showing.

We battled the confusing roads to get to a viewpoint on a mountain high above the city from where you could see suburbs spread miles into the hills, with little connection to the 'city centre' if you could call it that. The views were spectacular and it was impressive to see how Parliament House, which is a huge building, disappears into the surrounding greenery with clever perspective landscaping. It's not a city I could live in; it feels like it's been over-designed. Everything from your shopping to how you drive has been thought out for you. It doesn't leave room for creativity, individuality and perhaps even a little anarchy. We left feeling very confused by the city, but having had a pleasant day!