It was Good Friday and most of the already small city of Canberra seemed in hibernation. The roads were empty. I kid you not:

Unfortunately I’ve forgotten the name of this Roman Catholic Church that we went for Good Friday Service to, but I was very very impressed with several things. Firstly, there was a good turnout of the people, the church was quite large, and packed. Secondly, most people were formally dressed. Rather a silly thing to note, but then I’m from Mumbai, where the term “Sunday Best” is a common one owing to the fact that people really dress up for Mass (perhaps it’s a British thing?)

Anyway, people at this church were not only well dressed, but really into the whole service. Added to all that, there was an amazingly heart moving ceremony, when all the little kids (some really small ones too!) carried roses & placed it at the foot of the Cross.

From there we moved to Shab & Mas’s place, where we had an impromptu dinner party. Great fun! And really, no one could get enough of the twins:

All in all, super fun. Went to sleep after a reallllly long day tired but happy - and enthu to continue with our road trip down under. The temperature had dropped to around 8 degrees C by this point so it was quite chilly & I was glad to bundle up & sleep!

The first thing that struck me about Canberra was - cycles. Yup, that’s right. The the capital city of the Commonwealth of Australia and what do I see all about the place? Not fancy motorcades like they have in New Delhi, with Ambassador cars with tons of stars all over them. Nope, there were lots (& lots) of cycles.

Canberra is a rather small city and I learned that it was chosen as capital as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, (Canberra lies in between the two, which are Australia’s largest cities). It is an “entirely purpose-built, planned city”.

Here are some of the things you can do / attractions you can see in Canberra:

Lake Burley Griffin (named after one of the two Chicago architects who mainly designed the city):

The National Gallery of Australia, which has a Map of Canberra, in stone on the ground outside it:

The New Parliament House,

which overlooks the Old Parliament House:

Sunset at the Parliament House:

The Australian War Memorial:

Other attractions you can see in Canberra:
* National Archives of Australia
* National Museum of Australia
* National Library of Australia
* National Portrait Gallery
* National Film and Sound Archive
* National Science and Technology Centre
(I know there are a lot of ‘National’ stuff to see, which must be expected from the Capital of a country!)

Mel’s Guide to Road Trip Essentials:

(01) Car (may be a good idea to have one), all fueled up, spare tires and all required tools & thingiemajigs - Check
(02) Bags packed with things for all coming destinations. Including tickets for flights home & money - Check
(03) A good map - Check
(04) A sense of adventure - Check, check!
(05) Journal (I do have to write things down before I type them here y’know) - Check
(06) Camera (would be lost without it!) - Check, check
(07) Water - check & Snacks - nope (but plenty of Mackers on the way, so..) *Ozzie for McDonald’s!
(08) Book - Check - I picked up Kerry Greenwood’s ‘Raisons & Almonds’
(09) Varied Music to suit everyone’s tastes (everyone? what, are you friggin’ kidding me?) - nope

The road trip started out well. We had all packed the night before and gotten up on time (pat pat on our backs) so we left relatively peacefully and on schedule (barring arguments on what music ought to be played)

Breakfast was at Mackers (Ozzie for McDonald’s).

My first adventure - to get handcuffed by a (very sweet) cop! It was Sim’s great idea, she thought it’d be a funny picture & the cop was very obliging.

Jest of course though, like everything else, can cease to be funny (for some people at least) when taken to an extreme. I remember the cop, with great enthu (after he had handcuffed me in a split second before I realised what was happening), asking Sim -

Shall I also pin her on the ground?

er… NO?????

Next stop was ‘The World’s Biggest Merino‘, which is on Hume Highway at Goulburn.

It was not a real Merino of course, but this huge thingie:

Can you see it’s eyes? We also climbed all the way to the top where we coud look out, through the World’s Biggest Merino’s eyes & check out the view! I felt like a child going to Hanging Garden’s (in Mumbai, off Peddar Road) for the first time & climbing into the Old Lady’s Shoe!

Also learned what ‘Ugg Boots‘ are - and they truly are super sexy. No shoe lover in the world should be without a pair.

