Last weekend my friend Leah and I headed off down to our nation's capital, Canberra, to visit our friends Alice and Kirri. Alice moved down to Canberra earlier this year, and she was starring in a production of the Producers, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see this all-singing, all-dancing, all-taping girl of power in action!
Kirri picked us up from the airport, it was awesome to see her again. She also moved to Canberra earlier this year. Seems to be some sort of mass exodus happening... anywho, we headed off to Floriade, the annual Canberra flower show, straight away, and we weren't disappointed - it was gorgeous! Having pretty much no sense of smell was a little disappointing though, as by all accounts the smells were beautiful.
From there we met up with Alice at her work, ANU, for a nice lunch, and after a wander through the National Portrait Gallery we headed home to get prettied up for Alice's show in the evening. It was brilliant, such good fun and they had some brilliant singers in the cast. Well done!! After the show, we met up with Kirri and some of her Doctor friends for a few drinks, before heading home in the chilly temperatures of the early morning.
The next day saw the four of us head out for breaky, before Kirri, Leah, and I headed to Parliament House. I'm a big nerd, and very interested in politics, so I was really keen to see the House. I wasn't disappointed - it's really a beautiful building, and it was exciting to be in the Upper and Lower Houses. The tour we went on was really brilliant - our Danish tour guide knew so much about the building. I really recommend going on a guided tour should you ever be in Canberra.
From there we decided a good ol' fashioned bike ride around the lake was in order. We hired bikes for an hour and set off. That's the thing about Canberra - it's such a well-planned city that riding around is very easy. We had beautiful weather all weekend, albeit kinda cold, so it was gorgeous to ride around Lake Burleigh-Griffin and take in the surrounds.
From there, it was time for a nice afternoon tea in the city, before heading home for a well-needed nap. Alice had to perform again in the evening, so Kirri, Leah, and I went out to dinner before heading off to check out the city's nightlife. My image of Canberra had been tarnished by Bill Bryson, and I was glad to find that image was unjustified - there are some very funky bars in Canberra, and the opportunity for a boogie, so a good night was had by all!
with us before our departure, so we all slept inThe next day Alice was able to spend some time of course! We went over to the Australian War Memorial for a little while - you really need a whole day to go through that place, it's massive. It's also extremely impressive, they've done such a good job of the place. We also entered what's called the Discovery Zone. According to Alice, this zone has been somewhat controversial. It's opened as a kids attraction in the memorial, and has all these different areas that each represent a different conflict. There are trenches you can go through, you can dress up in old uniforms, you can pretend to fly out of Saigon in a helicopter. Many people are saying it trivialises war to children, or it's inappropriate for kids. So naturally we got all dressed up and walked through trenches and flew out of Saigon!
Then it was time for lunch, before heading back to BrisVegas. So Mel's rating of Canberra: A very well-planned city, nice wide streets, very clean and feels safe. Quite a few things to do if you know where you're going, and if you have a car to get around - public transport lacks. And given it's the capital of Australia, SHAME ON YOU if you don't get there! I'd go back to visit mates, but I don't think there's really much more to see now that I've done the War Memorial and Parliament House.
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