Australian War Memorial.
We arrived in Canberra at 6am on October 31 after an overnight bus trip (8 hours) from Melbourne. I considered wearing my stay puft marshmallow man costume for the ride, but it wouldn't fit in my backpack. So, we get off the bus in Canberra and are hit with a stream of FREEZING cold air. It was so cold! I still haven't figured out the conversions (that's a whole other story...) but it was about 39 degrees farenheit. Neither of us were quite prepared for that shock. Luckily, Canberra is not a very big town so we found our hostel close to the bus station, were able to check in and go get a hot coffee and breakfast. Our first day in Canberra we walked over 10 miles - all by about 1pm. Oh the perks of being up at the crack of dawn! Canberra is the capital of Australia, so we visited the Old Parliament House and the beautiful gardens next to it. We walked up to Capital Hill to the new Parliament House and learned about the Australian government (tough to do on 5 hours of sleep). But it was an amazing building with very unique architecture, beautifully kept grounds, great views of the entire city, pretty artwork, lots of little Harry Potter kids running around, and of course great coffees and pastries. After taking in the government buildings we passed through the National Portrait Gallery and then went on a walk around Lake Burley Griffey - a large lake that runs in front of the government sector and the rest of the city. This is where we (unintentionally) logged quite a few of those ten miles. The walk was beautiful though, with lots of greenery and spring flowers blooming everywhere. That afternoon we took a nap, had pizza and wine, and went to bed early - pretty much the best day ever.
The next morning we woke up and got brekky (yes this is actually what they say for breakfast) at the mall. There's not a whole lot happening in central Canberra, but let me tell you this mall was hopping! We went there for breakfast each morning (as did the rest of the town it seemed) and the food was amazing - really fresh and there was a wide selection. After brekky we walked to the Australian War Memorial, which included a museum. Now, as you can probably already tell I'm not much of a museum person. However, this one was incredible. It had a ton of information, artifacts, displays and exhibits surrounding the Australian military (we only had time for the WW1 and WW2 sections) as well as a beautiful memorial area that honored all members of its armed forces. The memorial area was flooded with poppies which is a symbol for war remembrance.
Although there wasn't a ton going on in Canberra, we were glad we stopped through and were able to see the capital buildings and the memorials.
Highlights in Canberra:
1. Australian War Memorial - a really amazing memorial and museum.
2. That mall food!
3. Lake Burley Griffin - just maybe plan on renting bikes rather than walking.
Lessons Learned:
1. Distances on a map often look shorter than they actually are in real life.
2. When you see 'bike hire' places everywhere, there is a reason they are there.
3. After an overnight bus trip and 5 hours of sleep, book activities that require little to no brain power.
4. Get a fit bit (thanks Patty!) for travel - it is so interesting to track how much you are walking!
5. There are free water fountains all over the cities here - so all you have to do is bring a water bottle and you're set!
6. The cool kids call it "straya" which = Australia.
Now on to Sydney!
Old Parliament House.
Australian War Memorial.