Canberra and the Southeast coast

I made the drive from Sydney to Canberra, and stayed there for four nights. I like the feel of the city. It has about 300,000, but it is very spread out with parks in between the suburbs. The Parliament House was interesting. It has a lot of marble surfaces and I learned about the Australian government. It is very simlar to the three branch system in the US. I saw the US embassy and thought of the Simpsons episode where they go to Australia. The highlight was the National Gallery because they had a special exhibition of post-impressionism from the Musee d"Orsay in Paris. I saw Starry Night and other Van Gogh works, like his bedroom. There were also pieces from Cezanne, Gaugin, Picasso, and a few others. I really enjoyed the art and now I don't need to see it in Paris! My Irish roommates were too much fun. I'm lucky I only went out with them one night.
I took a bus to Batemans Bay on the coast. The water is gorgeous here and not too cold. I can walk out a few hundred yards and still be above the waves. There are kangaroos everywhere, and they let you up close around here. The weather is nice and warm, but a little humid. I found a good bottle of Cabernet Merlot from the Margaret River area in Western Australia. I hope I end up working there.
I am meeting a lot of Europeans and a few locals. Most of them are nice people, but bad roommates still exist. Well, I am off to the beach again today. I'll use sunscreen this time.