Views of Canberra

Now that we're settled in our apartment, and have finished traveling the globe for a month or two, we have some spare time on our hands. With all the travel we've done lately, we decided it was high time to 'travel' around this new city we call home. So this past weekend, we decided to go out and enjoy a bit of Canberra's sites. In a previous post we mentioned a quick visit to the Black Mountain Tower - a visit that didn't have us going inside the tower because we had arrived at dusk. So we figured a return visit was in order.

The observation deck from the tower stands at about 880 meters above sea level and has some really great views. You can see *almost* the entire Territory (Australian Capital Territory, or ACT) from its decks. Certainly, you can see most of Canberra's suburbs from the tower - with the exception being that of Tuggeranong which is hidden behind the southern hills. This is quite a feat since Canberra is so widely spread out over such a large land mass (2,358 sq km, apparently). Anyways, here is a ~180 degree shot of Canberra and its lake from the top of the tower.

Canberra and Lake Burley Griffin

And here is a zoomed in view focused on the area where our apartment is.. which we've circled just for you. ;)

Our Apartment

After taking in the views from the tower, we decided to travel over to Mount Ainslie and take some pictures for comparison purposes. While not quite as spectacular, it's a great view considering that it's free! (Admission to the tower costs $7.50 per person). The War Memorial, Parliament, and City Center can all be seen in their entirety from Mount Ainslie.

War Memorial, Parliament, and City Center

The weather has been slowly getting hotter and hotter in Canberra. Our friends here keep warning us that the weather is not yet 'hot'. We're not sure how much hotter it can get given that it's been up in the mid-thirties already, but we've been assured that we're still in Spring and that Summer has yet to arrive. One of the things we do really love about the weather here is the fact that *almost* every day has skies that are clear and blue. Always so pretty!

Finally Settled

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. The month of October was pretty much a write-off for both of us. Blair was sent to New Zealand for a week, followed by a 3-week visit to Canada. Meanwhile, Stacy was heavily occupied at work, but was lucky enough to get a few visits in with friends/colleagues that were sent down our way for some work trips. We both really enjoyed seeing our friends and colleagues (it's hard to believe it had been 7.5 months since we'd last seen them).

So what's new?  Lots...but we'll split all the details up into several blog posts...starting with this one about an update on our living situation. ;)

As you already know, we've been slowly replacing furniture that was damaged during our move to Oz. Finally - after 8 months of being here - we can now say that we're settled (the last item we were waiting for was our couch set, and it finally arrived at the end of September). While Blair was away in Canada, Stacy took the opportunity to finish decorating the apartment. So, without further delay, here are the pictures we've been promising of our apartment! (See this older blog post for some before pictures)

Front Entry

Main Living Area

Kitchen / Dining Area

Office with a view of the Lake

Master Bedroom with separate balcony

All in all, it's a very cosy apartment and we enjoy coming home to it every day!

As for the fur babies...they seem to be enjoying their new home too. Here are a few pics to show what it's like living with these guys - I swear...these cats think everything in this place is their own!

Time to watch TV? No...we must be the center of attention!

Brady wants to play too!  (Thanks C&S for the game idea!)

Our view every morning - Cats waiting to be fed!

A magpie (evil Aussie bird) provides hours of entertainment