The Australian War Memorial

Trip Start Jun 19, 2006

Trip End Ongoing

Loading Map

Map your own trip!

Map Options

Show trip route

Hide lines

Flag of Australia Canberra, Australia
Saturday, July 1, 2006

Yesterday, my Mum and I made a trip to the Australian War Memorial. It's a fairly incredible place, with relics and stories from Australia's military history, with particular focus on World War's I and II. Just as we arrived there, a tour was beginning, so we jumped in. It ran for around 90 minutes, but it felt like much less - the guy was clearly interested in the subject matter, as he was enthusiastic and always very informative. If you go, I highly recommend joining one of these tours, as they give you stories and information that you would probably have otherwise missed.
One thing, I noticed while I was there, was my sense of pride at being an Australian. In all the fields of combat, we have acted with honour and for a cause that was just - possibly excluding the current Iraq engagement, though our troops have still acted as best they can, given the circumstances. On the other hand, amongst the pride, I struggled to reconcile the fact that everything I was seeing was related to death and killing

G For George

.
I can highly recommend the Australian War Memorial as an experience, if only as a reminder of the futility of War.

I also went to see some of Canberra's local bands at the ANU bar. The three bands that played were pretty average, but the atmosphere was quite good, as the bar was completely packed. When I used to live in Canberra and I went to see bands, I was always sure to run in to lots of people I knew. Last night, outside of the two people I arranged to go with, I knew no one. It's amazing what 6 years living in another city can do!

Slideshow