Planet Trekker

I really like Canberra.

It feels good to get that off my chest.

I will admit that I am one of those people who never really considered coming here after hearing for years all the disparaging comments people have made about it. But its a really nice place. Of course I have had the perfect day to see it at it’s best with there not being a cloud in the sky but since most of the places that interest me are inside anyway I don’t think a little rain would have been a problem. I will definitely be coming back to see all of the sights.

This is going to be a super short post because I was out at 8am and have been walking ever since. About 20km according to my handheld gps and that doesn’t include walking around inside places. So here is just a brief rundown. I’ll post a longer version when i get home, complete with photos.

Went to Parliament House…understated and interesting.

Went to the War Memorial…easy to see why this is one of the countries great tourist attractions.

Went to the Film and Sound Archive to see a display on Australian animation…disappointing.

Went to the National Museum…impressive and would like to have had more time.

Now I am footsore and tired but that’s a good thing. It means that I can now have a leisurely shower before I put my feet up and fall asleep in front of the TV. I need a good nights sleep because I have a 16 hour drive ahead of me tomorrow to get back home.

Keep your eye on twitter ( http://twitter.com/ptrekker ) as I tweet from the road.

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It is going to be –4 tonight!

Yes, that’s right, I’m not back on the Gold Coast yet, I am, in fact, in Canberra.

To say that I am a little tired at the moment would be an understatement so I will have to give you the highlights of the last couple of days rather than poetic descriptions of the countryside I’ve passed through.

I woke up early on Tuesday morning, they start loading the ferry 2.5 hours before it sails, which meant 6.30am. I was there a few minutes after that and queued up with a number of other vehicles waiting for the gates to open. Once they were we filed through the security check, which meant getting out into the cold and opening the bonnet and boot for inspection. From there we all queued up again and waited…and waited…and waited. We were still waiting on the wharf when the sailing time came and went which was causing a little frustration but eventually we formed up and were directed to our parking spots.

this was a day sailing, unlike the night one i had on the way down. Rather than paying extra for a cabin or recliner I just had a “day pass”, which meant access to the ship but no assigned seating. Luckily I managed to find a nice seat with a little table to spread my stuff on and a view outside. Then it was just a matter of killing time. The thrill of being on a ship at sea is a little lost on me so I just read magazines I had hoarded in preparation and watched which people headed to the toilets when we hit open water and the boat began to move a little. I’ve been in seas that have literally thrown me out of my bunk so it didn’t really phase me.

We were an hour late sailing which meant we were an hour late docking in Melbourne. Due to my normal run of luck I was among the last allowed off (first on, last off?) and it was dark and raining as I hit the streets.This is where Bambi was going to earn her money.

The plan was to head off and try and put a bit of black stuff between me and Melbourne straight away. On the ferry I had decided that I might like to have a look at Canberra, never having been there and keen to add another capital city to my list. Looking at a map I figured that I would try to get to somewhere around Sale and then find a nice looking truck stop and get a few hours sleep in the car before carrying on.

I somehow managed to lose a bit of time by getting lost in Melbourne. And when I say that I got lost I mean that I got lost and Bambi knew exactly where she was and where to go. I made a wrong turn, against her instructions, and then had to find my way back to the right road. Did you know that because of the trams you make right turns from the left hand side of the road in some places in this crazy Victorian city?

I did find a nice “power nap” area just short of Sale that had a toilet, was lit up and already had a truckie asleep there. I wrapped up in my North Face jacket, crawled into the back seat and was asleep pretty fast. I’d been awake a little over 17 hours so I actually slept well, in fact I slept until 5am.

From there I just followed Bambi’s instructions and got to Canberra safely.

The drive was good, a nice mixture of terrain with a stop for a full English breakfast in a little roadside cafe in Cabbage Tree Creek. The road took me from a heavy bush setting for breakfast to a fleeting glimpse of the ocean at Lakes Entrance and stark and wind blown hilltops at over 1100 metres closer to Canberra.

Tonight is set aside for sleeping and tomorrow I hit the streets to see if this town does its title of Capital justice.

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Today was a day of pure driving pleasure. I don’t know who built the roads around here but they are people who obviously enjoy driving.

I am now sitting in a motel that has seen better days but was (relatively) cheap and is close to the ferry terminal. The result may not be so picturesque but I had an awful lot of fun getting here.

To be perfectly honest there is little that I can say that I didn’t say yesterday. I followed Bambi’s suggestion of a scenic drive and made my way from Strahan to Devonport by way of Cradle Mountain. A decent coffee and a steak sandwich at a little place in Tullah and I spent the rest of the drive just waiting to see what would be around the next corner.

Come to Tasmania and just drive you won’t regret it.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then I’ll just post a few photos and leave it at that.

2 Comments so far. Join the Conversation

• physical therapist posted on July 21, 2010
  This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I enjoy seeing ...
• Christia Wolfenden posted on July 21, 2010
  Thanks for the great read, even if it did take quite a long time to finish reading. (English is not ...