Are you sure I'm not in DC?

This past weekend (April 19-20), I took a short trip about 3 1/2 hours south of Sydney to the Australian capital, Canberra (pronounced "can-bur-uh"). To answer your question before you can ask it - no, Sydney is not the capital. Much like in the States, there was a battle over which city would be the capital between Melbourne and Sydney; they compromised on an undeveloped piece of land located approximately equidistant from both cities. Like DC, it was unwanted land that, when appropriated, became a territory - the Australian Capital Territory (i.e. like DC, the ACT is not a full state but, unlike DC, does have representation in Parliament).

The city layout is very reminiscint of DC; the city's walkable, there are heaps of roundabouts (bigger than the ones they have in Sydney instead of stop signs), and the main sites are centered around a strip that runs from Parliament House to the War Memorial (sound like the Mall to anyone?).

Captain Cook Memorial Jet (you heard me right); view of the War Memorial from the roof of Parliament House


The street leading up to the Australian War Memorial is lined with various memorials. I took a couple of pictures, but none of the ones on the side I walked up were very interesting. I wish I had had the chance to go back and walk down the other side of the street, but by the time I was done inside the Memorial I was exhausted as I had been walking since I got off the train that afternoon (at noon) and it was near 2 o'clock. On this trip, I did my best to walk almost everywhere...it's a much more interesting way to see a city (and you plain see more of it). Thus, I took advantage of Canberra's layout. Inside the Memorial there was a pond with an eternal flame, lists of soldiers that served in various conflicts - reminiscent of the American Vietnam Memorial - and the tomb of an unknown soldier. Inside the room which held the tomb were some gorgeous stained glass windows. Also, the whole room was tiled in mosaics (see my flickr for all the pictures).

View inside the Memorial facing the Tomb; view out of the Memorial across the city


After walking from the train station (because I hadn't realized quite how far outside of the city it was and hadn't looked up bus routes...yay for exercise), doing half the walking tour described in my (borrowed) Lonely Planet, and seeing the War Memorial, I walked even further to my hostel and checked in around half past 2. Literally everything in Canberra (and Australia for that matter) closes at 5*, so I knew I limited time to do much more that afternoon. I ate a quick lunch and caught the bus to Parliament House. I managed to make it just early enough for the last tour of the day at 4. I lucked out - my tour consisted of the guide, a fellow study abroad student traveller, and myself. It was great having a very personalised tour. Unfortunately, there were a few places we couldn't got because of the 2020 Summit; the quick explaination is that Australia just got a new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, who thinks the people should be involved in government. The 2020 Summit was a gathering of lay people who met in commitee like groups to discuss issues relevant to themselves and Australia. They were using some of the rooms the tours usually go into, but it was cool nonetheless. Our tour guide was a traffic reporter as his day job, so that was interesting. Highlights of the tour included the view over the roof (which is basically a big hill), the story of the PM with the shortest tenure (8 days...and no, not because of death), and seeing another copy of the 1297 Magna Carta. I have now seen 1/2 of the 1297 Magna Carta's as one of the other four copies is held by the National Archives in DC.

Huge Australian flag that flies above Parliament House; Parliament House


I woke up bright and early on Sunday because I knew I had lots I wanted to do and not a ton of time in which to do it. I was out of bed by 7:30 (though I had set my alarm for 8, that's what happens when you stay in a 10 person shared hostel room) and checked out and on the bus by 8:30 to get to the National Museum of Australia by the time it opened at 9. And yes, Dad, those times are all in AM. The National Museum was really interesting; it wasn't huge so I gave myself an adequate amount of time (2ish hours), but I do wish I had had just a little longer. I then caught the bus back to the area around my hostel for an emergeny nail file (I had ripped a nail in the Museum and it was killing me, and I called my Mom to look up a chemist in the area as I had no available computer - go ahead and laugh) and lunch. After that, I went on a tour of Old Parliament House, which is just a few blocks away from the current Parliament House. The National Gallery of Art wasn't far away, so after my tour I walked there; they had a special exhibit on landscape called "From Turner to Monet," and if you know my taste in art you know I can't resist Monet, so I paid $15 to see it. As another similarity to DC, it was the only part of any museum I paid for on the trip. The rest of the Gallery was free, so (unsurprisingly), I wandered through the Modern Art section and got to see Diane Arbus' picture "Identical Twins," which I was really happy about.

Huge painting done as claim to Native Title by the Ngurrara people; view of Old Parliament House


After the Gallery, I considered going into the High Court and Questacon (aka the National Science Center), but I was tired and my feet were really hurting, so instead I went and sat on a bench for 40 minutes while waiting for the bus. The picture below was the street the bus stop was on; they weren't kidding when they said the trees are beautiful in Canberra in autumn (sidenote - I absolutely love that picture).

See, Australia does have seasons


So, that was my trip to Canberra. This weekend was ANZAC day, which is kind of like Memorial Day except much much bigger. I walked around the Botanical Gardens yesterday, and will try to post pictures soon, perhaps in conjunction with a recap of my trip to Melbourne (pronounced "mel-bin") next weekend.

On the uni front, this past week was the worst week I've had yet as far as work and probably the worst one I will have all semester...which is good because May is a busy month for travel for me. I'm just waiting on my finals schedule so I can plan my New Zealand trip in June.

* Which is when the pub opens and drinking begins, duh. Welcome to the Australian drinking culture/binge drinking problem.
Key: heaps = lots, many, very; chemist = pharmacy - Mom thought I was saying "Kenneth" over the phone

Offensive, Disturbing, or Hilarious? You Decide.

