Our Trip To Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia and it’s located in the heart of the Australian Capital Territory. This amazing city often sits in the shadows of Sydney and Melbourne. But it’s the place where you’ll discover key political institutions like Parliament House. Canberra is all about meticulously planned geometrical streets with tons of beautiful green spaces. It’s so quiet compared to Sydney!

I think every kid from NSW goes to Canberra for an overnight excursion in year 6. I know that I still remember my trip even though it was a zillion years ago. My younger cousins recently visited Canberra with their school. But they both agreed that it was more fun this time because they could roam and explore. Instead of being herded around with their school group.

Fun Facts about Canberra

1. Bush Capital: Canberra is often called the “Bush Capital” because it’s full of green spaces and so close to nature reserves.
2. Designed for Democracy: The layout of Canberra was chosen through an international design competition, with Walter Burley Griffin’s plan ultimately selected from over 130 entries.
3. Floriade: Canberra hosts Floriade, Australia’s largest flower festival, each spring. Floriade attracts visitors from all around the world! They come to visit the spectacular and very colourful floral displays.
4. Home to Embassies: As the capital city, Canberra is home to numerous embassies.
5. The Australian Alps: Despite being inland, Canberra is just a few hours’ drive from the Snowy Mountains where you can ski and snowboard during winter.

Our Trip!

As soon as we got to Canberra we headed straight to Questacon – Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre. It’s full of hands-on exhibits with immersive experiences like a lightning demonstration and an earthquake simulator. It reminded me a little of The Powerhouse Museum we have in Sydney.

I think this was my favourite! It’s amazing how much fun you can have with some air and toilet rolls.

After Questacon we went to check into our Airbnb and this was my room for the night.

My cousin E claimed her room.

After we got settled we went to Parliament House.

Inside, we spotted Lego Parliament House and it was so cool!

Can you see the three baddies sitting in the back haha!

This is the view of Old Parliament House.

Then it was time for dinner at Guzman and Gomez. I had a delicious burrito bowl which I devoured as I was starving after all the sightseeing.

After dinner it was time to go home and we were all in bed by 9 – so early but we were exhausted!

Day Two

We were up early the next morning and some of us went for a walk.

It was a very cool 7ºC so a hot chocolate hit the spot.

After our walk, we went back home to grab the rest of the sleepy heads. We went to a nearby cafe for breakfast.

It gradually got warmer and warmer – such crazy autumn weather but I love it! We headed to the Arboretum and spent time admiring the beautiful scenery.

We went back to the Airbnb and packed up. It was time to visit The War Memorial.

So sad to see the faces of the many fallen soldiers of World War 2.

I found the miniature battle scenes I remembered so vividly from when I visited as a kid.

I threw a coin in the water and made a wish.

And just like that our trip to Canberra was over, hmph! We had so much fun and I treasured every minute I spent with some of my cousins. We drove back to Sydney and made a few stops along the way. I think we visited almost every McDonald’s from Canberra to Sydney! Haha.

Just in case I didn’t post enough photos, I made a little video of our trip you might like to watch.

I hope you all have an amazing weekend

Happy Friday everyone!