Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT) - 22nd November 2008
Canberra Car Kilometres: 184,115
Distance Travelled: 361km
Total Distance Travelled: 15,864km

After the excitement of Japan, we experienced a bit more of Jetstar's creative approach to customer service (nothing specific, it was just generally rubbish, even for an economy airline), and swung back into Sydney for what seems like the zillionth time.
Bleary eyed, we caught the train back to Rick and Diane's, and were thoroughly looked after yet again - a lengthy and very welcome sleep and a slap up meal later, we were ready to load up the car and get back on the road.
We were heading south, and our next stop was Canberra, capital of Australia and home to more museums and monuments than you could throw a guide book at. We wanted to have a poke around this city which seems to be scorned by most, and also Dave needed to renew his passport for the next leg of our journey; so, being the main home of the British Consulate here in Aus, and with us needing an excuse to prevent us from jetting off again to Japan on a whim, it seemed like the right place to do it.
On first impressions, Canberra was clean cut, organised, well planned out, and neat. It had zillions of shopping centres and a stupendous selection of international restaurants to choose from (any ideas on the best thing to eat in an Ethiopian restaurant anyone?). We found a campsite easily enough, but unfortunately we also found a great deal of rain, and a significant drop in temperature - enough to have us give up trying to sleep on our first night and crawl out to the late night supermarket for another duvet.
We were all set for a mucky few days of soggy weather, tramping around the city's sights before evacuating to Melbourne for some good coffee. However, we were pleasantly surprised - not only did the weather brighten up a touch, but Canberra proved to be a good sport. Not only that, but it provided some free entertainment, as a music festival near our campsite wafted notes from the Living End's greatest hits in our direction whilst we were cooking dinner.
We compared some of the monuments and public building areas with the communist layouts of Hanoi and Beijing, and whilst they were interestingly very similar in scale and appearance, the big difference was in accessibility: a lone and vigilant but relatively uninterested security guard gazed sporadically in our direction as we clambered on to the roof of Parliament House at Capital Hill (not actually as daring and subversive as I make it sound, since it's a gentle, grassed slope and open to the public). We didn't feel watched, or monitored in any way, anywhere, and statues of Lenin were nowhere to be seen.
Something that most definitely would not be tolerated in Beijing was the Aboriginal Tent Embassy - a dilapidated caravan and some wind-whipped tents nestled incongruously next to a grand statue of King George, in front of Old Parliament House, mark an ongoing protest against the denial of land rights and self determination. It's been there since Australia Day (26th January), 1972 and is still going strong - a reminder that there is still a way to go before K Rudd's 'sorry' becomes a practical reality.
We commence a bracing walk around Lake Burley Griffin, and have a poke around a sculpture park - stopping up short when we encounter a ghostly and silent, but for the odd tap on a tambourine, modern dance troupe - we've stumbled upon a performance, and join the audience for a while, although they are far more prepared than we are, coming fully equipped with wine and cheese for the occasion. Managing to contain our amusement until we are well clear of the area (sorry modern dancers), we continue our exploration of the lake area.
Sights done, and Dave's passport now in the safe hands of a government official, we decide to move on - next stop, Melbourne...