Canberra, the Capital

It seems that most people skip Canberra as a destination. With Sydney, Melbourne, and the Great Barrier Reef, everyone has different priorities. We’re glad we made the stop along the way for several reasons (1) the drive between Sydney and Canberra is scenic; (2) there are wineries in the Canberra region; and (3) Canberra’s history as the capital is unique.

It’s spring here in Australia, which means rain. While the rain has had limited impact on our plans so far, it followed us the entire day driving from Sydney to Canberra, which made the drive less enjoyable and picturesque. Most of the lookout points were socked in with mist and fog. One highlight of the “Grand Pacific Drive,” is the Sea Cliff Bridge, which is built out over the ocean to avoid the inevitable falling rocks. It is a very cool place and we walked along a bit of it in the rain:

Our next stop was the Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist temple complex in the southern hemisphere. It opened in 1995 and we were there on “Wellness Day,” which attracted a big crowd. We arrived too late for the yoga class that day.

We had pie for lunch – Australian meat pies at Robertson Pie Shop, which has been serving pies of all types since 1961. Although we enjoyed the pies, in the end they are basically pot pies, and we have tried them and that's that.

The Fitzroy Falls (80 m high) were in good form, thanks to the heavy rains, but that limited our view and meant we didn’t linger long.

Finally, we stopped in Goulburn to see the Big Merino, because that’s what you do when passing through. Seriously, it is the main reason to stop in Goulburn, Australia. We drove by the Big Potato earlier in the day but didn’t stop (we know how disappointed you all are).

Canberra was selected to be the capital due to the need for a “neutral” site – the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne has been raging for some time. It was formally established in 1913 and designed in large part by American architects. It is a planned city – it reminded us of Orange County, specifically Irvine, with its wide boulevards and clear signage. It has a great food scene and all the sights a capital should have, including the National Gallery, Australian War Memorial and Parliament.

We spent the first day wine tasting. The area is known for its “cool climate” wines, which means that the vines don’t need to struggle to produce grapes. The wines we tasted were good overall. We liked Contentious Character's wines, but really liked its sense of humor as you can see from how they name their wines:

We finished the day with the Last Post ceremony at the War Memorial:

The second day we got lucky with the weather, despite the forecast for yet more rain. We rented bikes and rode around Burley Griffin Lake – an artificial lake that is central to Canberra’s design. It provides great recreational opportunities and access to the main sites. We stopped at the National Museum (natural history) and the Art Gallery during our circuit. It was a super fun way to see the city.

At the National Gallery of Art there is an amazing display of aboriginal art made up of 200 hollow log coffins created to memorialize the aboriginals who died defending their land in the first 200 years of British domination (1788-1988). The path through the coffins represents the Glyde River, with the coffins for each artist's tribe placed approximately where their lands lay. The piece is highly effective and beautiful:

It is hard to imagine a display such as this in a major American art museum.

Canberra was a worthy stop! Onward to Melbourne.

Shana & Jeff