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	Oceania
	Australia

Australian Capital Territory	New South Wales	Australia Northern Territory	Australia Queensland
South Australia	Tasmania	Western Australia

Australian Capital Territory

Canberra

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Australian Capital Territory Travel Guide Edit This The best resource for sights, hotels, restaurants, bars, what to do and see x The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is a small area within New South Wales, established for the purposes of governing Canberra, the federal capital of Australia. For the greater part of this century the ACT was administered by a department of the Federal Governent itself. The territory became self-governing some ten years ago, despite popular sentiment to remain without its own government (a sure sign that, when it comes to politicians, familiarity breeds contempt)! Canberra now has a population of ~350 000, and is the main reason for tourits to visit the ACT. However, the ACT is substantially larger than Canberra itself, and it is worth mentioning that the remainder of the territory is largely wilderness, dominated by Namadgi National Park. Just west of the territory lies the northern tip of Kosiousko National Park, which extends southward all the way to the NSW/Victoria border. Also to the East it is only 2 hrs drive to Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast, past the Budawangs National Park with magnificent canyons and conglomerate plateaus. If you are in Australia for a short time and are either based in Sydney or passing between Sydney and Melbourne, you should consider taking a day to visit Canberra and see the sites such as the Federal Parliament, High Court, National Gallery, National War Memorial, etc. If you are staying longer in the country, and want to see some wilderness, then Canberra's proximity to the NSW South Coast, NSW ski fields, and the Kosiuosko, Budawangs and Namadgi National Parks should make it worth considering as a base of operations. ________History Edit This The region now occupied by the ACT was orignially an area of long, thick grasses and scrubland, populated by the local aboriginal tribe who hunted there for kangaroo and other animals. Early white exlorers commented on the suitablilty of the area for grazing, and the first homestead was established there in the later half of the nineteenth century. The site for the federal capital was chosen by the constitutional convention held to establish Australia as a federation in the late 1890's. The reason was simple - it was roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest population centres in Australia. The Australian Capital Territory came into being along with the Federation of Australia in 1901. The city was named Canberra after the suggestion of Lady Denman, since the word Canberra means "meeting place" in the language of the local aboriginal people. The remainder of the ACT's history is largely that of Canberra itself, but the territory as a whole has also seen development. Around Canberra, dendrologists establishe numerous aboretums to assess what sort of trees would grow suitably in the prevailing climate. This has paved the way for a forestry industrly in the terrtiory. A large proportion of the territory was set aside as Namadgi National Park. This park encompasses several of the old arboretums as well as the Corin Dam, Canberra's water source. It also contains some old satellite tracking stations constructed in the early days of space exploration. Although ruled by a federal department for much of it's history, the ACT is now self-governing. One interesting aspect of this is that the decision to pursue self-governement was taken against the popular will of the residents! This displays perfectly the Australian attitude towards the value of elected representatives, as assessed by the people who see the most of them! the ACT legislative assembly is now composed of 18 representatives elected by the Hare-Clark system, which ensures a strong presence of minority parties and independents. _________Getting Around Edit This The airport is 7km (4mi) south-east of the city centre. You can get a shutttle minibus to the Jolimont Centre in town and to various hotels for about $5 or catch a cab to the city for about $7. Public transport in Canberra means the Action bus - the Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network! It's not much chop - services are rather sparse and practically non-existent on Sundays or after 10pm. You're much better off on a bicycle if you're energetic (Canberra has an excellent network of bike paths which allow you to avoid the traffic pretty much anywhere you're going) or if you're not with a car. _______Getting There Edit This By Air The Canberra airport is located east of Lake Burley-Griffin, 10-15 minutes drive from the city center. The connections between Canberra and Sydney are particularly regular, with planes departing every hour (the so-called Airport Shuttle run by Ansett). It is also easy to fly between Melbourne and Canberra. By Road Canberra is easily reached from Sydney or Melbourne via the Hume Highway. The trip to and from Sydney is approximately 3 1/2 hrs, from to/from Melbourne 6 1/2 hrs. Coming from Sydney, take the exit after Goulburn onto the Federal Highway, passing west of the large and shallow Lake Gould. Travelling from Melbourne, take the exit to Canberra at Yass. This route is also well travelled by Coach companies, which will deposit you at the Jolimont Centre in the city center. By Rail Rail is a slower but far more comfortable method of passge to Canberra from Sydney. The Canberra terminus is located in the suburb of Kingston, south-east of the lake and Parliament House. If you are planning to stay in South Canberra (Manuka, Kingston, Barton, Yaralumla, or the subrubs further South) then the Railway station will be closer than the bus center. If you are planning to stay in Northern Canberra - at the YHA Hostel for instance - you will find the Bus center closer. :::::::::Canberra Travel Guide Edit This The best resource for sights, hotels, restaurants, bars, what to do and see Parliament House Parliament House Ben Hart Canberra is Australia's federal capital. Established as part of Australia's federation in 1901, Canberra houses the national parliament, federal government departments, the High Court of Australia, the Australian War Memorial, and several other important institutions. Canberra is comprised of five large "town centres" that lie in the valleys of the Canberra region. These are Central Canberra, Belconnen, Woden, Tuggeranong and Queanbeyan (actually in New South Wales). For tourists, Central Canberra is the only major area of interest, but the presence of the other centres will explain why the size of Canberra's population seems so out of proportion with it's low-built appearance. Also, visitors interested in obtaining pornography illegal in other states may want to visit Fishwyck, a suburb of Canberra. These other centres are also en route to local wilderness from central Canberra. Canberra is very different from most Australian capital cities. Firstly, it is relatively young (established ~1927) and secondly, it's planned development has excluded the presence of buiildings on any surrounding hilltops, or that are over fifteen stories high. Thus visitor's may be slightly under-awed by Canberra, but don't just turn around. Explore the sites and appreciate the presence of so much wilderness within a city. You will realise that Canberra is a great place to explore, relax, and learn. It's also fun to note that the 'mall' running between the War Memorial and Parliament looks familiar. This is because much of Canberra was designed by a US Architect and the mall in Canberra is reminicent of the mall in Washington DC, specifically the reflecting pool between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. ::::::::::Namadgi National Park Travel Guide Edit This The best resource for sights, hotels, restaurants, bars, what to do and see Namadgi National Park, proclaimed in 1984 and over 106,000 hectares, is partly situated in the Australian Alps. It offers some astonishing views of nature at its best and also houses the only Aboriginal rock-art sites in the high country. You can do some excellent bushwalking in this area and also some serious climbing –some peaks are over 1700 metres but don’t let yourself be surprised by sudden snowfall or extreme temperature changes. This is most likely to occur on the Bimberi and Brindabella Ranges. Canberra's water supply, the Cotter River, lies within the bounds of the park and is a protected area with restrictions on camping and walking.