Canberra - la capital...

I had heard mix reviews about Canberra before the trip. Yes, its in the middle of nowhere, yes there are no beaches and yes there are many roundabouts, however I have to say that Canberra was an unexpected surprise. Money was not spared when they built the War Memorial, I have been to many museums in Australia and overseas but nothing compares to what Canberra has. The architectural design, the exhibits, the tour guides etc cannot be faulted, we went twice and still feel we could have done with more time in order to really explore its grandiosity.

Parliament House was also interesting, clean, lots of marble, lots of security, but it took a visit to Parliament to truly understand the complexity of voting, the role of representatives and senates…still, I am only filling in the 1-5 option when voting! We were able to observe at the chamber of representatives on the proposed bill to pay leave for women undergoing domestic abuse and we also observed the argument of lack of support for the elderly from a Tasmanian senate at the chamber of senates, what an educational experience for us and the kids, in addition both of theses places had free entry! As we were making our way to parliament we experienced been part of a rally, to stop the building of Adani, a coal mine that will destroy the great barrier reef. As many of you know , I make a conscious effort to avoid the news, learning about Adami made me realise that maybe I shouldn’t, sometimes action needs to be taken to avoid losing world heritage landmarks like the great barrier reef.

Questicon was amazing, Canberra’s science works, the building has a spiral design that makes it quite easy to visit all the galleries, the earthquake lab was one of my favourites and kids got to experience a 6 m drop slide and more. Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) very interesting, specially the 7 million dollar pool with a underground gallery for coaches and trainers and Cockington Gardens were very cute.

The highlight of Canberra though was kindness of a woman named Tracey, without ever having met me or my family she offered to look after my dogs so we could do everything I have just described. Her willingness to help a stranger fills my heart with joy and faith in humanity, amongst everything that happens in this world there are still people like Tracey, thank you.