Canberra in those days was sort of a “rural” city, where I came across sheep grazing on my way to work every day, galahs and cockatoos dining on our lawn, and bushfires erupting from time to time. I often heard people from Sydney and Melbourne making fun of or criticizing it, but we really loved living there.

I can’t remember where this was taken, perhaps from Telecom Tower on Black Mountain. I think the construction at right was on the new Parliament House, which was going on while we lived there and was completed by the time we went back for a visit in 2002.

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After coming across a long-lost Turkish colleague now living in Australia, I decided to take a look at my pictures from the years we lived in Canberra -- 1985-87 -- our first overseas posting with the State Department. We enjoyed our time there, both living in the capitol city, where I did a BA at the Australian National University and also worked for a local vet, and traveling around the country.

Telecom Tower, posted earlier: