2. Canberra/ACT June 8-10

We arrived in Canberra, which is the Capital of Australia, on June 8th and stayed for 2 nights. A quick visit. It was cold and rained on and off. One of our travel books basically says that time spent in Canberra can be better spent elsewhere in the country. However, I’m so glad we came. We spent 6 months living in this country and I feel a strong connection to it now. It felt great to visit the Parliament House and War Memorial. We visited the Mint to see where and how the coins are made. Weird confession: I will miss AUS currency. I think it is beautiful. Visiting Parliament fascinated me. Learned more about AUS Senate and House of Representatives and political parties and lawmaking. I could’ve spent even more time there, but the kids ran out of steam. The War Memorial is beautiful and we were honored to see the Last Post Ceremony. Between that and the Anzac Day ceremony at Coogee Beach, I have a greater appreciation of the history of Australia. I feel like we owed it to ourselves to spend some time in the ACT paying our respects and understanding this country has a history and isn’t just surfing and kangaroos. But speaking of ROOS! Canberra will go down in the history books as the city where we finally saw kangaroos in the wild. Amazing. We stayed at a great hotel. We had ajoining rooms and they made the “kids room” up with fun stuff…an Xbox, bean bags, candy, coloring books. For me, they left a bottle of bubbles for my birthday. Best of all….2 bathrooms! After 4+ months of one bathroom,, this was a luxury! The hotel lobby has candy and apples, which we have enjoyed and a delicious cafe that’s also a book store. History and Roos…a great trip! Oh, it was my birthday while we were here, but it wasn’t a big deal. We finally found a cake shop the day after to have a treat and celebrate. Next, we spend a night back in Sydney. Crashing with our friends’! Then we head north for warmth on Sunday June 11th.
Hotel: