Lake Burley Griffin

Canberra is a planned city, designed by an American, Burley Griffin.  The entire city is situated around a man made lake.  It's winter here, and Canberra is the coldest major city in Australia, but Aussies are big wimps when it comes to winter - it feels much more like fall to me.  After all... there's no snow and it still gets into the 50s and 60s almost every day.

I went for a 12 kilometer run (I know, I'm starting to think in kilometers now) around the lake on a sunny day, and it was awesome.  I had forgotten how nice it is to run in a place with trees, water, and beautiful scenery, and this is all starting from the front door of my apartment.

Of course, I didn't actually bring my camera with me, but here are some pictures I found that are representative.

The Captain Cook Fountain.  It shoots hundreds of feet into the air.  On the left is the National Library, and behind the spray you can see Parliament.

The National Carillion

There were a whole bunch of awesome nerdy older Australian dudes racing RC sailbots all over the lake.

A Black Swan (with an awesome red beak).  There are lots of these.  Even the swans in Australia are much more exotic than they are back home.  The Carillion is in the background.