Canberra is a big sprawling hyper planned city with lots of suburbs, in the middle of nowhere; good kangaroo territory. In fact it has been estimated that there are around 340,000 of them and this is the best place to see them in the wild. In the 3 days, we spent there I didn't see one. Peter out running encountered lots and is claiming he had to fight them off! Canberra was built from scratch between Melbourne and Sydney as the two, during the early 1900’s, couldn’t agree where the capital should be located. It reminds me of a large Milton Keynes with traffic lights instead of roundabouts. Pavements are few in number so the city is very much geared to cars and the odd bus. We camped for three nights at the Canberra exhibition grounds which are massive, with various show areas and a large arena for any variety of events. The day after we arrived Peter was rather chuffed as there was an auto jumble and a woodworking show. I sent him of at about 8.00 with clear instructions not to buy anything. He came back several hours later with one item, so not too bad. Later we went to the National Dinosaur museum and had afternoon tea in a shopping village built in an old worldie style. In the Dinosaur Museum, we learnt that the Glossopteris leaf fossils collected, by Captain Scott’s 1912 expedition to Antarctica and found with the frozen bodies helped prove the scientific theory that Antarctica was once part of a single supercontinent - Gondwana.

Next day we braved the buses into the city. The service was rather good if a little confusing. At the bus station, we were advised to catch number 7 at stop 5 and then number 1 at stop 7. We were heading to the National Museum of Australia to see an exhibition called 'History of the world in 100 objects’. These 100 objects had all come over from the British Museum so we had fun spotting ones we recognised like the Lewis chess pieces and the head of Caesar Augustus. It was surprisingly enjoyable as unlike exhibitions at the British Museum you didn’t have to fight your way around. There couldn’t have been more than 100 people and no queues. After this we went to the Parliament house. An impressive modern building opened in 1988 after 10 years of construction. It has an impressive grass covered roof with 23 hectares of landscaped gardens. Peter went into the public gallery in the House of Representatives and listened to the end of question time which he said was as chaotic as at home. After this he went on a tour of the building and saw a Magna Carta. It is one of only four remaining copies of the 1297 Inspeximus edition of the Magna Carta, issued by King Edward I. The name ‘Inspeximus’ was given to this issue of the charter because it inspected and approved the document sealed by a previous king, King Henry. Apparently, it was found in the archive of a Somerset school and offered to the British Museum who not wanting to pay anything for it lost their chance and it went to auction and ended up in Australia. But what was it doing in a Suffolk school?

Next day we left Canberra. We drove on the backroads avoiding busy highways. We were heading towards the Snowy Mountains, a mountainous area between Canberra and Melbourne. One road had a sign which advised us that the road was closed for all but 4-wheel drive vehicles. Not to be put off (besides the fact it was a long way back) we ignored this, confident Syd could manage it. Besides it being a little rough in places we had no problem getting through. Not sure what all the fuss was about. Further on at another road a sign advised us that the road would be closed the following Friday for a car rally. Expecting it to be rough, like you see on television I was a little unsure but again it was no big deal and Syd sailed through.

Finally, we got to the snowy mountains (Kosciusko National Park). It is a massive park but has been subject to some extensive fires, in 2013/14 summer, which has left a vast area looking rather surreal with a carpet of lush low level green undergrowth interspaced with tall thin white dead tree trunks, thousands of them, as far as you can see. It must have been one big fire. We were up around 1400 metres and the air was chilly. Once we had a glimpse of snow far in the distance but most has cleared and the roads and ski resorts are all closed for the summer and the park very peaceful. We wild camped by the side of a dam and next morning headed west out of the park.

We stopped at a small town for supplies and popped into the tourist information centre. A helpful man advised us of all the good sights and camping spots in the park, despite us politely pointing out we had left the park and were heading in the opposite direction. Not deterred he continued for a good 10 minutes before we managed to escape. Leaving the town, we were rather surprised to see several tortoises or turtles, not sure which as we couldn’t stop, crossing the road.

Further on at an old historical town (historical means it has some old colonial buildings) called Yackandandah we stopped for afternoon tea. We poked our head in the museum and got caught by the curator, so we had to go in and have a look around and hear about local history. The highlight of local history is the inquest into a large number of deaths in the same family. They even have all the coroner’s inquest documentation. I asked what was the conclusion to all this investigation and was advised nothing. It seems you can make history out of nothing. After finally escaping we found the coffee shops were all closing. At least it was nearer 4.00 this time!

Driving on we came across a nice lookout with a helpful notice advising us that it was used by Harry Powers (never heard of him), a notorious Victorian bushranger who committed over 30 crimes and was even responsible for teaching Ned Kelly how to escape the police and survive in the bush. Harry was born in Ireland in 1812 and later transported to Australia for stealing a pair of boots. He died aged 72 having spent 30 of those years in jail.

We decided to drive right up to Mt Buller ski resort to see if we could find any snow. Like the others it was closed for the summer. It is obviously a popular sport as there was a large village with lots and lots of ski accommodation, ski lifts and snow making machines all over the mountain top. We did find a small patch of snow. On the way back down we camped in a secluded wooded area by the side of the road and had a chilly night.

Finally, after another days drive we passed Melbourne and arrived at Torquay, the start of the Great Ocean Road. The journey of a lifetime, adventure, iconic landscapes and sense of grandness is some of the terms uses in the guide books. The road runs from Torquay to the near Port Fairy at the South Australia border a distance of around 255kms. The road is actually the biggest WWI war memorial, built between 1919 and 1932 by returned servicemen using only picks, explosives, shovels and wheelbarrows. It was the brainchild of Howard Hitchcock, who saw it as a way to help returning servicemen and as a future tourist attraction.

We didn’t have a good start in Torquay, the surf city of the south. We were expecting some of those big waves with surfers riding through them. What we saw was waves no bigger than ones you are likely to see at Cornwall and no great surfing, just some beaches with gentle waves for beginners. Maybe it was wrong time of year.

We headed out next morning and stopped at some lookouts to admire some pretty spectacularly sandy beaches. Still no surfing, in fact, the sea was a bit like a millpond. Driving on Peter spotted a Fire Station open day and to my surprise wanted to stop. I noticed when we walked in, the sign also said free sizzling sausages. That would explain his enthusiasm. After lunch we popped into the Anglesea golf club for a buggy tour. The golf course is famous for its 350 Eastern Grey Kangaroos that just wander around completely un-phased by golfers and tourists. It was quite amazing as we stood about 10 foot away from a group or mob as they are correctly termed.