Blogs from Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 46

The nothingness of the Outback was so underwhelming that Gina and I decided to power through 900 kilometers to Canberra, the capital of Australia. This decision would narrow our distance to Sydney to a mere two hours. We had spent the previous days wine tasting at some of the finest houses in Barossa and Clare valleys. Unlike the commercialized nature of Napa and Sonoma, most wineries in Australia do not charge for tasting. The one exception was a winery that charged $5 to taste their wines, which ranged in price from $50 to $225. Needless to say, we had an opportunity to taste a wide cross section of winemaker styles and varietals. Wearily cruising into the Australian Capital Territory after an extremely long day on the road, I asked Gina to scrutinize the Lonely Planet for ... read more

Up before dawn today for a full-on itinerary. We were on our way without breakfast and took 2 and a bit hours to reach Canberra. At some points Ed was doing almost 55mph (remember, van’s condition dictates a max of 50mph) on account of grumbling stomachs. Crazy. Canberra is the capital of Australia, for those of you who don’t know, but most people outside of Oz have never even heard of it. It’s a little like Washington DC in America, in the sense that it’s on land that’s independent of the states and is much less famous than Sydney (New York). It’s also perceived as boring. But we had a really, really good time here. The town’s layout was planned and has the most bizarre and un-navigable concentric circles (roundabouts within roundabouts in Gemma’s more helpful ... read more

We were only in Canberra for 3 days but I thought it was worth an entry purely because despite it being the capital it is the quietest city I think I have seen, and definately the quietest capital! Unfortunately this city did not get off to a good start. We went there via the coach which was a ten hour trip. After a suspect curry and a hostel in St Kilda which only had one fan between four people in temperatures that were apparently 38 degrees, I think I can safely say we werent feeling too great! I also managed to find my camera broke and a whole load of our washing being destroyed in a machine, which didnt add to a great feel about the city! lol. Despite this, the hostel in Canberra was quite ... read more

Next stop, ACT. Canberra, the capital of Australia. Just a quick stop of 2 days which gave me chance to see the sights - Parliament House, National Gallery, National Museum etc. Canberra has a really nice feel to it. The huge lakes and surrounding landscape seem to take away the intensity expected from a city, especially THE capital city of Australia. One big downfall - the weekend bus service is terrible which resulted in me (being too impatient to wait for the next bus) walking for miles and miles, ending up with sunburn and sore feet!!... read more

After Manly on Sunday we spent the next day in downtown Sydney. Wandered through Hyde park, the botanical gardens and our around the opera house for the most part. Very cool spot. Pam was especially impressed with the bats in the gardens but they wern't much into posing for photos. For anyone wondering (I was) the opera house gets its colour from tiles all over the roof. White ones in the center of the panels and tan ones around the edges... Monday we went out to the famous Bondi beach. We have decided that Manly is much better and figure anyone coming here should go there first especially if pressed for time. The beach at Manly seems to be bigger, has shade if you want it and is in a much nice part of town (pie ... read more