Day Trip to Canberra: The Nation's Capital

 Since we arrived in Oz I have wanted to visit Canberra.  Why, most Aussie's might ask (they think it's the most boring place in the world)?  For one, it is the capital of Oz!  I love visiting the capitals of other places and always try to hit them up when visiting a new country, state or province.  Second, none of my friends who've traveled here have made it out there.  I wanted to see some of the less popular tourist destinations to add some unique stories to my trip.

Joel made a big stink about sharing the car, so yesterday morning I hoped on the bus ($55 round trip, probably cheaper then gas in Brutis) and had a nice air conditioned, three hour drive out.  Was probably better I didn't drive because I could take a nap and not stress about Brutis misbehaving.  However not having a car to store things in made me have to once again rely on a backpack to carry my stuff.  Here I am safely in Canberra with my pack and old faithful Lonely Planet guide. 

My original plan was to buy a local bus ticket for the day to get to all the sights.  But lucky for me the coach was heading to the National Gallery with some art lovers and took me too, dropping me off close to where I wanted to start.  Score and savings of bus fare!  The National Gallery is an art museum of sorts.  I went in and took a quick peek, got bored, and continued onward.

Aboriginal art

I walked up the Federation Mall towards the Old Parliament House.  This was built in 1927 and was used till the new one was finally complete in 1988.  Some background information on the city: in 1908 it was decided Canberra would be the capital as a compromise between rival cities Sydney and Melbourne.  Prior to this not much was going on here besides farming.  It was a planned city, built for government (and built by an American might I add).  Very similar layout to DC if you've been.  In 1913 it was given the name "Canberra" which means "the gathering place".  Once Parliament House was opened in 1927 the government moved in from it's previous site in Melbourne and opened shop. 

Old Parliament House.  It now houses the Museum of Australian Democracy

This is the Australian Coat of Arms.  It features a kangaroo and an emu.  They chose these animals not just because they can be found all over Oz, but because neither one can walk backwards, only forwards.  Australia wants their government to only move forward, hence their anthem "Advance Australia Fair".

 

From Old Parliament House you look north along the mall and see the National War Memorial.  These three places, along with the new Parliament Building, all line up with each other.  Sorry, not the greatest photo.

 

 

Heading south of Old Parliament is the new, current Parliament.  It's a bit strange looking compared to most government buildings.  It's actually built into a hill and from the front is supposedly the shape of a boomerang.  There's a giant flagpole on the roof.  It's inside and outside were designed with elements of Australia's landscape in mind.

Front entry

There are free guided tours so I decided to check it out.

House of Representatives.  Where current PM Julia Guillard hangs out.  It's this color green to represent the gum trees.

Interesting central hall

The Senate.  It's this color to represent the red earth at the countries core.

You can take an elevator up to the roof to check out views of the city.  Now you can better see that the roof is covered in grass!

From here I decided to walk to the War Memorial at the other side of the Mall.  There is a lake in the middle, Lake Burley Griffin, so I had to walk all the way around.  Got my exercise for the day!  The lake is man made, damned of from the Molongo River.  There is a giant jet fountain in the center, a memorial to Captain James Cook.  It pumps water up to 147 meters.  Pretty awesome! 

At the opposite end of the lake is the National Carillon.

To the west is the Telstra Tower, Canberra's lookout tower.  They have to join every other city and Oz and have one too!

I walked all the way around the lake, which ended up taking an hour in the hot sun.  Now here's the view of the mall looking south.

Now a walk down ANZAC Parade to the War Memorial Museum.  This is basically a carry over of the Mall.  It's lined with memorials from all the different wars Oz was involved in and all the soldiers etc who lost their lives in war.  At the end is the War Memorial.  I love looking through WWI and II memorabilia for whatever reason, so this was a must see for me.

Inside the courtyard of the museum.  Straight ahead is the eternal flame and in the dome is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Dome above

WWI Roll of Honor, lined with poppies

The museum was pretty interesting and I stayed for about and hour and a half.  I loved looking at the old artifacts and propaganda.  Interesting to learn about how the war affected Australia, as in school I've only learned about the North American and European side.  Tons of soldiers were taken into prisoner of war camps in WWII and most never returned.

All in all, I quite enjoyed Canberra.  It's not a huge city (pop 350 000) but it was easy to get around and quite pleasant looking.  Pretty well all the museums here are free and it's very pedestrian friendly.  One day was definitely enough here.  If you enjoy history and museums, this will be an enjoyable stop.