Canberra - 5th March to 6th March

After a good night's sleep on the overnight bus we pulled into Canberra Transit Centre at a little after 7am. We headed straight to the YHA in the centre of the city where we booked in for a night's accommodation - our first bed in 4 night's woohoo! After that we made our way to central Canberra to explore Australia's capital, a place that my mother visited a few decades ago, sorry mum. The layout in Canberra was something that we instantly admired; the city was set away from the government buildings that were set in the surrounds of Lake Burley Griffin. Many Australian's we had met had dismissed the city as a bore but our first impressions were the complete opposite, the place was fascinating and educational. Australia's history has all been packed into the city and then buildings spread out in an elegant way allowing the top officials to do their jobs without the crowds of people seen in capitals of other countries.

Crossing the lake it was not long before the capital showed us its governmental status as the road ahead was closed as a convoy led the Korean President and his numerous officials into a hotel. I feared taking pictures, wondering whether it would be alright and if not what the repercussions would be. When allowed to cross the road we made a bee line for the New Parliament House which was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1988 to replace the smaller Old Parliament House situated further down the hill. At the doors to the building a quick 180 degree turn offered the view stretching down to the Old Parliament, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and viwes across Lake Burley Griffin to the Australian War Memorial. We took a self guided tour around New Parliament and leant much about the the history of the country and in particular about the fight over the land and apology made in 2008 for the lost children that the film 'Australia' hits so hard on. After exploring the chambers we wandered onto the balcony to watch a dozen Magpies scrounge for food from workers on their lunch break before we left and made our way down the promenade to the Old Parliament.

As we arrived I thought back to my mum being in the same spot when the building was in full working order before the development of the new building that overlooks it today. Across the field a smile was brought to our face as we looked down on to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy which was founded in 1972 as a stance towards a government that refused to reconise their land rights. Rachel looked towards me and chuckled as we had heard various versions of the struggle between the two cultures of Australia, and without getting too involved we will leave it at that. We decided to head across the Lake the long way, Rachel's favorite way of walking, maybe she likes the sweaty approach. In some sense as we crossed the lake again I did feel slightly out of place as every other person that went past was a jogger. A country fueled by a healthy life style was prominent in the capital but unlike London they could jog without doing their lungs more harm than good! Before we arrived at the War memorial we took a breather at the Police Memorial, a show of respect to all officers killed in action across the country and the memorial brought all 8 states together.

After Rachel marched on down the hill I considered pushing her into the lake to see the response I would get but I guess after 7 years I feared it could be a pretty nasty one. A little further down the road Rachel relived the moment her Nan was soaked in Florida "a little water don't hurt anyone". Soon though we stood at the foot of Mt Ainslie looking towards the War Memorial. All along there were memorials in dedication to the people who fought in wars for Australia and they were truly breath taking. One that stood out was from the Second World War from a battle in Greece… the picture does the talking with a coliseum, olive trees and rubble which showed the destruction that took place. As we entered the Building itself we looked back up to Parliament House and I nearly dropped dead at seeing how far we had actually walked! However, once in the place we were simply blown away. This was not just a war memorial but a history lesson, packed full of adventure and delivered in the most intellectual and interesting of ways from the wax figures displayed in full battle to the Hall of Memory that also entombs the remains of an unknown Australian Solider whose remains were returned from WW1 battlefields. The hall at which he lies is made up of six million mosaic tiles which include 4 images of service men and women through the wars. The place is a true spectacle and many other countries in my eyes should take note about how Australia has built a memorial with such respect and dignity. Also this would make history lessons interesting as there was nothing boring at all about the exhibition.

On leaving the memorial we both felt we had been absorbed into Australia's history. We made our way back to the YHA to get some dinner. I decided to cook Rachel's favorite Chinese dish of Chicken and Cashew nuts, a recipe I had learnt in Thailand. Prepared and served the way any Asian restaurant would I felt proud although I have to admit it was not to Rachel's taste although I thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm sure you all will at home when I cook it for you. The evening passed quickly and we hit the sack pretty. Tired, after a long and enjoyable few days, we both slept so well that we nearly overslept in the morning but thankfully Rachel awoke in time for us to have a quick breakfast before heading to the transit centre for the final leg of our Australian journey - to Sydney - and before we knew it we had arrived in Australia's most famous city.