Blogs from Australian Capital Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 61

Hello! This is the first time I have had access to internet (that worked) so I apologize! We have done a lot, but I will try to keep it brief. Our first day we toured the Olympic Park Grounds and Telstra Stadium. It was a good frist day, the pool was very refreshing. On our second day we had a group photo in front of the Sydney Opera house and Harbour Bridge, then went to an opal museum. (If anyone doesn't like their gift, just let me know and I am sure any one of the leaders would love to take it off your hands!). We also had a Harbour cruise and tour of the Opera house. The Opera house was quite different then anyone expected. They have hosted events like sumo wrestling, boxing, opera, concerts, ... read more

Another great place for walks, views and kangaroo spotting - Namadgi National Park... read more

Yes so as I last left you I was on my merry way to Oslo....said goodbye to sweet angel jackie....lined up in the cue for check in....it was surprisingly small...got to the counter and exchanged excited words with the lovely qantas woman and then.....it all went #!!!***??? This was the very sentence that made my smooth sailing travels somewhat DIFFERENT! " I am sorry dear it seems that your passport has expired." Tummy drops, the cold sweat runs across my brow....the sad thing....I had a intuitive feeling that was going to be the case. I had read the bloody expiry date backwards.... So I took a big breath...gathered my thoughts....and the AMAZING RACE ala Rayne Murray began. Somehow I had to try and get my passport sorted and then get on a later flight to Oslo. ... read more

We spent 4 days in the nations capital, Canberra. It has just over 300,000 people living there so is a lot smaller than Sydney, Melbourne and the like. In yesteryear when men were men and all that jazz Melbourne and Sydney were great rivals so it was decided to build a capital city in between them both: Canberra was built in the early twentieth century for the sole purpose of becoming the new nation's capital. Our Youth Hostel was the most expensive one we've stayed in so far: still only 15 round pounds a night though. It was well worth the money: it had a free pool table, nice TV room, was clean and generally looked modern. It also had on the Lower ground floor, a heated Swimming Pool and Jacuzzi- the perfect atmosphere for us ... read more

Tidbinbilla is a wilderness park area around 40mins drive from central Canberra and home to some walking tracks, many kangaroos and (allegedly) 'Lucky' the koala - the only koala from this park thought to have survived the 2003 bushfires which badly damaged the bushlands around Canberra. We certainly saw lots of kangaroos and some quite exotic birds - but Lucky didn't put in an appearance. Also look out for the photo of the new car - after driving first a Vauxhall Astra and then a Ford Fiesta around London for the past few years this Honda CRV is huge - and Sandra keeps forgetting that it neither corners nor parks like the Fiesta!! But we had been warned about the many dirt roads and tracks in Australia's national parks and the (sometimes) inadvisability of taking a ... read more