Other human addictions don’t usually affect a great number of peole. Yes, every kind of addiction affects someone you know but smoking seems to affect so many more people. How many people breathe in the smoke someones exhaled on a busy street? A lot. They may not get much but it’s certainly not clean air. Combined with the exhaust that fills the air in most cities, it’s a disgusting mixture.

Aside from gum, I think I see more cigarette butts lining city street than anything else.  Doesn’t anyone think to use a garbage can? I’m sure some of them do but there are still a significant portion of the smoking population that think it is ok to through their butts on the ground, out the window or into the ditch. I see it the same as throwing a drink can on the ground. It’s still littering!!

I’ve been running into some issues going to this blog and it coming up with an error. If anyone else runs into this problem can you email me at ross.collicutt[at]gmail[dot]com, facebook me, or leave a comment? I’m not sure what the issue is and I’d like to get it sorted out ASAP.

Thanks!

To view the last few big driving legs of the trip, check out the links to Google Maps.

Adelaide to Broken Hill

Broken Hill to Dubbo

Dubbo to Miles

Miles to Airlie Beach

Airlie Beach to Cairns

Everyone says tourists come to Australia and think they can drive from one place to the other in no time. Coming from Canada I know that it would take more time than that and vowed to keep in mind the incredible distances and time things accordingly. I’m still a tourist. I was looking at how much driving I’d have to do in the next few days in Adelaide and saw the distance from Dubbo to Cairns, over 2000 kms. Hmm, that’s a long way.

I was happy to be on the road seeing everything rolling by my window but I was also anxious to get to Cairns. It was on the drive from Dubbo to Miles that I left a little later than I had hoped and assumed I would make good time on the highway. I did make good time, stopping only when I needed too and taking quicker routes. It’s still a long way to go. I was having fantasies of driving all night and reaching Cairns in the morning, spending a day to recover and then hitting the beaches. Driving is all fun when the sun is up and the weather is good but as soon as the sun goes down, so do my eyelids. Driving is about the last thing anyone would ever want to do to stay awake. Windows open and music blaring, I was heading to sleeptown so 1400km shy of Cairns, I ended that days drive in Miles.

A quaint little town of maybe a few thousand whose main strip consists of a few shops, a 24 hour trucker stop and a caravan park across the road. I inquired at the caravan park about a tent spot(really just for my car) and then said sign here. 15 bucks later and I’m outside with Chuck(I’m not sure his real name) seeing where to put my car. There were caravans everywhere, except for a small path into the middle of them from the driveway. 15 minutes later, Chuck’s exhaustively explained the possible variations of parking my car in the small patch of grass and I pick one and drive in.

Aside from the trucks cruising past every 30 minutes and the bright lights shining in the back of the car, it was a good sleep. 7 am and I’m up, showered, and on my way to Airlie Beach. I’m excited to see something I’ve read about, to see somewhere I’ll be spending some time in the next few weeks. After a few breaks and driving almost 11 hours, I arrive in the party town of Airlie Beach. It’s basically one strip with a beach on one side, houses on a hill on the other. Along the main street, there are travel places, clubs, hostels, hotels and ice cream shops. That’s about it. My kinda place

A quick look at all the brochures in the reception and kitchen and I’m jittery with excitement. Snorkel here, dive there, swim here, take a boat ride there. Many, many things to do and only so much time and money to go around. I’ll have to choose wisely what I do in the weeks to come. It would be all to easy to spend everything I’ve got and more on all the different tours and things to do here.

At first I thought I would take the tourist bus across town and then down into the gardens, do a bit of sightseeing and then run the track. I started thinking about how much training I should be doing before the half marathons in the (Canadian) fall and decided to go a bit further. I would take the free City Circle tram to Fed square and then run to the gardens, around it, and then back to the hostel. I got so excited when I started to walk towards the tram that I thought I’d warm up right away run all the way down to the track, around it and back up.

After going past the tram and down into the city I decided I was warmed up enough and started to job a bit. Big fail!! Both my right ankle and left knee flared up in pain every time my feet struck the pavement. Not quite what I was hoping for but it was cold. I’ll just walk quickly and get really warmed up and then it will be all loosened up and ready to go. More walking and more walking and more walking then….. more walking. It was still pretty painful to run at all, even at a very very slow pace so I kept the walking going and went all the way across the water and into the gardens.

