We went to see St Andrew's Church near the hotel. A very interesting place as it used to be the mortuary station for the funeral train in Sydney before the cars took over. Have a look at more pictures on their website as it is quite fascinating. http://www.allsaintsainslie.org.au/herit.htm
We also spent a whole day in the Australian War Memorial and Museum. Gordon had a fabulous time. We have visited all the war memorials in the major cities and they are all grand and impressive making our Cenotaph look very small! They really do honour not only the dead but all those who served. The museum started with the first of the Australian overseas conflicts (the Maori wars in New Zealand) up to present day Afghanistan.
http://www.awm.gov.au/ is the war memorial link.
Another top spot was the Old and New Parliament buildings. The new one was opened in 1988 and is set in a hill with a huge flag pole at the top flying a flag as big as a double decker bus weighing 20kg. It was very modern and open inside though it does have over 4,000 rooms. The entrance hall is made up of imported marble representing immigration to Oz and the woodwork is local woods. From there you get a great view of the old Parliament put up as a standby in 1927. It is much more in the English style with rich woodwork and heavy furniture. We liked them both.
From the roof of the New Parliament you can see the Old Parliament and the War Memorial.
.....and we got to be The Speaker of the House of Representatives. Pity my feet don't reach the floor!
Another highlight was going 860 m above sea level up the Telstra Telecom Tower. The views from here were very interesting as it showed how patchy Canberra is and how many of the suburbs are lost in the trees. It was not a very tall tower but it was on a big hill!
Tomorrow we are heading to The Snowy Mountains so more details soon!
