During my time in Australia I wanted to visit the capital Canberra. Since it is easiest to get there from Sydney by bus, I took the coach to the capital of Australia for two days.

Off to the capital

I left directly in the morning, so that I still had enough time to visit the city on this day. After I had checked in at the hostel I made my way into the city. I just walked around the city to see the city a little bit. I was at the Botanical Garden, among other things. But I went back to the hostel relatively fast, because it was unbearably hot. When it got cooler in the evening I went to the Commonwealth Park at the Molonglo River.

Making new friends from France

Later I talked to a girl in my hostel room and we found out that we had the same plans for the next day. So we decided that we could spend the next day together.

One of the reasons why I usually travel alone is that it is not always easy to make plans together. When you are alone you can do exactly what you want to do and you don’t have to adapt your plans to those of other people. But it is also really nice to meet new people and do something with them to also find out about other cultures.

Feeling like a president

The next day I took the tourist bus to the Parliament House together with the girl from my room. It was really interesting and worth seeing the Parliament House when you are in Australia. We also took part in a free guided tour where we learned a lot about the government. But I can only remember a tiny bit.

After visiting the Parliament House we went to the Old Parliament House. We were able to see all the old rooms where the politicians used to work. We even had the opportunity to hold a scepter in our hand, which an older lady showed us. And we also had the possibility to sit on an exhibited chair, on which the presidents used to sit.

Sweat and cold pools

In the afternoon we went to the National Library of Australia. From there we went by an incredible 37 degrees across the city to the Canberra Museum and Gallery where we first had to rest from the head outside.

Towards evening we were in the Cold pool, from our hostel to cool down after this impressive and hot day. I would have liked to hike to Mount Ainslie, as from there one has a view over the whole City. But it was too hot to walk up the 6 kilometres from the hostel.

Through the history of Australia

I had to check out of the hostel at 10am in the morning, but my bus back to Sydney didn’t leave until 2pm. That gave me a little time in Canberra. The girl I meet the days before where leaving early in the morning on this day, so we already said good bye.

I then walked to the Australian War Memorial. Fortunately it was not quite as unbearably hot as the day before. At school we learn a lot about the First and Second World Wars, but I never learned anything about how the war affected Australia. It was very interesting to learn something about it at the war memorial.

Canberra is not the largest city and is necessarily the city that attracts tourists such as Sydney or Melbourne as it is very political and historical. You can’t visit more than museums and the Parliament Houses. The parks are not as beautiful as in Sydney. However, it is very interesting to learn something about the history and politics of Australia if you live in this country for a few months. So Canberra is definitely worth to visit for one or two days.