My fantastic plan to run around the gardens the first time taking pictures wasn’t materializing like I had hoped. I took this as a sign and gave up for the moment and just headed around snapping photos of everything interesting I could find. The Royal Botanic Gardens are actually one part of a massive green area the starts on the North end with Alexandra Gardens. I wandered through here first, past all the rowing boathouses and into the Queen Victoria Gardens. Both very nice but still basically green areas next to the water. After this was the King’s Domain. Another nice area but the good stuff was next.

Still heading south I hit the shrine of remembrance. A massive monument to those that died during the first world war, the entrance and visitors center are beneath it. Heading into the Crypt from there, it’s got a large statue of a couple soldiers in the middle with large columns all around and flags on top of the columns. It was very dark and dreary in here but interesting nonetheless. Heading up the stairs brings you to the main level that is ringed by a hallway filled with books of the names of the fallen. Upstairs and outside from here was a balcony around the top of the building. Nothing near the view as the Eureeka Skydeck but not a bad view of the city and the rest of the gardens.

Out of the Shrine and down to the Royal Botanic Gardens I was pleasantly surprised that it was more than just another green area. It was absolutely chock-full of plans from everywhere. Every different type of plant from Australia and overseas and information about them all. There were different areas, the arid garden, fern gully, South Yarra River Environment. There’s a small man-made lake that covers a bit of t gardens and is home to many different types of birds. There were a few signs explaining the low water level of the lake. Apparently the recent rain has come nowhere near replenishing the lakes to their previous levels.

I was almost all the way around the gardens when I heard large booms from near the shrine. They had arranged artillery there and were firing them off at 12 for the ceremony. I headed around that way to see if I could see one of them being fired but I was just a minute to late. In my haste to see the guns firing I started to jog a bit. Finally, after 2 hours of walking, my ankle had finally loosened up a bit and i was able to jog slowly. I found the nearest distance marker on the Tan and started off as slow as I could go, feeling out everything and making sure all was satisfactorily warmed up. I’m not sure if it is the same every day but most people seemed to be running clockwise around the track. Of course, there were a few rebels jogging it backwards and we’d see them twice on each lap.

Half way around, there is a killer of a hill that isn’t too steep but is fairly long. It took all my energy just to get to the top. It’s downhill for a ways after this so I rested up as much as i could. By this time I was almost done my first lap and trying to get myself psyched up for the all out second lap. My first lap time was definitely abysmal at 26 minutes.

The second lap started much better than I thought it would. After all the pains and cramps of the first lap, I assumed the second would be the same or slower. It started well. About half way through all my energy completely faded. The fact that it was almost 2pm and I hadn’t had lunch yet and only a small breakfast wasn’t helping. Almost all the way around I ran past a girl about 8 or 9 running the same direction as I. I was a little bummed when I found it hard to pass her. I figured I’d just sail past her. Wasn’t the case! Finally after a lot of pep talk, I made it around to the final distance marker and managed to make it to the drink fountain that was close by only to find it didn’t work. Another half a kilometer around the track I found one that worked and slurped at it hungrily.

After running the track, I had every intention to run back to the hostel all the way through town. That sure didn’t happen. I found some lunch up Swanston Street and mished it back to the hostel with all the energy I had left.

Despite the ankle problems it was a satisfying trip. The rest of the day will be spent recuperating, finding out details of the fire show tonight and resting for the footy game tomorrow!

City Circle Tram

Aside from seeing sights around the city, the free tram and bus are a decent way to get around if you don’t want pay anything. There are many other trams and buses that go straight to particular destinations and these are the preferred method for those just wanting the fastest route. Seeing as I haven’t had to be anywhere by a particular time for the last 2 weeks and won’t have to for another 2 months, these slower, scenic rides are the way to go.

The bus ride takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes to go around town and drives past a bunch of different things. There are 13 stops that you can get on and get off at. They run every 30 minutes from 10am to 4pm. Along with the small blurb of information in the pamphlet I got at the hostel(also available on the bus), the bus driver has something to say about every attraction. There are also recordings of information about many of the major attractions you drive past.

I got on at stop 8, beside the Queen Victoria Market but I’ll explain from stop one where the buses begin and end their tours. Stop 1 is at the Arts Precinct. This area has a bunch of arty things to see and do in it including the Performing Arts Museum and the National Gallery of Victoria.

