Canberra

Views from Mt. Ainslie

Bird's Eye View of the Canberra Business District

Australian Parliament House

Australian Coat of Arms - The Roo and The Emu

On the grass covered roof of Parliament

Australian Defense Museum

"Sheep Porn" in the main mall

Casualties from Australia's battle in Turkey during WWII

Soldiers riding camels in WWII

Japanese mini-sub that was sunk in the Sydney Harbour during WWII.

Japanese kamikaze pilot suit from WWII

Politically incorrect newspaper headline

The Prime Minister - Looks like a sketch character from Kids in the Hall

House of Commons

Senate House

Parliamentary Triangle

We took a brief trip to Canberra in early March b/c of a conference Drew had to attend for work, and we were able to squeeze in a brief half-day of sightseeing. Canberra lies in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), in between Sydney and Melbourne. Both cities thought the capital should reside in their hometowns, so the government stuck it in the middle of nowhere to spite them both. Canberra is a "planned city", and is modeled after DC in terms of layout.

We unfortunately did not take any pictures on the plane (which still serves complimentary meals and wine/beer - take that crappy American airline services), but the views over the Blue Mountains between Canberra and Newcastle were pretty awesome. Once we arrived, we took a drive up to "Mount" Ainslie (elevation of only around 2500 ft, but considering the highest point in Aussie is only around 7000 ft, I guess we'll let them call it a mountain) and snapped some pictures of the city and surrounding area.

Next we took a trip to the Australian War and Defense Museum, where among other things, we saw a Japanese mini-sub that was sunk in Sydney Harbour during WWII. After visiting the war museum, we went to Parliament House. Unfortunately, Parliament House was not sitting on that day, so we couldn't witness "Question Time" (if you don't know what it is, I suggest googling it. It's quite entertaining, and they televise it when it occurs).

Side Note: The Canberra Casino was located in our hotel at the Crown Plaza. With the sheer amount of gambling that takes place in Australia, we're surprised they're all not gambling addicts. We found out that the Ky Derby is quite popular here - and once Aussie blokes found out Drew was from the home of the Derby, they assumed he was a knowledge handicapper of the horses. He went 0 for 2 (racing in Singapore and Hong Kong isn't his area of expertise), the damage was minimal. Don't worry Carol - that's Drew's one and only gambling splurge during our trip Down Under (minus our trip to the track next week)