December 18, 2025 Canberra and Sydney

After a seven hour sleep, we awoke to our second day in Australia. We had breakfast in the room eating the yogurt, croissants, strawberries and tropical juice we purchased yesterday at Woolworth’s Big W grocery store. As we left the hotel the restaurant was just opening.

The walk to the meeting point near St. Andrew’s Cathedral took just over 20 minutes along William Street, passing the Queen Victoria Mall and Hyde Park.The sky was cloudless. There was a gentle breeze and the temperature was around 21°C.

The information on the ticket for the meeting point for the bus tour said 7:05 a.m., but an email last evening stated 7:20 a.m. We arrived before 7 a.m. A few minutes later another couple, Lee Lee and Darlene from Minnesota arrived, then Victoria from Charlotte, North Carolina, joined us. Larry talked to a tour bus driver waiting along Bathurst who said that where he and another minibus were parked was where our minibus would also park. There was only one passenger, Carolyn, in the minibus with our driver Stefan from Colourful Collective Travel when it arrived.

Canberra is 286 km away and took about three and a half hours each way. We travelled out of Sydney partly using a three lane, about sixteen kilometre long, tunnel leading out of the city with a speed limit of 90 to 100 km/h. We transitioned onto motorways that were three and four lanes wide in each direction with a wide median between the directions with a 110 km/h speed limit. We saw some sheep and horses and lots of cattle. There were several wind farms and wineries during the drive. The rolling countryside of the New South Wales Southern Highlands looked a bit dry. This is the beginning of the Australian summer.

At the half way point we stopped for a break at Heatherbrae’s Pies where we had cappuccinos and a tart each (one mincemeat & one coconut). The two young women joined us. The price of unleaded gas at truck stops ranged from 199.9 c/l near Sydney to 169.9 c/l at the Shell station near Heatherbrae’s Pies. As we passed Lake George, we saw two kangaroos near the shore. Canberra was not far, only 30 minutes away at that point.

Canberra is located in the Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T.), a self-governing federal territory, but not a state. It is the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia which is about 300 km southwest of Sydney. Its area is 920 square miles (2,358 sq. km.).The United States of America’s District of Columbia, where Washington is situated, is only 68 square miles.

After a six year search, Canberra’s site was chosen in 1908 to become the permanent Australian capital, rather than choosing between rivals Melbourne and Sydney. Construction of the planned city began in 1912. The Australian Federal Government moved to Canberra in 1927. The temporary federal parliament provisional building, Old Parliament House, saw the first sitting of members of parliament on May 9, 1927. Old Parliament House is now the Museum of Australian Democracy.

Planning for the city focused on the parliamentary triangle where Parliament House sits on Capital Hill. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the new permanent building on May 9, 1988. It was one of the largest buildings in the southern hemisphere constructed at a cost of $1.1 billion. Mostly Australian materials were used in its construction. It is 300 meters wide and 300 meters long with a floor area of 250,000 square meters, occupied by 4,500 rooms.

The temporary Old Parliament House had several additions originally accommodating 101 members of parliament but housing over 224 members and their staff when it closed.

All land in Canberra is owned by the federal government and is leased for private residential and commercial uses.

Our first stop was the Mount Ainslie Nature Reserve lookout with a view from 846 meters above Canberra. You could see the War Memorial below and the Parliamentary Triangle on the far side of Lake Burley Griffin. The artificial lake was created in 1961 and named after the architect who designed the original Canberra city plans.

Across the lake, the new Parliament House is at the centre of the “land axis” of Griffin’s design. Also visible are the High Court of Australia, Questacon (the National Science and Technology Centre), National Library of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia (just showing an orange arch), the National Carillon tower and the Captain Cook Memorial water jet.

It was a short ride down the slope to the Australian War Memorial commemorating Australia’s involvement in World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the war in Afghanistan and more. We explored the many galleries for 90 minutes before returning to the minibus. You could spend a whole day there. The temperature outside was 33°C.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was formed in 1911 and received ships from Britain in 1913. The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) fought in Greece and Crete, Gallipoli, plus North Africa in Libya and Syria. The infantry and light horse regiments consisted of 20,000 volunteers in 1914. Since Japan was a British ally, her forces in the Pacific Ocean north of the Equator occupied the German colonies, while the Australian Naval and Military Expedition Force (ANMEF) was sent to seize New Guinea from the Germans in September 1914. Australia was given a League of Nations mandate over Papua New Guinea which was granted independence in 1975. 62,000 Australians lost their lives in Europe in World War I.

The next stop was the National Museum of Australia where we had another 90 minutes for exploration and lunch, where we joined by Lee Lee and Darlene. The atrium was breathtaking. You could spend a whole afternoon there learning about Australia.

The final destination was the impressive new Parliament House, where we could look back to Mount Ainslie. The flag on the top of the building is the size of a double decker bus. Parliament House was officially opened on May 9, 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II. Stefan led the 40 minute tour. The entrance foyer has 48 marble columns adorning it as you pass through to the Great Hall with its gigantic tapestry wall. Next we ascended to marble stair case to the upper level where the House of Representatives chamber is decorated in muted green and the Senate is decorated in a muted red. The three flags by the President’s chair in the Senate are the Australian flag, the Aboriginal flag and the flag representing the outlying territories of Australia.

There is enough building material in the Parliament House to construct 25 Sydney Opera Houses and enough remaining to build half of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The House of Representatives has 150 members. While the Senate is represented with 12 members from each state and 2 members each from the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

The group returned to the minibus at about 4 p.m. It took about ten minutes for the air conditioning to cool the bus’s interior. We had accumulated 8,993 steps.

Stefan returned us to the parking spot where he had picked us up this morning and all six of us alighted just after 7 p.m. There was still over an hour of daylight.

We walked to the next street to visit the Queen Victoria Mall. We explored all four levels of shops before exiting back to George Street to make our way to Hyde Park and St. Mary’s Cathedral. Christmas at the Cathedral is a nine day festival in the cathedral’s forecourt. A stage is in the middle area and vendor stations line the sides as well as a grand stand to watch the 8:30 p.m. Light Show. The Light Show is focused on the cathedral’s facade featuring a story about a little drummer boy and the birth of Jesus.

We arrived half an hour early and were looking for a light dinner. There were food stalls featuring spaghetti, kettle popcorn, shaker fries & loaded hotdogs, a noodle bar, crepes & churros, risotto, pizza and gelato. We chose to sample delicious gelato at Gelatissimo Balmain - two scoops for $9 Australian (about $8.25 Canadian today).

After finishing the gelato, we decided to take a look at the interior of St. Mary’s Cathedral. The two main aisles had a dozen 2.5 meters high Christmas trees placed about one every five pews. The main alter was decorated for Advent. Back in the Forecourt outside, the singing group ended their performance at 8:30 p.m. and the Light Show promptly began in front of an audience of over 1,000. We watched the first ten minute show, then walked back to the hotel in less than 12 minutes.

Total steps for today was 18,233