Day 8

The breakfast at Victor Lodge was the nicest we'd had. We needed the fuel for the day as we decided to get about by 2 hired bikes. This was due to Canberra being very spread out. The design of the city is a work of art, thoughtfully laid out to compliment the park lands and lakes.

After Lorna's chain fell off (just 50m down the road) we headed towards New Parliament House. No expense was spared when it was built. We took a tour and the highlights were; the 2nd largest tapestry in the world (Coventry Cathedral has the 1st), 1 piece of aboriginal artwork had over 15000 pieces, the granite floor contained fossils from thousands of years ago and historical artefacts including the Magna Carta. An amazing architectural point is that when parliament are in session the Prime Minister can view all the way to the War Memorial if all doors were open. Which is 3 1/2 miles (5km) away.

At Old Parliament House we just took photos and looked at the aboriginal drawings on the floor and the aboriginal protesters.

We then cycled around the lake to try and see some wild kangaroos, but to no avail. From here we headed into the city to look in the National Canberra Exhibition, where we learned about the history.

By now Lorna's bum started to hurt on the saddle, but we still had to buy some food and find Qantas. Qantas was closed so we went to purchase some food, this time was not quite as hysterically funny, as we didn't buy home brand this time we went up market to Aldi.

On our way back we went past the Anzac Parade which had war memorial rememberances for numerous wars. Our ride back to the hotel was the slowest and the most painful as we were into our 15th mile.