Canberra - Day 2

Australian Parliament Building

I have been pretty busy today. Got up early and went out to the National Museum of Australia first thing. That was really good - quite a new Museum building and lots of interesting stuff. Came back into town and went to the Australian National War Memorial - which is really a War Museum, it was also pretty good, and in a really nice setting. Walked down ANZAC Parade which is where all the War Memorials are, and then went to the National Capital Exhibition, which is all about Canberra - how it was planned; what was here before, etc. Everywhere I went I seemed to just beat the bus loads of School kids which was good!

Went to the Cinema tonight to see 28 Weeks Later - was o.k. but not great, passed some time as everything is closed in the evening.

Been quite a nice day but again it was quite cold. There was a lot of rain last night but seemed to have dried up by this morning.

I've uploaded some of my photos to flickr but I've not had time to title them yet, so I've put some of the best ones in here.

Captain Cook Memorial Fountain & The National Library in the background.


Parrot outside the National Capital Exhibition


Me with view towards ANZAC Parade and across the Lake to the Old and New Parliament Buildings.

Canberra

Made it to Canberra! Flight was good, up at 5.15am and got into Canberra at 9. Hostel is fine, I'm in an 8 bed dorm but not sure how many of them are taken. It is really Central, right beside a Cinema so might see something there. It was pretty cold when I landed - 7 degrees! But it soon seemed to heat up and was quite a nice afternoon.

I went over to Capital Hill to see the Parliament Building. They are in session at the moment so I got to Question Time to see The Prime Minister (John Howard) and all them! Building was pretty impressive, it was built in 1988. Also went to the Old Parliament Building, Parliament Gardens and the National Australian Art Gallery.

Its quite a strange city as it was purpose built so there are lots of circular roads and things which makes it very difficult to navigate! It seems to have been more designed for Cars than pedestrians and at times the pavements would just come to an end. Have taken lots of photos - I got a Canon Ixus 70 at the weekend so will get them uploaded ASAP.

Tomorrow I am planning to go to the National Museum of Australia, The Capital Exhibition and the War Memorial. Might go to the Science Museum if I have time - it's great because most of these Museums are free.

Electronics Troubles!

Thought I'd update this as we're at the weekend again! Was working on Monday, and we moved flat on Tuesday (as Heather is away to Kuala Lumpa, we're in a smaller flat for this week). On Wednesday I went out to Werribee - a Suburb in the South. It was fine but wasn't too much to see there. I tried to take some photos and my Digital Camera died - must have been over used! Now it just takes black photos, so since then I've been looking for a new one. Been looking at the Canon Ixus 70, and a Nikon Coolpix (Possibly L5). Would like a Digital SLR but it wouldn't be very practical so I may just get a 'cheap' camera to do me until I get home. There's alot to think about with warranties and things though. It's annoying as I was very happy with the camera I had - and my camcorder just went bust a few months ago!

Nothing much else to report. Going to Canberra on Tuesday, back on Thursday night and off to Tasmania on Saturday night. Will be strange getting back into living in Hostels. We've been looking into a few tours to do when we're in Darwin. Thinking about going to Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks and do a cruise to see jumping Crocodiles!

Going to see the new Pirates of the Carribean tonight. Anyway must get back to the Camera research. Any suggestions welcome!

Latest News

This week seems to have gone really fast! I got some temp work through the week working for www.realestate.com.au - doing some data entry and checking work mainly. Working on Monday for a Chiropractor doing some data entry for Statistical data so that will be fine as it'll be a bit of extra money!

On Friday I went to watch 1 vs 100 being filmed. It was filmed at the Melbourne City Centre Studios which are the biggest TV studios in the Southern Hemisphere apparently. They are at Docklands in the City. It was really good, had to wait for about an hour and a half before we actually got into the studio but they were quite well prepared for it and had lots of free food and drink! It's one of the main prime time quiz shows on one of commercial the channels out here, and the host is the same person who does Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The woman did quite well and won $74,000 so that was a good.

We're out of our current flat on Tuesday so will be cleaning it this weekend getting ready for that. The landlord is hopefully going to give me and Julie a smaller flat for a week (Heather is away to see family in Kuala Lumpa), but she is waiting to hear back from some people who had already viewed the flat before she can tell us for sure. Otherwise we will be in a hostel.

Been lots of rain here these past few days, and more forecast apparently. The people at work got quite excited when they saw all the rain!

Neighbours Night

Me and Harold Bishop!

Finally made it to the Neighbours Night last night, which was really good. It was a new one which has been set up by one of the stars (Toadie) as a rival to another one which has been running for years, so as not many people knew about it, there was hardly anyone there which was great as we got much longer with the stars! Toadie, Harold, Elle and Janae were there. See my photos here and Heathers photos here.