Focus of the day - trip to St. Leonards. Since I’ve already mastered the art (huh!) of train travel in Sydney & memorized all the stations upto St. Leonards, getting there is a breeze.

Upon alighting at the station, the first thing I am greeted with is the ultra modern railway station that has a huge central circular thingie & is surrounded by little foodie places. I also see a really high building, which I later find out is called Forum I and is the suburbs tallest skyscraper 38 stories high. More impressive since this suburb apparently is known for it’s skyscraper clusters.

In the midst of all the activity, I almost don’t find my friend who is waiting for me right there. Two telephone calls later we are walking back to his apartment & I’m getting the whole low down on St. Leonards.

One of the main reasons, my friend assures me, that he moved to St. Leonards is because of the variety of clubs, pubs & restaurants, seemingly everywhere one looks.

Among these, is prize winning Indian restaurant (touted as the best Indian restaurant in Australia), Nilgiri’s. Which of course I’m not going to - I haven’t traveled half way across the world to eat Indian food!

St. Leonards is next to the suburb Crows Nest & we peacefully walk to Da Valentino for a rather late lunch by Aussy standards anyway.

On the way we pass ‘The Stoned Crow‘ a rather fancy place that I see later on in my Aussy trip.

Back to Da Valentino though, we sit outside & enjoy the rather chilly Aussy day with good Italian food - and a debate that I try to stop (to no avail) on the existence of God & the decline of religion. Well, at any rate, the food was good

Hung out with my friend until it was time to get back & I even manage to get him to pose for a picture for me (until then he’s been most un-co-operative & not let me be my usual camera-happy self)

All in all a good day. Finish it off by quick packing. We were due to drive to Canberra in the evening but changed plans & are due to go there tomorrow morning. From there it’s Myrtleford & then Melbourne & I’m quite excited to say the least!

Day 3 in Sydney & I was already ready to explore the entire city by myself. The day’s chosen destination was Milsons Point.

If you want to have a mental picture of how beautiful Milsons Point is, take a look at these aerial photographs, which show Milsons Point, Lavendar Bay & Kirribilli (home to the Prime Minister)

Milsons Point is the western side of the Harbour Bridge approaches on the northern side. It is the home of Luna Park and is a adjacent to Kirribilli

I had decided to get there by train. From Central, which is the largest railway station in Sydney, it’s only three stations away on the North Shore Line.

I had all my instructions down to a T before I leave - and was more than somewhat amused at Sim & Ally’s worries that I would get lost / I would not be able to manage the crowds at Central!!

Especially since I come from the land of Victoria Terminus. Seriously people!

Getting there was a breeze, as I predicted. The station, though at rush hour, was not (even half) as crowded as Sim & Ally made out it to be. I got a place to sit - which as any Mumbaikar knows, on a train, is a luxury!

While waiting for the train, I memorized the stations in the North Shore Line:
Central
Town Hall
Wynyard
Milsons Point
North Sydney
Waverton
Wollstonecraft
St Leonards

I memorized upto St. Leonards since that was the plan for the next day & I thought I might as well get the hang of things.

Milsons Point supports the northern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and as such you can imagine is a very beautiful place. It was had many Restaurants, Cafes, Bars and Pubs as far as I could make out.

I walked around the place for quite a bit, taking in the architecture - though I do not understand it all (i.e. I’m not one of those people who’d be able to tell you which era & what style) - but it all still fascinates me. And you must admit, ignorant or not, the houses are beautiful!

I even found a lovely old church with a beautiful antiquated bell - ah, so so very pretty. It was unfortunately closed - so instead at the end of a lovely long walk, I found a nice little pier where I settled in for a nice time of quite & prayer. The atmosphere was just so conducive to meditation & prayer - I couldn’t help feeling close to God next to all the beauty I was seeing!

Finally it was time for dinner with Ally. Ally & I have been friends since we were of single digit age. And probably before that. Seriously, I have some very funny home videos to prove that! I don’t remember when she last came to India - but it was a looong while since I had seen her —- and I cannot begin to put into words how happy I was to see her!!!

Dinner was super fun.

It’s amazing how one automatically regresses into a little girl when with old friends! We chatted like two high school girls - I found it very hard to finish my huge fish & chips dinner I had ordered.

