Canberra was the one and only capital that we had not visited.We should also say that the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) was the only state we hadn't visited.Being the Australian capital city and one that most people had said is certainly worth a visit, how could we refuse?But first of all we had to make the journey south to the SnowyMountains.On Sunday after M had had a good night's sleep - having lost a couple of hours on her flight from Perth to Sydney the previous day - we headed down the highway.Our minds were full of what we still needed to do before we left Australia in another couple of weeks and we decided a motel with internet access was what was required.So we stopped at Yass - a delightful small town on the fringes of the mountains.From there, via the internet, we managed to book our appointment with the US Consulate in Sydney to (try to) get our visa to the USA.We also made preparations to complete our application forms.So progress is being made. The following day (Monday) we headed for Thredbo, a major winter skiing resort on the southern edge of the mountains. We travelled a circuitous, but necessary, route through the Snowies via Cabramurra which is the highest settlement in Australia.It was nothing special and the area was notable for the large swathes of dead trees (we had meant to ask why there were so many acres of dead forest - bush fires/disease? - but didn't manage to find out). All in all it was good to be in high country, which was very different from most of the other bits of Australia we'd travelled through during the previous 11 months.It reminded us very much of the Scottish highlands and moorlands, so we felt very much at home.Our main reason for going to the Snowies was to do the walk to the top of the highest point in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko at 2,229 metres. However, with a tremendous rainstorm during the night, which we spent in a very comfortable king size bed (upgraded from Queen) in the Thredbo Alpine Hotel after an excellent meal, and a forecast of thunderstorms next day, we were doubtful that we were going to be able to achieve our objective. But in good old Oz, bad weather never lasts and next morning we were up, up and away on the chairlift to the start of the walk.The walk was heavy going at first with high winds and a significant chill factor, but as the day progressed the weather became much kinder and visibility improved significantly.Perhaps we should have set off later - but hindsight is a wonderful thing!Suitably exhilarated, and with the better weather, we spent a couple of hours by the outdoor pool, jacuzzi and sauna, and after E had had a reviving back massage we enjoyed a light bite courtesy of room service and an early night.The following morning we headed for Canberra, passing through the small tourist town of Jindabyne (while in Mandurah with Jean we'd watched the famous Australian film of the same name).The scenery along the road was very pleasant and so it continued as we approached Canberra, which is in a lovely setting for a capital city.Having only one full day in town we took advantage of the youth hostel's (where we were staying right in the city centre) offer of a city explorer tour.Canberra is exceedingly spread out and this was a great way to see a lot easily in one day.First stop was the very impressive War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which features massive underground galleries and displays devoted to Australia's involvement in conflicts around the world.Second stop was the National ArtGallery which contains a good range of Australian, Asian, African, Polynesian traditional art as well as more modern exhibits including Pop Art.We then had the option of visiting either the old or the new Parliament building and opted for the latter.Very impressive - even being 20 years old now it has a new and modern feel. In many ways it reflects how a Parliament building should be - light, spacious, practical and conducive to good management of a nation.Finally, although by now pretty wabbit (eg tired), we had a chance to look round the national museum.This contained very interesting displays about Australia, its wildlife and indigenous peoples, but as we had already visited museums in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, etc we felt we'd heard and seen the same stories already.