Pulled into Canberra at about noon yesterday and found our host's new house with ease thanks to the GPS. Not that it would have probably been too difficult to figure out given the disturbingly ordered layout of this city. Shame a large majority of the drivers here fail to reflect the calm precision of their roads as it seems like everyone's in a rush to get somewhere important, with little thought given to commuter courtesy.
Meg and Rich's house is absolutely charming, surrounded by a meticulously nurtured garden (which has inspired Alison and I to treat our yard with more respect) and crowned by a distinguished second level rumpus room that boasts a superb view of the surrounding country side. I have to say, the drive in surprised me a little as I hadn't pictured Canberra to be quite so pretty. The city itself seems sufficiently equipped to deal with basic commercial and culinary needs, and while it's not a sprawling metropolis the omnipresent view of Parliament House casting its shadow across rows of government buildings to the war memorial certainly impresses the visitor a sense of importance. The surrounding area folds into rolling hills, now washed in fiery autumn colours that just beg to be enjoyed from the convenient mountain lookouts. The first we checked out was Mt Stromlo, which is also home to the newly rebuilt observatory.
After appreciating the view and a watching a resident troupe of mountain bikers speed down the mountainside, we were quickly whisked into the city proper for an informative tour of Canberra's major landmarks. Exploration on foot would have to wait till the next day but we got a pretty good idea of the spots to investigate further. The next stop was then to the trendy suburb of Kingston where we got a chance to browse the wares of the Sunday markets. Als and I ended up passing on trinkets to focus (unsurprisingly) on the food available. It turned out to be a late lunch but we eventually sampled some Ethiopian cuisine in the form of spicy beef with peanuts, coconut chicken and a side serving of kita bread. Not too shabby, and it went down quite nicely with some baklava and a warm apple cider chaser
We were in a bit of a treat with dinner as Meg and Rich booked a table at Portia's Place, an unassuming chinese restaurant in Kingston where one can often catch a glimpse of the power brokers of Australian politics. No famous faces on the night we were there, but the food was warming and tasty. Stand out dish was a lamb hot pot that was slow cooked with a healthy douse of shiraz, though the other two choices of braised eggplant and fried flounder were most definitely delicious.
Our second day in Canberra was focussed on dealing with the Malayisan High Commission to get my new passport and some sightseeing. Yarralumla is the Canberran suburb that contains all the foreign embassies and we had a great time driving past each building, trying to guess the represented country. I'd have taken some photos but the patrolling Australian Federal Police cars suggested that this wasn't the best place to dally around looking suspicious. Getting my new documents was a bit of an anticlimax as I'd suited up for a big fight with the pencil pushers to go a couple of rounds over my name and identification. Guess I shouldn't complain about nonchalance passed for efficiency.
The rest of the day was spent seeing the old and new parliament house and what we could fit in of the war memorial. It was great to compare the old and the new buildings for parliament. The old building, which is now a museum, was particularly fascinating when you consider how many people worked there in such a small place. The "new" building (built in 1988 I believe) was very impressive architecturally, though the senate and house of representatives weren't sitting on that day so I didn't get a chance to witness democracy in action. It was a blustery day but we went up to the roof and got another great view of the city.
Evening came and we had a nice evening of fun and games with Meg and Rich, starting with some carpet bowls (a recent purchase Rich made at the markets the day before) and concluding with an energetic session of Pop n' Music. I'd never played the game with a real controller before so I was pretty excited. I think I'd still pick Beatmania IIDX over this if I had to choose from the Bemani series, but in truth Harmonix have just raced ahead in the music game genre with the Rock Band and previously Guitar Hero series that it's going to take quite a bit of thinking for Konami to make a come back in the genre they created. Clearly evident by their recent effort with Rock Revolution.
Canberra's a great city and we look forward to coming back again. Of course our experience was coloured by our great hosts so thanks guys!
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