Stop 2 is Federation Square. This is Melbourne’s “meeting place”. There are a bunch of bars, cafe’s and shops around the main square that are filled with a bunch of steps. There is free wireless here which instantly makes me like it. I spent about an hour there today catching up with some emails and talking to friends. Its a bit hard to see the screen with bright sunshine but it was worth it to be outside! The Ian Potter Center, part of the National Gallery of Victoria is here as well as the Australia Centre for the Moving Image. Stop 3 is the Sports Precinct. This place is pretty important to Melbourne as they’re crazy sports fans. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (AKA the MCG or simple the G) is here which is their biggest sports complex. Major Aussie rules and cricket games are played here. There is one on Sunday that I’ll be attending.

Stop 4 is the Chinatown Precinct and Theatres District. That one is pretty self explanatory. I realize at this point that they name everything. Every road, block, group of blocks, garden and grassy area has some name. Stop 5 is the Melbourne Museum and Carlton Gardens. The museum holds an IMAX theatre and a huge number of displays and is right next to the world heritage listed Royal Exhibition Buidling, which is a massive old building in the middle of a fantastic gardens. Stop 6 is Lygon Street which is the centre of the Italian culture here. 7 is the University of Melbourne. The Ian Potter Museum of Art is there as well.

Queen Victoria Market

Stop 8 is where I got on at the Queen Victoria Market. This massive market servers over 200,000 shoppers a week and takes up serveral blocks. The Flagstaff gardens are close to this stop as well, one of the pretty places to run in town.

Waterfront City and the Docklands are at stop 9. They don’t officially label this as a different city but they don’t refer to it as Waterfront city and think of it as a different place to live outside Melbourne. Not a bad way to do it, I say. You’re commute is a walk across the street to a tram that will take you wherever you need to go. Also here is a massive shopping complex and one of the world biggest ferris wheels, the Southern Cross. Another stop along the water is the Docklands Stadium and Victoria Harbour. This is number 10. Around here is Telstra Dome which another sporting venue similar to the MCG but slightly smaller.

Stop 11 is Williams street. It’s another stop downtown close to a lot of the shopping and eating along the main streets in town. Stop 12 is over the river in Southbank. This more expensive part of town is home to some of the largest buildings here and pricey hotels. The Eureka building is also situated here which is the worlds tallest residential building at 92 stories and almost 300 metres. The viewing level is the southern hemisphere’s tallest as is quite the view. You can see almost anything and if you can’t quite then there are many binoculars trained on more interesting things around the city. The best part of the experience is another $12 and is called the Edge. It’s a glass box 3 metres by 3 metres that slides out from the edge of the building. They stuff you inside with a few other people with the glass smoked so you can’t see anything. Slowly the whole block moves out the side of the building and suddenly the glass goes clear and suddenly there is nothing beneath you but 88 stories of air. Kneel or lay down on the glass and it feels like there is nothing between you and the ground. It’s quite the experience.

Shrine of Remembrance

Stop 13 is the end of the trip at the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanic Gardens. These beautiful gardens hold a couple of other attractions within their borders as well as numerous sculptures and a massive shrine dedicated to those lost in times of war and peace for Australia. There is a 3.8 kilometer track around the gardens locally known as the Tan. It is the place to go to job in Melbourne and there are official and unofficial times from various people scattered across the internet for running around the track. I plan to run this track in the next few days and see how I stack up!

Though the free bus ride isn’t the most exciting thing in town, it definitely is informative and gives you a good idea and starting place for your tours. Being free I highly recommend it to anyone new to the city to get their bearings and decide what to do next.

I definitely feel like I’ve grown up in a pretty small town when I come to Melbourne and the tall buildings impress me. It feels like Vancouver but bigger. There’s an older feel to it though. There are some older churches and other buildings scattered throughout the new high rises. From the Federation Square I could see a couple of churches that I have no idea of their age. They seem to be quite old because of the architecture and they look even older because of the brand new glass buildings all around them.

I was told there were a couple things to watch out for in Melbourne, the trams and the dreaded hook turn. Hook turns are just a crazy way of doing a u-turn. There aren’t as many roundabouts here as in other parts of Australia that I’ve seen. I’m assuming it’s because they take up too much space. U-turns are a piece of cake with round-a-bouts, it’s almost as if someone was thinking when they said lets make a lot of roundabouts. You want to do a u-turn? Just go around the roundabout all the way. Simple. You’re not sure where you are going? Go around the roundabout again. Easy. Don’t go around too many times as you might get dizzy and drive off the road. I haven’t done it yet but I’ve not had a reason to go around a roundabout more than once.

