Canberra

We were in Canberra for three days and two nights. Hostels were as expensive as hotels so we stayed in a nice hotel with a TV because there is nothing else to do. The first morning we went to the Russian embassy to get our visa (we had to go to the embassy as we had made special arrangements with them, we were told you normally can't get Russian visa outside the country you are living or working in). The website said it would take three days to get the visa but Natassia was really nice and organised the whole thing really quick. Second morning we collect our passports from the Russian embassy and decided to get the Mongolian one out of the way. Unlike the Mongolian embassy in Ireland, these guys made it seem like you were bothering them the whole time but we handed in our passports anyway and on the final day collected them. On the second day it was Brian's birthday and while the morning was spent in an embassy we did celebrate a little that night after he finally got to call home (it was a really dodgy internet connection as per usual). I had bought some really nice Riesling we both liked in New Zealand on the wine tour and we got another almost dessert wine Riesling and some Gewürztraminer and drank them with some take away. It was pretty unfortunate we were in Canberra but the wine was really good and we had a nice night in. Brian was pretty happy he at least wasn't on a plane for his birthday as he always looks on the bright side. Also we saw a whole flock of Cockatoos on the way home from the embassy that day because taxi's were so expensive and we decided to walk. There were like 50 of them digging for worms on the ground. It was such an unusual sight. We also saw some rare pink parrots we were told at the sanctuary were dying out but couldn't remember the name of and Brian saw a bright red parrot as well. For his birthday I got him flights to Cairns and a boat trip out to the Great Barrier reef as he has always wanted to swim in it and was disappointed when he found out we wouldn't be near enough to it in Sydney to make a trip out to it. The last day in Canberra and first day in Sydney Brian didn't seem to have a good day at all. The package he wanted to send home cost a lot more than it should have as it was heavier than we thought it would be even though most of the things in it had weights on them which did not add up to near what the scales in the post office said. Then we got Subway and it was horrible which is surprising as it is usually pretty standard. They were really scabby with the meat and put everything in the sandwich in the middle of the bread and left it open. Then we went to get the bus into town and they had dug up the road where the bus goes and the guys digging up the road couldn't tell us where the bus was actually going to stop or drive. In the end we had to walk a good bit away to find another bus stop after I pulled out my laptop to find a different stop. Finally when we got to Sydney he ordered a smoothie that had a texture of soup and talcum powder. The hostel we were in had the hole in the sink that was filled with stagnant water and there was stuff that looked like sick and no shower curtain. To top it all off his iPod touch couldn't get on the internet because he had bought an internet voucher in another hostel that had expired and he couldn't buy any more time without the voucher he got in the odd hostel which he didn't have anymore. Anyway he was pretty exhausted after the day so after dragging him to the supermarket so that he could find something to eat we just went to bed.