From June 1998 to December 2002, my wife and I used to live in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Canberra is not much of a tourist destination, but a very nice place to live with village-like suburbs that all have their own little corner stores, schools, post offices, and the like, and gather around larger centers with bigger shopping malls. A great feature are the walkways that run between the houses, connecting parks and wooded areas. They make Canberra a paradise for dog walkers and bikers.

Apparently when the various colonies on the Australian continent resolved to form a new federate state around the turn of the century from the eighteen to the nineteen hundreds, there were disagreements whether Sydney or Melbourne should become the capital city. The issue was resolved by designing and building a new city in the middle of what used to be prime sheep grazing country. The design was awarded to American architect Walter Burley Griffin, and he did a fine job indeed. Canberra's major disadvantage in attracting people who want to live there was, and remains to be, it's location far away from the coast. This is in stark contrast to any other major Australian city, all of which are right by the beach. The story goes that this location was chosen due to a defence requirement for the capital to be out of reach of the farthest reaching weapons at the time, which apparently were German ships canons. Burley Griffin's design plan included the damming of a major river, the Molonglo, so that the new city would be on the shore of a new, artificial lake. Building of the city started in 1912, but the population only started to grow in earnest after WW2, and the lake wasn't damned until the 1960s - and significant opposition from parts of the population had to be overcome, who didn't want to loose a horse racing course and other buildings in the flood planes, or were generally resistant to change.

For Nicola and I, Lake Burley Griffin truly was the heart of Canberra, and pretty much every weekend we took our dog Jody on walks around it. Another highlight of Canberra for us was Uriarra Crossing - a great swimming spot and BBQ area on the Murrumbidgee just before its confluence with the Molonglo about 20 minutes to the West of the city. We also frequently undertook the 3h drive to the NSW South Coast, always stopping in Nelligen for a quick dog swim, and particularly enjoying the beaches near Narooma and Eden. Occasionally we visited Sydney¹⁾, and seeing an opera like Aida or Tosca performed in the world famous Sydney Opera House is an experience you won't forget in a lifetime! The acoustics are superb, the stage show the Sydney Opera House puts on is second to none, and the atmosphere during the break, while slurping a glass of champagne and enjoying the views of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and all the city lights, can't be beat! Even if you can't see an opera, the area around the opera house is simply magic at night, and if you have any interest in photography, don't forget to bring your camera and a tripod for some amazing night shots! We also organized a round trip through Australia, meeting my Dad and brother, who flew in from Germany, in Darwin. We first visited Kakadoo and Litchfield National Parks, and then flew from Darwin to Alice Springs, where we took a car for a bit of Outback driving via Kings Canyon to Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock). From there we again took a plane to Cairns and enjoyed the beaches up in Port Douglas. After a stop-over in Sydney, we all returned to Canberra. I always wanted to bring pictures of all this online, but I have only ever managed a few of my favorite shots of our time in Australia.

¹⁾Initially we had some pretty shoddy accommodation in Sydney, until we found the outstanding Park Lodge Hotel. It is gay owned and operated, and provides some of the best budget travelers accommodation we have enjoyed in Sydney or anywhere else, with customer service second to none. I even used it for a couple of business trips were money was not much of an issue. The rooms are small but squeaky clean and have a very nice atmosphere. Visiting their web site in December 07, they seemed to require a 4 week stay, which would be a pity. When we lived in Oz, I seem to recall them advertising an hourly rate, and I certainly never had a problem booking a room for two or three nights. The place is well worth choosing for the fantastic (and cheap) Indian and Vietnamese restaurants in the neighborhood alone!