Trams are all over the place in downtown Melbourne. At first, all I noticed was a bus-like vehicle screeching down the track, throwing sparks off the cables and stopping every once and a while. As a pedestrian and driver you have to watch out for them as they sort of have their own rules of the road. Tram goes and then everyone else goes. There are a few signs that flash “Watch out for tram”, but they don’t appear regularly. I had very little idea about how they operated when I first arrived but the idea seems pretty simple. There are a bunch of different tracks and they are numbered. They go from one end to the track and then back. Certain tracks go to certain areas of the city. For example number 16 goes from the University of Melbourne to St Kilda. It hits the end, and then turns around and comes back. Pretty simple. They pretty much stop and open their doors and every intersection they stop at and you can hop on or off. There are some actual stations that they stop at and people can line up at but most of the “stations” are a strip in the middle of the road with a railing that you stand by. Trams whiz by on one side and traffic on the other. It’s not very relaxing.

Once you get on the tram you can ride it as far as you want. Tickets seem to be $6.80 for a day pass before 6, and they drop to $3.70 after 6. Getting a pass lets you ride all day. Getting a pass is not exactly an easy task though. There is a large machine about the middle of each tram that you stuff change into(no cards or bills) and you get a ticket. There are 3 rows of buttons and you select one button from each row depending on what kind of ticket you want. I asked someone how to do it when I got on the first one and he did it for me so I still don’t know which buttons to press. After you have a ticket you just stuff it in a little validation machine each time you get on and off and it says stuff on the screen like “validated”. I’m not sure what happens if you try and use the tram without paying. Most people seem to pay somehow but some don’t. I’m not sure if they have a ticket and just don’t validate it or they actually haven’t paid. I was going to ask the driver when I got off at my stop but apparently it’s against the rules to talk to the drivers.

Downtown Melbourne is set up as a gride of streets about 5 blocks by 10 blocks. A free tram called City Circle runs around this grid all day and doesn’t cost anything to ride. It’s a neat way to see the city and get around if you’ve got a bit of extra time. There is also a bus that goes around the city but out a further than the tram. I’m not sure exactly where this goes which means I have to go adventuring!

Steps in Federation Square

I’m in Melbourne for a few more days to catch a footy game on Sunday so there will be another post about this pretty city and some photos to go along with it! ( Uploading photos from the hostel takes forever!!)

Most of the hostels have some sort of internet. Usually it’s free to get on some computer for a period of time. Wireless is almost always pay-per-use though. There have been a couple very kind cafe’s that have free wireless for anyone to use. Macdonalds, unfortunately, is the only other reliable source of free wireless that I’ve found. I feel bad using the wireless and not buying anything so I’ve only used it when I’ve gone it to eat something but I have seen a couple people just stroll in and set up their laptop. 

Armed with the maps of the major regions of Australia, I highlighted the path I’m most likely going to take for the rest of the trip. I had originally planned to fly into Sydney, drive down the coast to the Great Ocean Road, all the way back up the coast to Cairns and then back down again. That’s a lot of driving and a lot of sightseeing in places I would have already gone. 

After some good recommendations, I’ve changed my plans to go through the Great Ocean Road, up to Adelaide, across to Dubbo through Broken Hill, up to Cairns travelling on the inland highways and then down the coast.  It will be more driving that I was going to do originally but I will be able to see a lot more. Coming down along the coast goes through lush green coastal country and going through Broken Hill to Dubbo will get into dry desert country without having to actually go into the outback. 

From Canberra, I headed out to the coast to Bateman’s Bay. The drive was nice, changing from dry, dusty areas to lush green foliage down by the coast. There was a bit of rain almost the entire way down which made driving a little more sketchy.  Just before Bateman’s Bay the road comes down out of the mountains and is a very steep road of switchbacks.  Before most corners were signs of trucks tipping over and very slow speed limit signs. They were for good reason though. I spent a little bit of time almost sideways going down these hills. After that adventure, I sure paid attention to how fast I was going!!

Beach in Bateman's Bay

Bateman’s Bay was a small town with a main strip running parallell to the water. I headed straight to the Information Centre and they gave me some good information on where to get wireless, where to eat and where to sleep. I chose a little caravan park called Pleasurelea down the beach and headed out there to sign in. They had a strange welcoming party here but I felt welcomed nonetheless.

Welcoming party at Pleasurelea

Out for a quick 10k run along the walk beside the highway and the beach and then I was ready to figure out the next day’s adventure.