Al had taken me to ‘Ripples’, a multi-award winning restaurant & a really lovely place which is just outside at the North Sydney pool. So in the night, we could see the beautiful Harbour Bridge all lit up above us & the Opera House just a little bit beyond that! Such a great view!

We decided to walk home - dual reasons - first to digest our food! - and second to have more time to keeping yapping! We went around & even saw the Luna Park, which is brilliantly lit up in the nights!

Back home at Ally’s, I caught up with her hubby Bres who was also a friend of mine from school days. And when I say, caught up, I mean caught up! We literally discussed EVERY person I know - and then some (!!!) - I think Bres made a list before I arrive & then just quizzed me, lol. Stayed really late into the night & was so happy to spend time with them both - and yes, baby made three

The majority of my day was spent exploring Randwick. I was still a little in the ‘Gold Coast spirit’ (very laissez faire) so naturally I got up late & ate a nonsensical breakfast before heading out armed with my camera.

Randwick is a beautiful place and is very close (4 kms south) to the Sydney CBD (Central Business District) or what Mumbaikars refer to as ‘the city’.

It is known for housing Sydney’s largest park - Centennial Park and also the “world famous” Royal Randwick Racecourse.

It is also a pretty much a university area and is home to the University of New South Wales.

I also got to browse through plenty of little stores as well as the church I had gone to Mass at the previous day - Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. If you’ve followed my travelogues before, you’ll know that I have a fascination for churches (& for the Spirit therein!) & I did go a little camera crazy before I settled down for some good quality time with God.

I ended the day shopping with Sim - where she bought me my very first gift for myself from Australia - this very cute pair of bedroom slippers

When I arrived in Australia, I had left my main suitcase in (paid) storage at Sydney Airport & gone on to the Gold Coast with just my strolley.

On arriving back in Sydney, one of the first things I found out was that my lock was jammed. It was working fine at the airport when I transferred my liquid makeup from there to the strolley. It was a tiny little silly lock that thieves could have easily picked if they wanted to, so the whole jamming thing was a mystery. Nick however solved my problem instantly with the help of a few men tools.

Sunday morning Sim & I got up nice and early & headed down to church for Mass. It happened to be Palm Sunday, so we got to witness the procession as well as get out own palms.

After Mass, Sim took me out for breakfast before heading back home to get ready to head down to Coogee Beach.

After basking in what ozzies consider “Such glorious weather!” we headed down to ‘Cafe Ristorante‘, a lovely Italian Restaurant just off the beach. Met up with several people in Sim & Nick’s clan. Was somehow terribly noisy that day in the restaurant - so naturally we did what we ought to - we talked even more loudly over everyone else’s voice.

* Lunch (& dessert, I must add) was very good.
* The company was even better.
* The super-duper-gorgeous waiter who struck up a conversation (for about 15 minutes while we were waiting to get in) about Hard Rock Cafe with me (I was wearing a ‘Cabo San Lucas‘ T) - priceless.

I shall take you all around the table in photographs now:

After lunch digestion was by the beach:

Where I for the first time discovered “beach pools”!

The pool (see pic above) at Coogee was once called the ‘Giles Hot Sea Baths & Swimming Pools’ and was for “men only” when it opened, way back in 1929. Now the point has been renamed ‘Dolphin Point’. The pools apparently are used by kids & adults alike who want to swim in sea water without the danger of tides.

Anyway, we headed back home for evening tea before Sim & Nick decided to give me a tour by car of every place in Sydney all in one night. I was by this point quite tired and I honestly don’t remember half of where they took me! I remember them saying, “this is CBD”, “this is Oxford Street”, “this is blah”, zzzzz, “this is blah”…. wha-huh??

What I do remember was my very very very first view of the Harbour Bridge - and yes, of the Opera House. Just like I remember the first time I saw the Taj Mahal. There are some moments in life where you just don’t breathe for a second because they really are so breath-takingly beautiful.

We also drove over the Harbour Bridge (who would have thunk to use it as a bridge?!) & saw the sunset from a beautiful point at the other side of the CBD.

A beautiful end to an amazingly beautiful day.