So, the following is a commercial I see here in Australia about every two seconds. Especially when Sex & the City is on - it literally comes on every commercial break. While I think the concept is hilarious, something about the actual commercial is a little distrubing. Ladies, what do you think? Am I just being too uptight?



PS - If you don't get it, please don't ask me to explain.
PPS - A post on my weekend trip to Canberra is in the works to be published by this weekend.

Travel Troubles

Generally, I like to consider myself a fairly capable traveller. Several times, I have been commended for my packing ability - especially when I am trying to bring a bag small enough for carry on. An excellent example of this would be my recent break trip (I don't know which break it was as no one can seem to agree...spring break for those in the States, technically mid-semester break for us though it fell no where near the middle of the semester, and occasionally fall break.) for which I packed 9+ days worth of clothes in a bag that fit snugly above my seat on the plane back to Sydney. I am the trip planner of choice for many and have travelled by myself multiple times both home from DC and to visit friends. This trip, however, has proven that I am not infallible when it comes to travel.

In an earlier entry, I mentioned a prolonged phone call with STA while in Los Angeles. So, to illustrate that I too make travel mistakes, here's the whole story. I booked my round trip tickets from LA to Sydney through STA travel as they had the cheapest flights I had come across. I had all of the information sent to my home address in Pennsylvania; while home over winter break, I looked over what they had sent to see if I needed any of it/if my tickets were included. I concluded that it was only the receipt and that there was no reason to bring this with me. Upon my arrival in LA, I discovered that some of those "receipts" were actually my ticket and that Qantas couldn't issue me new ones as they were not electronic. Thus commenced my hour and a half plus call to STA; first, they offered a flight the next day (no way), a flight a few hours later (nope, what if my arranged pick-up wasn't there), or a flight through Honolulu (tempting, but no thanks). In the end, I got new tickets on the same flights, but had to pay an additional $200. Excruciating? Yes, especially when you've been up for more than 24 hours.

Now, I admit I was stupid for not at least bringing the documentation with me. I still have trouble with some of STA's policies, however. First, I booked the tickets online; I asked the agent who fixed my problem if there is an option for electronic tickets when booking online. The answer? No. What?! You mean I can't have my tickets issued in the same way I purchase them? Seriously? Clearly, STA has an antiquated system that needs to be updated. Come on - this isn't the '90s anymore!

Oops number two, though less troublesome, was equally embarrassing. My only defense (if I have one at all) is that it was my first time travelling by train. Yup, that's the best I can do to absolve myself. Anyway, in order to get to Brisbane for my break trip, I opted to take the overnight train - all 14 hours of it - as it was the least expensive option. The itinerary/ticket was e-mailed to me, and the instructions were to print it out and bring it with me. I get a limited number of print credits through the study abroad office, so I went there to print it out. I couldn't get the option to print the selected text (it's been a long time since I've dealt extensively with Macs), so it was printing all of the frames of the Hotmail e-mail. Looking at the itinerary, it looked like the same information was repeated on the 2nd page, so I just printed out the 1st. Little did I know that my car and seat number were printed on that elusive 2nd page.

After arriving at the train station, I realized I had no idea if seats were assigned and that I had no seat number if they were. Being fairly unshakable, I decided I'd figure it out if I needed to, went to the furthest forward economy car, and took a seat. In my brief time in the wrong seat, I encountered a mother with her 5 children whose seat I had taken. In the end, I asked someone with a passenger log and found my assigned seat (in the same car and still a window).

Sigh. I guess this will keep me from getting cocky anytime in the near future, huh?

Finally, in somewhat related information - domestic travel in Australia is incredibly easy. I flew back to Sydney from Cairns; at the airport, I never once showed my ID or boarding pass to security. In fact, I never showed my ID to anyone. My shoes stayed firmly on my feet and liquids well over 3 ounces were brought on the plane with me (not contained in their very own plastic bag). I'd forgotten how nice it was to have quick security that doesn't require you to put every item you are carrying-on into a separate plastic tray and hope that your nail clippers aren't too pointy or that your deodorant is 3.0002 ounces and thus must be left behind.

Adrenaline Junkie

Apparently, I am not updating often enough, so here is a long awaited new entry. I have been so delayed because I was gone on the greatest break trip ever for the past 9 days (March 21-30). The trip was called One Fish Two Fish; basically, I did anything anyone would want to do up the east coast of Australia in Queensland, the state above New South Wales. I could write pages and pages about how amazing it was, but instead I'll just provide a brief recap of all the activities: Australia Zoo - Steve Irwin's zoo, 4x4ing on Fraser Island - largest sand island in the world, ocean rafting to Whitehaven beach, hanging out & partying on an island in the Whitsundays, yachting the Whitsundays, white water rafting the Tully River, skydiving, bungy jumping, scuba diving and snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef, and cliff jumping in World Heritage rainforest. It was intense and draining (I caught a major cold), but the best trip I've ever taken.

Best day of my life (skydiving at sunset followed by bungy jumping less than 5 hours later):


Some Highlights:




In other news, classes are pretty much the same as at home. It's really hard to judge them at this stage because we've only had 3 weeks of classes out of 12. My Aboriginal Australia class will probably be my favorite, and I'm also enjoying Psycholinguistics (which, with every class, is making me more and more sure that I want to do research in language acquistion as a profession). I only have one real final in my Learning class, so I'm hoping it ends up being scheduled at the beginning or at the end of the exam period so I can travel to New Zealand, as time and money allow.

After some searching around, I think I've found a rental for the time I'll be in DC this summer. It's not super close to campus and it's not super cheap, but it could be worse and it's the only place that has a start lease date in July.