Canberra.

Catherine was here visiting from South Carolina while Tom was in the states. We were busy. They're both back home, safe and sound and knackered (really tired).
The next few missives will not be in the order of the actual events, but does that really matter?
Where was I... Canberra!
Canberra (CAN-bruh) is the capitol of Australia. Like DC, the politicians hang out there with lots of their supporting cast. Unlike DC, which I claim is half country club and half insane asylum, Canberra is clean and safe and it's fall there.
DC is laid out kinda in a grid with letter streets going one way and number streets going the other. Canberra is also a planned city. I think the plan was to keep neighborhoods quiet and keep tourists confused. The city is several concentric circles radiating outward into overlapping fish scales.
Getting anywhere involved keeping at least 4 lefts and 5 rights in my head. Left on Parliament, right on Qeanbeyan, left on Parliamentarily, right on Oodnaldana, left on Oodnalada, right on Ooodladanadad...
If you miss one, pull over and breathe because you cannot fix it. Just go somewhere else.

The mint was surprisingly interesting with lots of clear road signage to point the way.
They made these pretty Olympic medals.
Thomas loved the huge robotic arm, "Titan." It weighs and dumps coin blanks into their rightful hoppers thence they are off to rotating bins and pressers and punchers and whatnot. Thomas watched, and watched and watched... and watched.
Zzzzzzzzz... oh! Sorry, dozed off.

After that was Questicon, a giant hands-on science museum with all kinds of stuff to teach you stuff without you knowing it. Again, I was using the video camera more than the still, which I share with you all here.

Tidbinbilla is a nature preserve with lovely woodlands populated by swamp wallabies and "planted" animals like emus, koalas, echidnas and platypuses. They are free to roam, within pre-determined, agreed-upon and committee-approved reason. See the wallaby?
Look right in the middle for two dark ears.


There are three 'roos looking from across the pond.



Canberra shopping was fun with a walking mall right across from our hotel. Thomas saw his first sushi train (revolving conveyor belt of little dishes) and enjoyed the seaweed salad, rice rolls and prawn cakes.
A way-too-early plane took us to Sydney 3 days later.