Week 9 – September 13th to September 19th (and 20th!)

(This week’s post is brought to you by Wikipedia – click on the links to learn fun things about Canberra and Australia!)

If I had to sum up this past week in 5 words, they would have to be: “work”, “work”, “work”, and oh, wait, MORE “WORK”. My first real deadline had approached, and I worked relentlessly on my mid-semester essay for my 100-level English class due Wednesday before diving into studying and research for mid-terms and papers to get me to the end of (this!) week. However, this past Saturday and Sunday I was able to take a step away from school work (although I am now kicking myself with how much needs to be done) and hop on a bus down to Canberra, the capital of Australia for a quick tour of the city and one night stay.

When I told people that I was heading down to Canberra this weekend, their immediate response was, “Why?” Having lived here for almost 10 weeks and with three and a half months to go, I wanted to be able to see the capital of the country that is currently acting as my home. And as an extra exciting added bonus of heading down to the ACT (Australian Capital Territory), it meant that I would be able to see Dakota, a member of some close family friends from elementary school who now resides in Canberra with her husband, Joel.

#westcoastbestcoast Emi and I arrived in Canberra Saturday around noon to find Dakota waiting for us at the bus station. We hopped in her bright orange SUV and went in search of lunch, before cruising to city to get a glimpse of the new AND old parliament buildings and multiple embassy buildings. We picked Joel up and headed to the Australian War Memorial, one of Canberra’s most iconic monuments. What I didn’t realize was that the memorial is also a giant museum, dedicated to Australia’s involvement in all of history’s wars – WWI, WWII, 1945 and beyond, and even today still in Afghanistan. Walking through the museum was truly a somber experience. Growing up in Canada, we studied, well, Canadian history and our role in the wars of the 20^th century. What I had never considered having never been educated in it, was how devastating the wars were for the Australian population, and especially their role in Gallipolli during the First World War. Having grown up as my father’s daughter, I love history and especially studying the wars of the 20^th century, and so this museum was the most interesting way to spend the afternoon. Three and a half hours of learning about Australia’s involvement in what I believe to be the most put-together, comprehensive museum display I have ever seen made for an educational, but also emotionally-draining experience.

Afterwards we made our way up to Mt. Ainslie lookout for a spectacular view of the city, which was actually designed by an American! Who would have thought?! Following some wild-kangaroo sightings, we headed back to Dakota and Joel’s place for some downtime before in the car again and off to dinner. Since arriving in Australia, I had yet to have a real, burger-bar, thick-patty style burger. Brodburger, a once tiny food-truck now turned restaurant was an absolute treat. 500g of beef patty nestled between lettuce, tomato, brie, aioli and two scrumptious buns, my burger craving has been satisfied (for now…).

Sunday morning was an early start as we had goal in mind. I don’t know if you folks at home have heard about them, but there are these milkshakes in Canberra that like the Buzzfeed article says “people are losing their minds over”. And oh, were they ever right. I had the Golden Gay time flavoured milkshake, flavoured with the tastes of the beloved Australian ice cream bar. Creamy milk and ice cream (nope, just milk in Australian milkshakes) flavoured with syrup galore, caramel, chocolate whipped cream, honeycomb…oh man. And to top it off – a Golden Gaytime, in all its crunchy, biscuity, honeycomb glory. It was probably the most sugar I’ve eaten in one serving. But so, so worth it.

We then managed to drag our sugar-filled bodies back into the car and make our way over to Floriade, a nationally famous flower festival that is put on during Australia’s spring. To complement our trip to the war museum the day before, the theme of this year’s festival was “Remember”, with the flower beds planted to resemble different pictures of things related to the wars and remembrance. We walked around the flowers, took a ride on the ferris wheel and purchased a few homemade wares from the stalls. We were then off again to the Old Bus Depot to wander the stalls and sample alllllllllllll the yummy foods – breads, oils, sweets, olives, meats, I was definitely in my happy place.

Back at the station, I gave my final hugs to Dakota (and Joel!) and we got back on the bus to home-sweet-home in Sydney. It was so great to see my fellow Norgator down under here in Oz and to be able to explore the beautiful urban space that is Canberra. I wish I had one or two more days to see the copious museums and exhibits, but I couldn’t be more thankful for the time I did get to spend there. Thanks Joel and Dakota for being the host(ess) with the most(ess)! Can’t wait until our paths cross again <3

 

Much love,

 

Steph

 

A note for my beloved readers – I will not be posting about this week as it is pre-mid-semester break and has een terribly boring/stressful. Next week I will be in Melbourne, so don’t you worry –  I will get a post up about my travels as soon as I’m able to! Tata for now!