Canberra ACT Australia

Travelled: 236km from Cowra via Young Boorowa to Canberra ACT

Visited: Canberra - War Memorial, High Court, Gallery Garden, Parliament House, Black Mountain Lookout, Mint Museum, Mount Stromlo, Deep Space Communication Complex

So for those who don't know, Canberra is an artificial city of the Australian Capital Territory, created in 1911 by the Commonwealth Government as a result of the federation of the 6 Australian States in 1901.

We spent 4 days exploring various things to see that was also influenced by the wet weather. 

Lake Burley Griffin and the captain Cook Memorial Water Jet.

Having visited several years ago with our young children, we wanted to take our time exploring primarily the War Memorial and popped in on several occasions through out our stay. Its an impressive building which provides many displays and information covering Australia's involvement in war. 

We met Wally Johnson pictured below as he was Marks's auntie's neighbour.

Mark's father served on the HMAS Westralia during WWII and just managed to survive a kamikaze attack of his ship. 

A visit is never complete without paying our respects to the over 100,000 Australians that have died at war that re listed in the Roll of honour that surrounds the Pool of Reflection. Once a day the very moving last post is played.

We went have a look at the High Court of Australia.

We managed to watch the last sitting of parliament where Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott debated the NBN.

Old Parliament House

We enjoyed the views from Black Mountain. The Telstra Tower can be seen from most parts of the city.

 Mount Stromlo Observatory.

We learnt about Deep Space Communication. 

Cowra NSW Australia

Travelled: 162km from Crookwell via Boorowa  to Cowra NSW

Visited: Cowra Japanese Garden

Stay: Cowra Caravan Park, Boorowa Caravan Park

On our way to Cowra today we stopped to have a look at Boorowa which is a charming country town with some lovely buildings along its main street and an impressive blue stone church depicting its strong catholic influence during the late 1800's.

We then continued our journey to Cowra and set up camp at the caravan park in town. Along with being a prosperous rural town it has a unique history due to its role as a prisoner of war camp during World War II. In 1944 378 Japanese POW's attempted to escape. This dramatic event has promoted the district to focus on healing and reconciliation by providing places and information regarding this history.  During our stay we visit some of these places.

Located in Civic Square is Australia's World Peace Bell which is a replica of the one at the United Nations building in New York.

The Bellevue Hill Lookout along the Scenic Drive above the Japanese Gardens offers panoramic views over the Lachlan valley and the town. 

The Guard Tower stands as a reminder of the POW camp that was situated at the end of Sakura Avenue.

There are also some remains of buildings that were once here for not only Japanese prisoners but also Italians and Indonesians.

The Japanese War cemetery is officially the only of its kind in the world. There are 522 graves consisting of Japanese POWs, nationals who died during the attack on Darwin and civilians who died in interment camps.

The highlight was the 5 ha Japanese Garden established in 1978, funded by Australian and Japanese governments and private donations. The representation of mountains, rivers, waterfalls and lagoons set amongst 113 flora species and 120 different birds achieving the overall effect of serenity and harmony.

Fitzroy Falls to Crookwell NSW

Travelled/Visited:180km via Fitzroy Falls, Bowral, Berrima, Moss Vale, Goulburn to Crookwell NSW

Stay: Moss Vale Caravan Park, Caravan Park

We left our dog, Honey, in the caravan whilst we went for 1.5hrs walk at Fitzroy Falls located in the Morton National Park. The water plunges 80m over a cliff to the valley below. 

Our next stop was Bowral where the major tourist attraction is the Bradman Museum which was unfortunately closed. Don Bradman, Australia's greatest cricketer grew up here.

After setting up camp in Moss Vale we went to have a look around the historic town of Berrima. We had a look inside the courthouse which has over 50 mannequins dressed in 19th century clothes displaying how a court room would appear in the 1840's.  We had a walk through town before returning to Moss Vale for the night. 

The next morning we drove the back roads through Wingello into Goulburn which is a main city of the Southern Tablelands. There are many historical buildings throughout the town. We admired the courthouse and a church.  

We continued on to Crookwell where we stayed in the caravan park. The town is situated in rich agricultural and pastoral district. We stocked up on socks from the local Linder Sock factory before we left.