Blogs from Australian Capital Territory, Australia, Oceania

On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australia was achieved. Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: the new capital would be built in NSW, so long as it was at least 100 miles (160 km) from Sydney. The capital city was founded and formally named as Canberra in 1913. A blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahony Griffin was selected after an international design contest, and construction commenced in 1913. Canberra is an entirely planned city, with concentric roads aligned with significant topographical landmarks such as Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie, Capital Hill and City Hill. It has been many years since we had visited our nations capital, and it was an opportune time to revisit some of ... read more

Day 24 (27/4/21)Temps: Max 20C, Min 4C And just like groundhog day, we return to washing day & the blog! Dinner menu tonight is satay sticks, plum/yakitori ribs, atlantic salmon for Deb & shoestring chips. Day 25 (28/4/21)Temps: Max 20C, Min 5C Took advantage of the free travel for Seniors on the light rail & buses. About a 1km walk to the closest station. The light rail network is only 12 months old & further expansion is planned. Buses are what they call rapid services & everything runs on time or close to it. The light rail trip to the CBD is around 10-15 mins. We then took the bus to the Woden Westfield south of the CBD. It is strange how pricing differs between the same retailers & we found more bargains here than at ... read more

It was another chilly start to the day but, once again, we were lucky with the sky blue and the sun shining. We are staying at the Hotel Kurrajong which is very well-located in Barton for most of the things we have planned to visit/re-visit while we are in Canberra. After a self-catered breakfast in our room we set out on foot for Old Parliament House which houses the Museum of Australian Democracy. We approached from the side and walked through the Parliamentary Rose Gardens and then beside the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage Commemorative Fountain. Once inside we participated in a brief orientation tour and then continued exploring on our own. Although we have visited before and done the guided tour previously, on our own we managed to explore parts of Old Parliament House that we ... read more

On Saturday morning, we left our motel about 8-30am and before setting off on the day's, drive we went down to the Macquarrie river which forms the border between Queensland and NSW. This is a large, impressive river, with a variety of bird life. We spotted pelicans, cranes and ducks all looking for their breakfast. Next to the river is a monument to the racehorse, Gunsynd, better known as the Goondiwindi Grey! It won a Melbourne Cup in its long and illustrious career. It was very peaceful and quiet by the banks of the river and we enjoyed our early morning stroll. Then it was off on another long day of driving. We set out on the Newell Highway, our destination for this day, Dubbo. This is a sparsely used road which does not pass through ... read more

Canberra – 3 days of culture, democracy, history, education, orientation, law and order, currency, nature and indulgence. Orientation – Finding a location of significance was easy. Many could either be seen or had signage directing you to them from almost anywhere in the city. Good for tourism. However, if you needed groceries or fuel this was another matter. Culture - The National Art Gallery – Not only was the Building housing the National Gallery of Australia awesome it was great to see some artistic icons such as Blue Poles and some more contemporary pieces such as Pumpkins and Black dots. Democracy - Parliament House – The last time we visited Canberra New Parliament House was still under construction. A truly magnificent piece of architecture with so much thought and planning, giving significance to almost every aspect ... read more