Are we there yet? (times 3): Canberra

We left Sydney late on purpose, so we could avoid the early morning traffic on our way to Canberra. I was designated driver on the way into Sydney and the way out. Craig is happy to drive long distances on open roads but I am a lot more patient than him and I can deal with the kids noise etc, so I was in the drivers seat again as we departed Narambin and made our way straight through the centre of Sydney. Six lanes of traffic, tunnels, toll roads, intersections, people who cut in.... All with the camper on the back! Lucky the GPS knew where to go so I just followed along. I set the kids up with a DVD so there was minimal noise from the backseat.

We originally were going to stop in Golburn to catch up with a mate of Craig's. But the girls were all snotty and had a flu, Charlotte being the worst and was on antibiotics from the medical centre in Bathurst. I suggested that dropping into someones house with 3 sick kids was probably a bit rude, so we will save our visit for next time. Sorry Brett and Sonia!

We always were going to keep our accommodation card up our sleeve for Canberra because we knew it would be freezing. We stopped in at the tourist info centre and they booked us a Cabin at a nearby park. We grabbed a map and brochure and made a short list of things to do. Craig and I both grew up in Victoria, so Canberra was the place we both went to for school camp in year 6. We could remember bits and pieces and were keen to revisit some places.

War Museum (Craig and I)

Art gallery (me)

Questacon science gallery (kids)

Institute of Sport (Craig)

National Library (me)

National Portrait gallery (me)

the Mint (Craig)

Botanical gardens (me)

Australian of the year walk (me)

Parlament house (Craig)

Luckily most of this stuff was inside, so we kept warm most days.

We also did a day trip to the snow from Canberra. This was on the list of things to do before we even left Perth!

On first impressions Canberra is the sort of town that would suit a person with OCD! All the streets are lined perfectly with perfectly manicured gardens and trees. The buildings are neat and symmetrical. The grass and the lake are well maintained with perfect walking tracks.

I would like to go back here kid free one day. It wasn't the most kid friendly place but ours did really well being quiet in the galleries and allowing us time to have a quick look through most of the stuff on our list. Unfortunately we ran out of time so never made it to the mint, the library or to the portrait gallery.

Here are some pics of the places did visit.