As we continue to travel around Australia (without our van or our dogs!) we are finding areas of fantastic beauty and great information. It has been a joy to learn about culture, language, history and current events.
From Melbourne (where we flew to Tasmania) we drove to Canberra. The trip got us as close as we will get to the outback…… and that was not very far out back! But we saw hot, dry desert areas and vast fields of nothing but dry grass – where brush fires could ravage the countryside quickly.
Canberra was selected as a compromise between the large cities that wanted to be the capital. It is similar to Washington DC as a nations capital. It is the meeting place of the Australian Parliament.
It is the home of lawmakers, decisionmakers, powerbrokers and many museums. We originally wanted to see several of them but became so enthralled with one, that we never found the time for others!
When we arrived in Canberra we checked in to our AirBandB with a nice, young couple and then headed out to dinner. Two for one pizza and happy hour was exactly like the same event in any high-rise style city. The crowd was in “office-casual” or “just-left-the-gym” sporty. The big hit from dinner was learning to order a cider on ice with a handful of lime squeezed into it- delicious! 
We went to National Museum and spent hours there. Wandering through the displays, learning about the history of the country and the aboriginals as well as the products and animals of this fantastic country. Although we saw many fantastic displays- this quote really summed up the impact that the aboriginal information had on us.
We also felt sadness over the loss of this animal. The thylacine was a curious and unusual animal, that we will never see in our lifetime! Extinction is a sad fact of our world that should not be underestimated. I will leave you with this.
