ACT: Canberra - 8th September

Weather for Canberra ACT

-3°C | °F Sat Sun Mon Tue Partly Cloudy Wind: N at 0 km/h Humidity: 91% 14° 1° 13° -1° 16° -1° 17° 1°

See photo -  Temp at 7am '0'!!

We had an interesting start to our Canberra adventure, firstly as you can see above this will be our coldest period yet! We headed down the Federal Highway stopping at Lake George to view more than 80 wind turbines, the weather was cool and windy as we arrived at our camp site for the next 3 days. Getting a camp site was another small drama, we arrived at the EPIC showground only to see the site had an old van already there, we rang the manager and found the site hadn't been paid for and we could have it. Well a couple of hours later a young bloke arrived and asked what we were doing there, long story short we shared the site and made some new friends along the way! The park was full to the brim with several events booked for the Showgrounds, but it's the best van site in the city! It made for some interesting nights with the power as everyone had their heaters, lights and TV's going.........so....... when someone went to boil a kettle it tripped the power. In the end our friends across the way, more West Aussies, Tony, Tenille, and their little Taylissa, who is 4 years old, held the key for the fuse box to reset the power as needed.

See photo - Riley, Taylissa & Aiden.

Now if anyone would have ever said you can clone a boy, and then turn him into a girl i wouldn't have believed you. But this was incredible, they met 'n clicked instantly, then they were off ..... into everything! She was blue eyed and blond hair, exactly the same height as Aiden and they ran around holding hands for the next hour or so....... Riley was not happy!!!!

Our stay here was pretty interesting watching the manger .try to juggle caravan spaces and tell the local polish family to stop driving like maniac's. On the second morning even the Federal Police paid the park a visit, it seemed there was a little incident overnight which required 6 cars and a forensic team...... eeek!  All aside we truly did enjoy our stay .....at the least theirs was free entertainment :)


We thought it best we find out why Canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital. It all happened in 1908 when it was a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne. It's unusual among Australian cities, being entirely planned from scratch, following an international contest for the design, a blueprint by the Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffen and Marrion Mahoney Griffen was selected and construction commenced in 1913. Now understanding Canberra's history we headed out to the nearest shopping centre for some groceries, along the way we both had a strange feeling about Canberra which neither could put our finger on, then it dawned........... it was like a huge government building, well built but with no heritage or heart.

See photo - Australia's first built car.

See photo - Black Mountain - Telstra Tower.

The following morning it was freezing, their was a light cover of frost on everything in sight and after morning school it was off sightseeing. First stop was the Telstra tower, well almost everything in the city is free to explore......but, who do you think would charge to view our capital.......... dead right "Bastards Incorporated" Telstra, so we clicked off some happy snaps and headed to the National Museum for the morning, this place is a must and first stop on any one's itinerary. One of the many things we learned was that after the First World War the WA government sought to repay wartime services - and increase the state's population - by settling returned servicemen on small farms at Carnamah. Lots were allocated to 40 men and their families. The boys favourite place there was K-Space, this great computer program that lets you create a spaceship or house for the future. You have 3 minutes, then you get to see it in a 3D movie with other friends who have made them also. You have your photo taken so you can identify your spaceship or house. Very cool.

See photo - Watching Titan empty coins!

Following this we headed for the Royal Australian Mint where we watched coins being minted, the boy's favourite part of the day was watching TITAN ( the largest robot in the facility) perform for them. The boys then went downstairs and stamped there very own  $1 coins!, we all had an ice cream before heading for Parliament House to checkout where all our tax dollars are invested!



See photo - Parliament House.

Parliament house is an amazing site and cost $1.1 billion in 1988, so go there and see where your money went. It also includes Australia's biggest lawn at 50,000sqm...... great for cricket if it were flat!. We parked underneath and headed for the water feature and entrance to view the Aussie flag which is the size of a Double Decker bus flying from an 81 mt flag pole! We made our way inside thru security and headed for the 700 year old Magna Carta (one of 4 in existence and the foundation of modern democratic society) and the roof top lawn for some fantastic views of Canberra and the War Memorial. A little known fact is that fossils are in the marble stairs located in the foyer, if you ever go see if you can find the little white shrimp / prawn in one of these steps.

See photo - Moon Rock at the Canberra
Deep Space Tracking Complex.

See photo - Riley, Aiden & Bell.
As close as we could get...

Saturday we headed for the Canberra Deep Space Tracking Complex which was about 40 minutes out of the city (Tidbinbilla). We drove, and drove, and drove until suddenly it was there in the distance. As we approached the complex it suddenly become obvious how big this structure actually was! It comprises of 3 main dishes at 2 x 34mt and 1 x 70mt. The primary roles of the antennas can be broken into four key areas; Telemetry, Tracking, Control and Monitoring everything from Data to assisting NASA with Spacecraft Command. We viewed some rare space equipment including cameras, space suits, re-entry procedures used in the Saturn project and last but not least a MOON ROCK!!!!!, which is currently on display. It was brilliant and well worth the trip ..... could have stayed longer and watched all the videos ......

After some morning tea we headed back to Canberra to visit the National War Memorial. We arrived and decided to brief the boys on the significance of this Memorial, they had some understanding and behaved as best as to be expected for two little boys. We visited the Grave of the unnamed soldier and then headed inside to view the museum. Well..... we could have spent two days inside, it was staggering how much memorabilia they have on display, there was a setting to describe almost every wartime scenario recorded in Australia's history. It is something that we will need to revisit at a later date when the boys are older to appreciate. Very well put together and a credit to ACT.



See photo - National War Memorial - side view showing the Church shaped dome.

See photo - Glass Factory.

Sunday we headed out with Bell at the wheel, it seemed that our Perth neighbour was flying solo as Tenille had taken their little girl Taylissa home to visit Nan & Pop for a few weeks. So Tony and Chris decided to have a few quiet drinks ............ till 2am, of course, with the expected outcome and a lot of panadol! In the morning we headed to the Old Canberra Bus Depot markets for some breakfast and a look 'round, Riley found a little present for Mrs Rao his teacher and we grabbed a coffee then headed for the Canberra Glass Works next door. The Glass Works have a viewing area where we could watch the local artists manufacture and blow glass pieces, it was great to see and we could have stayed all day ( it was warm ! ) but the boys and Bell were headed for Questacon, a children's scientific hands on museum located in the heart of the city. Chris went to the National Art Gallery and then had a sleep in the car.........., he ended up flying his kite and getting some goodies for the boys in the Questacon shop ( full of great big kids stuff! ) The boys loved it, especially the live lightening display. Bell went on the drop slide (what a buzz) and the boys just played with all the gadget's, their favourite being where plastic eggs falls down through a maze of metal runs and drops. Was very impressive. Bell and the boys were finished by 4pm and it was time to head back to the van and get ready for the trip to Jindabyne and Perisher the next day! We could have stayed a few more days just like everywhere else .. but ....

 So here is our youtube of the Nations Capital!

See photo - At Questacon - spent 25 min with egg contraption!!