I had originally planned to go from Bateman’s Bay to Eden or possibly just past and then camp there for the night but I got a little excited with all the driving and just kept going. I filled up on fuel in Orbost and then continued right on to Bairnsdale. I probably could have made it right into Melbourne from there but I didn’t want to arrive in t big city later in the day with no plan.

A lookout from Eden

A jungle-like rest stop outside of Eden

The view from above Lakes Entrance

A beautiful church in Bairnsdale

I found Mitchell’s Caravan park after taking a wrong turn and heading a bit down the highway. It was a decent park, with facilities better than Pleasurelea. I chose a camp spot in their field, which wasn’t a big task since there was no one else camping there.

I hopped into bed early and caught up on all my journal writing. I had been ok up until the day we hiked Kosciuszko and then everything fell apart. I have never been a big journal fan but I wanted to remember where I went and what I did on this trip. I’d never be able to do it otherwise. I’ve been experimenting with short videos on my camera, talking about where I am, showing a bit of the scenery or what I’m looking it. It’s nice and easy for times when I can’t sit down and write something out in my journal or on the blog.

I didn’t think it would get very cold that night but still zipped right in my sleeping bag. I’m using a -1 rated down bag that packs up quite small. I wasn’t freezing but I sure wasn’t warm. I had another blanket in the car that I pulled out and threw across my bag and I’m debating getting another. I think I will be in hostels until it gets a bit warmer and dryer.

I didn’t mind getting up early though, as the sun was rising and there was a trail right beside the campsite waiting to be run. 

 The trail goes from one bridge beside the caravan park to one a couple kilometres down the river. It’s hardpack dirt most of the way and is quite pretty. There are a few docks along the way that may be used for fishing. I took a few quick shots along the run but I had to keep moving to get warm! 

As a side note, I totally think the girl’s running and picture taking idea in Yes, Man! could take off.  After the run, I did a bit of organizing of all my gear in the car. It’s a wonder I haven’t lost anything in there yet. It’s not pretty. I guess as long as I keep it in the car, I’ll be able to find it eventually.

I was a little worried about getting into Melbourne with all the toll roads and freeways everywhere. It definitely is a big city but it’s not too bad getting around. Maybe I’m getting used to it? I remember just a week and a bit ago coming through Sydney and totally being freaked out. Just follow the GPS, it knows all!

I’m not sure what I was expecting but it was definitely a disappointment to come out of the lush, green coastal valleys into Melbourne. 

I love traffic

I was unsure of where I was going to stay in Melbourne at first because where are no caravan parks close by and I’d have to find parking for the car if I stayed at a hostel. I found the Melbourne YHA that had free underground parking though which solved my dilemma. After Manly Backpackers in Manly, this YHA is super nice!

Tomorrow I’m off to see the wizard…. I mean to adventure around in Melbourne and meet up with a couple of aspiring LIP’s (location independent professionals)!

I stayed near Dalgety for the night and then headed out through Jindabyne to Charlotte’s pass to begin the journey up Mount Kosciuszko. On the way out we ran into some cattle on the road which slowed us up a bit. It was an obvious reminder that we were not in the city any more!

Jindabyne and Thredbo are sleepy little towns that come alive during the ski season. Australia has just started to get some snow so the good snow is right around the corner. They’re similar to Courtenay on the Vancouver Island, although a little less so now since the highway goes straight to Mount Washington. Both the towns are fairly small and offer accomodation and transportation to the mountain along with heaps of outdoor shops for renting and buying gear. Just past Jindabyne we went into Kosciusko National Park. Day passes to get into the park are about $12 and annual ones $190. I was fortunate to be with a couple of volunteer firefighters that get annual passes to all the parks.

Climbing up to Charlotte’s Pass we went over a few little streams and past the coldest weather station in Australia. We went past Perisher Ski Resort and could see the dry grassy beginnings of all the incredible cross country ski trails in the area. There is only a tiny bit of snow up there right now and the resorts have started to make snow on the colder nights to help things along. All the trees were still visible as well as the fire damage to them in some of the areas.

Many of the forested areas here are hit with fires at one point or another. A lot of the time, the fires aren’t hot enough to completely kill everything and life comes back fairly quickly. The heat of the fires open up a lot of seeds of the trees and brush. If it’s too hot though, it kills many of the trees and life takes much longer to come back. The burnt, dead trees are a bad fire hazard since they will light up more easily in the future.

