"CANBERRA, WE KEEP COMING BACK HERE! " a Canberra Travel Page by AusPinay

Being the country's capital, many tourists assume it is a bit expensive in CANBERRA.

However for our family, it is always rewarding and enriching- for the environmental, cultural and historical perspectives,worth every cent when we come here.

The surprising thing is, it is not EXPENSIVE to explore this vibrant yet very valuable icon of Australian life! Some notable attractions for families and people of all ages are the Australian War Memorial, Australian Parliament, Questacon (Science Museum), , Art Gallery, Dinosaur Museum, Science Observatory, the list goes on. ( The first two are FREE to the public!)

The most amazing experiences we get are from places outside Canberra- numerous parks teeming with Australian native flora and fauna! Those delightful places are where the real nature experience are truly obtained!See the roos photo we spotted by the side of the road!

This year, we trekked to the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve for kangaroo spotting and to commune with nature. It is a magical place and highly recommended as a must-visit spot near the capital. Tidbinbilla is part of the Namadgi National Park, home to the original owners of Australia, the Aboriginal people who were found to live here during the last Ice Age 21,000 years ago!The reserve is about 40 minutes from Canberra. A small fee is charged for each vehicle entering here.

Visitors can also enjoy wilderness hiking and camping (permit required in Cotter Catchment, free of charge from Visitor Centre). In the past years, we come here, mainly at Corrin Forest for snow play, mainly tobogganing but this year, we were dismayed to find there was no snow in this areas! Global warming really is affecting even this little place of paradise!

But as Canberra is just 2.5 hours from the snowfields- at KOSCIUSKO NATIONAL PARK, we have a lot of choices for snow fun. This year, we went to MT. SELWYN SNOWFIELDS, where we hired toboggans for $13for half day tariff. We made sure we were clothed appropriately this time- complete with ski boots, proper winter jackets and pants, plus wooly socks, beanies and ski gloves.

In thepast we were caught out with not enough suitable winter gear, coming from typically sunny and warm Sydney!

However, times have changed and we too are experiencing extreme cold there so we thought Corrin would be filled with snow this year!

In Canberra, there's always good accommodation though our favourite ones are those in the Central or South Coast due to the scenic locations.

However, there are lots of decent but reasonably priced lodgings here- a wide variety of choices to suit your budget.

For us, we always get 3-4 star rated hotels/motels/lodgings, always with two bedrooms, usually self-contained and with buffet brekky (we love our brekky, it is important to start your day right!).
Most of them have indoor heated pool, spa, and offer hearty buffet breakfast just right to ward teh winter blues away!

The best part of going to Canberra are the visits to The AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT and the AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL! They are indispensable to any trip to CAnberra, especially for our kids. The rich history of the nation is all recorded at the Parliament's museums, entrance of which is FREE to the public!

The War Memorial is the same, free for everyone! I cannot begin to decrbie how we feel so at home looking at the numerous exhibits which are not meant to highlight or give importance to WAR but to emphasize the sacrifices a lot of our heroes gave to protect PEACE and save this country as a whole!

Canberra, as seat of government has also the various government agencies and department plus the different embassies of the world.

It also houses the National Museum and National Gallery of Australia.

As a purposely built and design garden city, CANBERRA also has other attractions like the Dinosaur Museum, the QUESTACON (Science Museum), a variety of superb shopping malls, fine restaurants and zoos. The Australian Sports Institute is also based here.

When you come to Canberra, expect to come back as there is always a place you will want to see more next time! Any season, there's always something new and exciting to experience in vibrant CANBERRA! It is just three hours by car or train and even quicker by plane. By why fly when the drive to the capital is guaranteed to be memorable for years to come?