Australia — Come say G'day

CANBERRA EXPLORER - 1 Day / Tour Code S11

It's the capital of Australia. It is sometimes called 'the bush capital' because pockets of bushland reserve extend almost to the city center and over half the land is classified as national park or nature reserve.

Technology meets the bush: Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex.

Canberra is a young capital in a young country, but it does have parallels with other leading cities of the world. For example, Canberra, like Paris, is a planned city. Just as the Baron Haussmann laid out the boulevards of the French capital in the time of the Empire, or as the French architect L'Enfant designed Washington to be a showpiece of civic architecture, so Canberra's streets were laid out in accordance with a grand scheme. Like Washington's Capitol, our Parliament House occupies the central hill, with the city planned around dramatic north/south and east/west axes.

Canberra's architect was, in fact, American. Walter Burley Griffin won an international architectural competition in 1912. The spirit of his original design, which celebrates Canberra's natural environment, is still evident as the city grows.

Any visit to Canberra really should include some of the major monuments like Parliament House, Old Parliament House, the National Gallery of Australia and the Australian War Memorial. In all of these important buildings, you'll learn something more about the Australian character and way of life - through art, through collections in the museums and from the people who conduct the guided tours. Usually the atmosphere is informal and the guides are happy to answer questions.

A good way to get a feeling for the city is to take a walk around Lake Burley Griffin. You can cross the lake by means of the two main bridges. It takes about an hour and you pass many of Canberra's main buildings along the way. On the north shore of the lake, the National Capital Exhibition Centre has many of Burley Griffin's original plans on display, together with a model of the city as it is today - great for getting your bearings.

Canberra has mountain tops within the city limits. It's worth taking a drive to the top of Mount Ainslie or Black Mountain for a view over the lake and the city. Beyond the most obvious attractions of Canberra, however, are many surprises.

While you'll never see wild kangaroos hopping down the streets of Sydney or Melbourne, they have been known to appear just a minute or two from the city center. And because Canberra is a compact city, right in the middle of sheep country, a twenty-minute drive can have you watching shearers at work and enjoying a "billy" of tea..

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