I really feel you don't know a country until you have seen its capital city. I guess I don't know the U.S. as I have yet to go to Washington, DC. I always feel very Canadian when I go to Ottawa (yes, Greg, AWWW TAH WHAAAA). So I knew while I was in Australia, I had to check out Canberra.
Yes, that's right, kids, Canberra is the capital of Australia, not Sydney!
Like Brasilia, Canberra was chosen as the capital, and built "out in the middle of nowhere". It has that large, planned, spread out feel to it, but it is on a much more human scale than Brasilia. It is quite pretty, with lots of parks and green space. It is also very bicycle friendly, with paths crisscrossing the fairly flat city.
It was a cool fall day, and I just walked my legs off. I must have gone for miles. I am sitting in an internet cafe, my legs aching and cooling down.
I started at the Parliament Buildings, built under a hill in a big circle road. I got a very interesting tour, and we saw both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Both were of course much more modern than their cousins in Ottawa, as the new Australian Parliament was built in 1988.
I headed out to the High Court of Australia after that, then on to the fantastic National Gallery of Australia. How surprising to find one of the nicest galleries I have ever been to. They have such a fascinating mix of art, Australian, Impressionist, Modern, Aboriginal, Pacific Islanders and even some fantastic pieces from India.
I continued walking around Lake Burley Griffin, checking out various other sites. I made my way through Downtown Canberra, and over to the Australian National University.
It was a beautiful, cool, cloudy fall day, perfect for such a long walk.
Another very cool thing about Canberra, cockatiels just flying around like crows or seagulls do in Vancouver. My friend Tony Cruickshank would love it!
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