Trip to Canberra and Melbourne 2 - 6th April 2019

The structure outside the AIS Institute of Sports

I have just finished a 5 day trip for business and leisure to Canberra and Melbourne. The first leg is for work, so my colleague Jason and I took the flights from SG to Melbourne (7  hr 30 mins) and then onto Canberra (1 hour 10 mins) seamlessly. Upon arrival at check in at the hotel, we carried on to visit our customer at the UCRISE or Canberra University Institute of Sports and Exercise. That meeting went well and we then proceeded to follow through on the rest of our trip. Jason had some further checks on the equipment, while I was the 'spare man' and decided to make a visit to my long lost relatives in Melbourne. More of that in a later post.

Bush at the Bruce Ridge outside our villa 

Bruce suburb is north of the Town Centre, and Canberra (called the Australian Capital Territory) is about 250 km due southwest from Sydney and about 220 km north east of Melnourne. The city of approximately 300 thousand odd residents is home to the Australian Parliament House (see below).This picture  below was taken in 2017 and both times I came around autumn time (Apr - June) and the weather was perfect, cool at 15 - 20 deg C in the day with humidity hovering in the 40 - 50% rH. 

Perfect for outdoor running, cycling and physical sports. The city is quite spread out, and their is a rising number of Asian immigrants, residents or visitors coming to work, study and play as typified by the food court at the shopping centre in town. Easily 50% of the shops sell Asain cuisine (if I can call economy rice "cuisine" !).   

House along Manuka Avenue in centre of town 

I would say that Australia is a country where a person can have time and space to himself to be 'in the present'. There are plenty of trails and open spaces where walks can be had, people can have time to interact with each other in a meaningful way and there is some semblance of inclusiveness for all communities - although I say this in a time where the world in general is reeling from many attacks and misunderstandings of the new migrant cultures coming in and changing much of the landscape, and also messing with the much held traditions and social fabric of Australia.  

We stayed at a dual bedroom villa off  Bencollen Way 

Canberra, it is my fervent wish I have more business opportunities with the UCRISE and I can come visit and appreciate more of the lifestyle, people and culture of what many people call the Lucky Country.