Canberra - the nations capital.

[steve1734]

Canberra exists like Washington exists. Because there was this massive fight between Sydney and Melbourne about which would be the capital city. Canberra also only really exists as a center to serve the federal bureaucracy. Its in the middle of nowhere in NSW in a little federal territory. Its about 4 hours drive from Sydney and was built from scratch. Its like a country town but with lots of big wide office buildings for the public servants. Its quiet with a capital Q...but it can be nice for a day trip.
The airport is like a junior version of Melbourne's. But quite close to the city...$20 and 20 minutes by taxi. Shuttle buses/train...are you serious? Get a taxi. The terminal is kind of....well..."like that had to". It competes with the roads and parks budget. They tacked it onto the side of the RAAF base. The airforce does the air traffic control. The politicians only fly in when parliament sits...which seems rare. The rest of the time the pollies use offices in the other big cities like Sydney. Up until the current one, even the Prime Minister preferred to live in Sydney...he flew in too. Canberrans also leave when they can...usually to the coast where they have a better house near the sea.