Most of the people we had spoken to had said not to bother visiting Canberra as there isn't anything there worth seeing! Admittedly it is a little out of the way and certainly well off the normal tourist trail but I think we have already proven we don't like sticking to the boring routes and as it is the capital city, we all felt we should at least pop in!

The history of Canberra (or lack there of!) seems to be the main reason why people don't give it a fair chance ... In 1901, Australia's separate colonies were federated and they became states. The fierce rivalry between Sydney & Melbourne meant neither could become the new nation's capital, so a small chunk was carved out of New South Wales' Limestone Plains somewhere between the two cities. By 1927, Canberra was established enough to take over from Melbourne as the seat of the national government but it wasn't really until after WWII that it became the city you see now. (Lonely Planet 2011)

It was already gone 3pm by the time we pulled into the Visitor Information Centre in Canberra so we knew we didn't have very long to explore Australia's capital city! With this in mind, as Matt was using a pile 10 & 20 cent coins to buy postcards, we asked one of the volunteers what the number 1 must see was, to which she replied by asking, "how long are you staying for?" She wasn't impressed when we said, "not even until it gets dark!" Whilst laughing and suggesting we should have at least 3 days, she went on to say that as Brits we really should visit the war memorial, not just because it is the best in the world in her opinion but because technically it is our fault (The British in general, not specifically us 3!) that Australia ever went to war and therefore lost so many lives! Talk about a guilt trip!!!! The War Memorial had actually been mentioned in our guide books and on the websites Mum had sent us about Canberra so we decided to check it out .

It was actually very impressive and not at all what we had expected as it was an entire museum filled with memorabilia rather than just one statue, as we had seen in other towns. We spent about an hour walking around the museum and the grounds, finding it very interesting to learn about the wars from another country's point of view. The sight that affected me the most was a giant roll of honour which covered the walls of two undercover walkways and which had thousands of poppies pushed into the gaps between each plaque next to people's names. It was beautiful but at the same time heart wrenching as it brought home how many lives have been lost in wars and that was just the Australians!

Feeling rather sombre we made our way back to the car and on to the next stop on our makeshift tour of Canberra! Gareth had found a walking tour route in his Lonely Planet guide so we parked up and set off on our walkabout. Along the way we stopped to photograph the National Library, Reconciliation Place, Aspen Island, Lake Burley Griffin, the National Gallery, the High Court of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the Old Parliament House and, finally, the New Parliament House.

By 6pm, we were back in the van and saying farewell to Canberra! It had been a whistle stop tour but, as a city built purely for the purpose of being the capital, we had seen all the main points of interest.