Next is a photo of the sign as you go in. We thought it was very interesting.
After visiting the CDSCC, we made the short drive over to the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. We got a chance to do some bush walks (on nice paved trails) and look for kangaroo, wallaby, emu, platypus and koala. We saw everything but the platypus and koala. First, here's a picture of Graham and Lorraine in front of a rock near the entry to the animal Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary area in the Reserve is surrounded with a high fence to keep foxes out. The foxes were introduced to Australia for sport and are now a major nuisance. They kill many of the local animals that are rare and of significant interest. Here's a picture of the orange-billed yellow-breasted platypus spotter (aka Graham) looking for a platypus at the platypus pond. We didn't see a single platypus, but it was a nice spot.
The next two pictures are Rosie and Bob and Rosie, Bob and Graham on the trail.
The next two pictures are Rosie and Bob and Rosie, Bob and Graham on the trail.
Rosie got a great picture of two sulfur crested cockatoos in flight. A nice shot!
We did get pictures of some kangaroos and emus while we were in the Reserve. We refer to this roo picture as the "pensive looking kangaroo" or maybe it should be "dazed and confused looking kangaroo." He has that look on his face of "now what did I come over here for?" We can identify with that feeling!
Monday we fly out to Melbourne to start our Elderhostel tour. It's interesting that we've done so much already and the tour hasn't even started! Thanks to our hosts, Graham, Lorraine, Peter, Rachel and Timothy (and Saffi their dog) for a great first week in Australia.
More later mates! G'day!
Bob and Rosie
Here's a picture of Lake Burley Griffin and Cook Memorial Jet from the Telestra Tower.
The next photo is a shot of the Canberra city center:
Finally, here's a shot of the Mount Majura and Mount Anslie. We plan to climb the Mount Majura on Sunday afternoon. 
On the drive down from the Telestra Tower, we stopped and got a few wildlife shots. Here's a great picture Rosie got of a wild cockatoo. There are lots of them flying around in the Canberra area. 
From the Telestra Tower we drove to Parliament House. It's a beautiful setting and it was simply a great day to go. 
And finally (and everyone said, "Yeah"), here's a picture of Rosie and Lorraine with a statue of Queen Elizabeth. Don't they look "regal"?
Next we have a soccer match:
The next miniature is Stonehenge. Everything is correct except angle of the sunlight. As the Stonehenge poster indicated, since the miniature is in the southern hemisphere, the angle of the light is wrong when compared to the original in England.
Finally, here's a "birds eye view" of the site from a small raised platform.
From Cockington Green Gardens we went to the Canberra Botanical Gardens. Lorraine had arranged for one of her friends, Shirley, to give us a brief tour of indigenous plants. For those of you who don't know (and we didn't), the wattle is the Australia national flower. It comes in many shades of yellow, sizes and textures. We've included several different pictures of wattle and a few other garden photos. We hope you enjoy them!
Hope you enjoyed the photos! See you later.
Next, we drove to one of the parks in the Canberra area. Luckily, we happened upon a group of kangaroos grazing under the trees. As their natural habitat is being destroyed, the roos are moving in closer to the city and people. Note the little baby in its mother pouch. They didn't seem to mind people around at all. However, we took our pictures from the car.
After the park we took a drive up Red Hill to get an overview of the city. The views from the hill were outstanding. Here's a picture of Parliament House (flag flying) and Lake Burley Griffin with the Captain Cook Memorial Jet spouting on the left.
Tuesday afternoon Lorraine had to work. Peter and Timothy were kind enough to take us to the Australian War Memorial. The Memorial honors Australian men and women killed in action during combat. The first picture is from the War Memorial looking back at Parliament House - a great view. 
Next are shots of the Memorial.
A view from the reflecting pool with eternal flame into the area of the tomb of the unknown soldier.
A view down one of the memorial walls containing the names of over 120,000 Australians who had died in combat. The red poppies were left in honor of specific service persons - likely by their families.
Bob and Rosie are enjoying the scenery prior to the race. 
Graeme heading to the starting line for the half-marathon.
Rosie is relaxing before the 4 km bridge walk/run.
Lorraine and Rosie getting ready for the start of the Bridge walk/run.
Lorraine walking across the Bay Bridge.
Rosie walking across the Bay Bridge.
The race ended at the Sydney Opera House. The place was really full of people. More the 25,000 participated in all 4 of the running/walking events. It was a fun day and great weather for the race.