Not been much else happening lately. At the weekend we were planning to go to an Australian Rules Football game at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) but it was sold out so we're going to try and book tickets for a game shortly I think. Went into town and had a wander around the centre on Sunday.

On Friday I went into Albert Park and had a walk around the F1 circuit. Theres a lake in the middle of it with lots of Birds so it is quite a nice area. The circuit is used as a main road when all the F1 stuff isn't in the way.

Starting to think about packing all my stuff again which is a bit of a thought! Looks like it will be Cold when we go to Tasmania and very warm in Alice Springs and Darwin so going to need clothes for all weathers. Little bit of rain today but seems to be clearing up now.

Flight Plans (Revised!)

I've gotten the flights booked so here's the plans:

Melbourne - Canberra 29/5 08.10 (arr 09.10) <- Virgin Blue Flight
Canberra - Melbourne 31/5 20.00 (arr 21.05) < - " " " " " '' "

Melbourne - Tasmania 2/6 20.00 (arr 07.00) <- Spirit of Tasmania Boat
Tasmania - Melbourne 6/6 18.15 (arr 19.25) <- Virgin Blue Flight

Great Ocean Road 7/6 - 9/6 <- Hire Car

Melbourne - Adelaide 9/6 20.30 (arr 05.20) <- Greyhound Bus Overnight

Adelaide - Alice Springs 13/6 12.20 (arr 14/6 13.45) <- "The Ghan" Train

Alice Springs - Darwin 18/6 11.50 (arr 13.50) <- Quantas Flight

Darwin - Cairns 24/6 06.45 (arr 11.00) <- Quantas Flight

Then we are planning to get an unlimited stop bus pass for the East Coast from Cairns - Sydney, and planning to leave Sydney for Auckland on the 15/6. [EDIT - The 15/7!]

Rodeo

Went to a Rodeo at the weekend, which seems to be quite a big thing out here. It was in an arena with a few thousand seats and almost a sell out! Was a bit of an experience - don't know if I would go to another ever - the horses/bulls seem to get something tied around their behind which makes them buck, don't think it can be too comfortable for them!

Also went to see the Overland train on Saturday, as it was having an open day. It is the train which runs from Melbourne to Adelaide, and is in the same group as the Indian Pacific (From Sydney - Perth) and the Ghan (Adelaide - Darwin) so it was interesting to see what the facilities were like on those. They are quite nice, incredibly big.

There was a photography exhibition on at the weekend too so that was pretty good. They had lots of demonstrations and talks by all the big camera companies and you got to see some of their new products (Blu-Ray/Hard Drive recorder!)

Not much else happening, still trying to finalise the dates for the next few weeks. Weathers staying pretty good, there has been a little more rain lately which everyone is delighted about as the drought has been getting quite serious.

The Lounge on the Overland Train (Melbourne - Adelaide)

Trip Plans

Thought it was about time I got this updated again! The time just seems to fly past. Not had a very exciting week just been living quietly! Job hunting isn't going great, just doesn't seem to be many going up.

Went to the Queen Victoria market on Friday, its great for fresh fruit and meat and stuff, quite cheap - especially towards the end of the week. Went to the Art Gallery at Federation Square on Sunday, it was quite good. Planning to go to the Parliament one day this week see if I can get in for Question Time. It is the Victorian Parliament so will be a bit like a council chambers discussion! Been looking into Canberra and I'm thinking I might take a few days to go up there in a couple of weeks as there seems to be lots there I would be interested in.

At the weekend we tried to work out dates for the rest of Australia and our flights to New Zealand/Fiji/Los Angeles, as these need to be changed shortly. Easier said than done, as there is a lot to think about! Distances here are so huge, it takes 48 hours constant travelling on the train to get from top to bottom! At the moment we're thinking about:

• Sat 2nd June Leave for Tasmania (Overnight boat from Melbourne)
• Thur 7th June Get back to Melbourne and hire a car to see the Great Ocean Road
• Sat 9th June Return hire car and get the (overnight) bus to Adelaide
• Wed 13th June Get the Ghan (Train-24 hours) to Alice Springs - to see Ayers Rock
• Mon 18th June Get the Ghan (another 24 hours!) from Alice Springs to Darwin
• Sun 24th June Fly to Cairns on the East Coast and get a bus pass from Cairns to Sydney so we can take as long down the east coast as we need to.
• Sun 15th July Fly to Auckland, probably hire a car. Looking at a spaceship!
• Sun 12th Aug Fly to Fiji
• Fri 17th Aug Fly to LA

These are very provisional at the mo! Means I'll miss Perth but it is so far away and having looked into it seems quite like Sydney/Melbourne.

Anyway that's almost my time up at the Library so I better go!