A little further up the road from Perisher is Charlotte’s Pass, the highest village in Australia. It runs a couple lifts here in the winter. In the summer, the road is clear and goes up to a simple roundabout and a bit of parking. Facing out towards Kosciuszko there is a bit of a boardwalk off to the right with some informational signs. Off to the left is the road that winds it’s way up Kosciuszko.

The route we took is about 18km there and back from the top of Charlotte’s Pass. There is also a route that comes out of Thredbo up the chairlift. This trail is a little shorter and runs along a metal boardwalk most of the way. We hiked along the road from Charlotte’s Pass that used to be open to vehicles. About half way up there is a little building called Seamens Hut that is maintained by a group of volunteers in the area. It’s mainly used for emergencies in the winter but it’s a nice little spot to get out of the sun in the summer and have lunch.

A couple kilometres after Seamens hut our road meets up with the trail from Thredbo. As we hooked up with the path from Thredbo there weren’t many people on the trail but looking up we can see a flood of school aged kids on their way down and sliding on the bit of snow that’s there.

The trail up to Kozzy(Australian for Kosciuszko) is mixed going from dirt road to inlaid flat rocks to metal boardwalk to this plastic material designed for erosion control. It was thick black plastic and was set into the ground and filled with sand and dirt. It was basically a whole bunch of little pockets that held the dirt and everything else around it in it’s place. The pockets that weren’t full ended up being quite the tripping hazard.

We finally hit the mob of kids coming down from the top and I felt like a fish going upstream. They were not paying attention at all and we ran into a few. They were wearing all sorts of clothing. Some had tights and thing sweaters on and others had huge boots and snowboard gear. I’m assuming it was a guided school tour as the last person had ski patrol gear on and a radio blaring bad music.

We shared the summit with a young couple with two children who had rode their bicycles most of the way up. They were from Australia but had never been up the mountain. It was chilly at the top so we only stayed for a couple of photos and a voicemail to a friend. We trucked it down the mountain, making sure we didn’t slide off the edge on the snowy sections and had lunch at Seamens hut. Apparently the animals that live in there make all the surfaces quite dirty so I was careful not to put any of my food down.

The trip down was uneventful and much easier than walking all the way up. The weather was starting to close in so we didn’t take our time. By the time we hit the bottom we managed to stay in a pocket of sunshine most of the way up and back. This was very lucky for us. The region is notorious for quick weather changes throwing snow and rain in all directions. We might have had a bit of rain the day before or after but picked the perfect day for the summit.

I started reading “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer only a few days ago. They speak extensively in it about the 8,000er’s, the 14 tallest mountains on Earth. They fall into this group because they’re all above 8,000 metres. Those who summit these tough peaks enter into an elite group of people. Another group, not quite so elite as those that have climbed the 8,000er’s, are those that have climbed the 7 summits. This group are the tallest mountains on each of the continents(roughly) and include Mount Everest in Asia, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Denali in North America, Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Elbrus in Europe and Aconcagua in South America.

In older texts and lists, Kosciuszko in Australia was the 7th peak in the 7 summits. Since it’s ridiculously easy to climb and there is still debate on what counts as a continent over here, the Carstensz Pyramid in Papua, New Guinea tends to me more officially regarded as the 7th peak. It is the highest point in Oceania.

I still like to think I’ve done one of the 7 summits and I’m sure if you asked some of the older climbers, they may say Kosciuszko is the 7th peak. Saying that, I’ve only got 6(sort of 7) left to go! Who’s up for a trip to Kilimanjaro?

The War Museum is a beautiful building in itself. It has a massive amount of Australian war history in all the exhibits, ranging from World War 1 right up to current peace-keeping missions. I found the World War 2 information and Vietnam displays the most interesting.

The photo above was just outside and displayed the rows and rows of names of those that didn’t come back from the war. Reading through all the information was pretty intense. Some of the stories were straight from journals and diaries that were sent back from the front lines or somehow lasted over the years and found their way to the museum.

One note that had me a little choked up was a young soldier writing to his wife. He had written in his journal the entire time but he was about to leave on a mission that knew he wouldn’t come back from. He packed up his journal and some letters and had them sent back to her. His last note said, “if this finds you before I do, I won’t be coming back.”

After seeing all the horrendous details from all the wars Australia has been involved in I’m glad I had no part with any of it. I’m incredibly thankful that I can live my life without being forced into a war and spending years in wet, muddy, death-filled trenches.

On a lighter note, there was only a bit of cloud today and it was mostly sunny and warm. I’m in Canberra for another day and then off to the Snowy Mountains to climb Mount Kosciuzko!