Australian Capital Territory

The sunrise en route.

Australia has six states and two territories.

The view of Canberra from Mount Ainslie Lookout.

The National War Memorial.

The stainglass windows and the cupola of the memorial.

Parliament House on Capital Hill.

The House of Representatives Chamber.

Inside Parliament House.

June 11^th.

Got under way very early this morning as I have a long drive ahead of me. I left at 7 and drove for 7 hours to the Australian Capital Territory. This an area that surrounds the captial city of Canberra, much like the District of Columbia surrounds Washington. The drive was through some nice countryside, that started out quite green and became browner and drier as I as drove through New South Wales.

The first thing I did upon arriving was to visit the tourist information building where I booked a hotel room for two nights and then inquired about what to see and where to go.

After checking into the Ibis Hotel I drove up a big hill to get a view overlooking Canberra. Then I went to the National War Memorial. This is a very large beautiful building that has the names of all of Australia's war dead from all the wars carved into the walls. There is also a large maze like area with war artifacts, stories, dioramas, and machines, uniforms and weapons from the wars. There is a large display for both the first and second world wars. Beautifully laid out but still ultimately very sad when you think of the needless loss of life and the stupidly and futility of it all.

From there I drove across the bridge across Lake Burley Griffin to Parliament House on Capital Hill. This is the federal government building. It is the second seat of the federal government and was opened on May 9^th, 1988. It is very different and unique for this type of building, in that it is very modern looking. It is built on, and into, a small hill. It is very wide and contemporary looking. I went in and had a short visit wandering around until I found the House of Representatives Chamber.

I left when it was closing at 5:00 and drove to an area called the Kingston Foreshore which the tourist office told me about. There are a number of new condos that have been built on the river and their ground floors house a number of restaurants and cafes. I didn't find anything I liked and as it was still very early for dinner, 5:30, there was no one around. So I drove to another area where there were small restaurants housed in trailers. I found a boutique pizzeria and had a small custom pizza. Then I drove around Canberra for a little while before heading back to the hotel for the night.