One day at a time

CHICAGO THE MUSICAL I went to see the australian touring performance of Chicago (the musical) and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was a hot and humid night in Melbourne and that describes this show too - hot and humid! With tight fitting costumes, hot bodies and high kicking routines (and that was just the guys!)

One of the most interesting museums that I have visited. This one is dedicated to the history of Australia and has a really interesting introducing using a rotating theatre. Was surprisingly quiet, but I think that made it more enjoyable.

The national parliament building in Canberra. It has very lavish interiors, with marble staircases and lots of wood panelling. Neither house was sitting so we could wandered around and on to the roof.

One the first full day in Canberra, we went to the War Memorial which also houses a museum covering Australia's involvement in the major conflicts around the world. My travelling companion found the name of his grand father on the memorial.

After breakfast, we went out to the Telecom Tower on the Black Mountain to take in the views over the Territory. The view was nice but there wasn’t much up there for entertain us both between buses, didn’t realise that they were 1 ½ hours apart. We waited under the footbridge out of the sun, until the next bus arrived. Stopped off at the Botanical Gardens and had lunch there. Pleasant gardens, but nothing special. Caught the next bus into the city and then talked Campbell into getting a USB wireless modem for his Apple Macbook. It’s sad that the most interesting thing that we could find to do in Canberra is to find another way to connect to the internet. It took a while to get the USB modem going, but after downloading some software from Vodafone in the UK. Made a trip into the centre of Canberra, rather than spending the rest of the afternoon in the hotel room. There wasn’t much open at the time we went out, apart from the major stores. Went to the supermarket to collect some foo...

Slept even better this time and had a lighter breakfast than yesterday. Yet another warm and sunny day in Canberra, but this time there are people in the streets, going to work in the many government departments around the city. Took the bus to the Parliament of Australia up on Capital Hill. it’s a very impressive building although we didn’t climb up the outside lawns, but did walk over the top of democracy on the roof of the parliament building. The inside is just as impressive as the outside with lots of marble and wood, I wonder how much that all costed. Took the bus then down to Questacon, the national science museum, which was frankly a bit of a disappointment. The exhibitions were very much aimed at children and one of the main ones was out of action. There were some clever things and we both enjoyed the rollercoaster simulator, but they need to spend more money and update the exhibits. Had a quick stop at the National Library, which just appears to be a large library, no...

Sleep reasonable well, nice beds but woke up a couple of times. Had breakfast in the hotel, which was the usual buffet type and then made a quick trip to the shopping centre. Still managed to get to the bus stop in advance on the bus and it only cost $4.50 for a all day ticket. Took a while to get to the Memorial, but went through the main defence sites in Canberra, although didn't see any soldiers. The War Memorial is still very impressive and includes a war museum, covering Australia's role in the major conflicts around the world. Took quite a few pictures and more of the momentums along Anzac Parade. Had to wait for a while for a bus to arrive to take us back to the city centre, but the trip wasn't very long. Again took the afternoon easy in the hotel and Campbell had to repair my Dell as I had lost my Bluetooth connections to my phone and I have used up my internet quota on my USB modem. Went to the Italian restaurant in the city centre and the food was ok, a...

Traffic was a lot lighter to the airport than I expected with the racing carnival on at Flemington. We had to park on top of the multi-storey car park, but got to the terminal well in time for the flight. Couldn't get emergency exit seats, but then this flight was only going to be a hour. Arrived at Canberra, after flying through some storm clouds, so there a bumps on the way down. The airport wasn't anything special, but they are building a new terminal building. Took a taxi to the hotel, rather than waiting for airport bus. The hotel is comfortable if small and has two double beds, as booked. Went into the centre of Canberra and around the local shopping centre for some shorts for Campbell. Looked around the buses and discovered that there are two buses to the War memorial, although the first one doesn't leave until 10am. Took the rest of the day easy and only had a small meal in the centre of Canberra, it does seem very quiet here.