Thursday March 24 to Sunday March 27, 2011
So I have probably mentioned that I dislike Qantas (formerly Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service) and Jet Star. I have yet to take a flight that wasn’t delayed. Thursday (the 24th) was no different. My flight out of Alice Springs was delayed, so of course I missed my connecting flight in Melbourne but eventually I made it to Canberra………..Australia’s capital. However, I must add that my luggage didn’t make the connecting flight and decided it would come later. But it did eventually make it.
Flying somewhere over Central Australia. Really not much to look at. I'm sure you all know I slept for most of the flight.
Anyway, ACT (Australian Capital Territory) is the same concept as Washington, DC. It is not really a state but houses the federal government. The city itself was actually designed in the same way as Washington DC however I have to admit I feel DC has been designed much better.
A look at Capital Hill. We will get another look at that giant flag pole that stands above Parliament House.
My first night in Canberra was really spent waiting for my luggage, eating some food and planning my days. Canberra attracted me for several reasons. The first of course being the politics, the next being the history and museums and the final being the presence of the High Commission of Canada. My passport was being sent there so I didn’t have to return to Sydney to pick it up and I didn’t have to travel for 2 months without it.
Friday, March 25th, 2011
Found on the grounds of Parliament House.
My first stop of the day was at Parliament House. It is hard to miss since it kind of sits up on a giant hill and over looks pretty much everything. I did have a hard time getting there though because the roads are all built in giant circles and they go around for kilometres and kilometres and kilometres so you can walk a long way and not get any closer to things.
Looking across the reflecting pond at the main entrance to Parliament House.
Eventually I made it there and wandered around a bit. I then quickly made my way to the Senate Chamber. Yes the senate was sitting and on a Friday too. They had extended the sitting an extra day because they were trying to pass the NBN (National Broadband Network) Bill. It is a big deal here in Australia because it will attempt to bring high speed Internet to remote areas of the country. Anyway, the senate is usually really boring to watch. Someone usually talks and no one is there to listen. On this day however, there were debating whether or not they were having a debate and spent a lot of time insulting each other. At one point they even got the one member of the press who was there involved and there was some good interaction with them (I’m sure that’s not actually allowed) and then they insulted each other some more. So good.
This is the Great Hall where the tour started. This room is used for many different things like banquets and ball room dancing competitions and art shows.
Eventually I joined a tour to check out a few other parts of the building and learn a few things too.
This is the House of Representatives. The first sitting of Federal Parliament was in 1901 and it was actually held in Melbourne. This was because Melbourne was the only city with a facility large enough to hold it. In 1927 the Federal Parliament was moved to Canberra. Old Parliament House was in use for 61 years before this new Parliament House was opened.
Why was Canberra chosen as the site for the new capital? Well it was decided by someone somewhere that the capital needed to be in New South Wales but it had to be at least 100 kilometres from Sydney. Also they decided that it needed to close to a body of water and needed to experience all 4 seasons seasons. The land that Canberra sits on met all the requirements so now it is the nation's capital.
Parliament House itself is made up of 5 buildings, 4,500 rooms and designed to promote continuity. If all the doors were open in New Parliament House and Old Parliament House, the Prime Minister could sit at her (well currently a her) desk and see all the way to the National War Memorial.
Standing on the roof of Parliament House. From here if you really look closely you can see Old Parliament House and in behind that the War Memorial.
The design of the building (as always) changed a little and included having soil removed, the building being built and then the soil being placed back on top so the building is built into the hill instead of on it. There is a very nice roof top that visitors can check out. Basically this symbolizes that a government is not above its people, but the people are on top of the government.
Looking up at the very large flag pole that sits on top of Parliament House. It is 150 metres (492 feet) tall and the flag it holds is the size of 2 double-decker buses.
An example of a person's right to petition the Government about their grievances, this is one of 3 bark petitions that are on display. This one is from the Yirrkala people of the Northern Territory. It is written in Gupapyngu, with a translation in English. It was a petition in regards to their land rights.
From there I wandered around that side of Canberra (the city is split in half by Lake Burley Griffen). I mentioned before that Canberra was designed to be similar to DC but I think DC is designed better. That’s because in DC pretty much everything you could want to see is built around a single focus point (the mall…. The US Capitol at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at the other) and it is really easy to walk from museum to museum. I really didn’t find that in Canberra. I don’t think it is a very tourist friendly city and it certainly isn’t a walker friendly city. But I survived.
Anyway, around Capital Hill you will find the High Commissions and Embassies for most countries as well as most of the museums and some parks and all kinds og thing.
Right across the street from Old Parliament House you will find the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. It has been on this site since the day after Australia Day in 1972. It was erected in reaction to the refusal of the government at the time to recognize Aboriginal land rights.
The Tent Embassy started with the simple act of sticking an umbrella into the ground. It has been a permanent fixture on the lawn of Old Parliament House since 1992 before which time it had more of a temporary presence. Aboriginal Tent Embassies have also been found in Melbourne and in Sydney during the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Yes, Canberra has a Croquet Club. I took this picture for Debi and Scott......because they like croquet.
Eventually my day of wandering had to end so I headed towards the centre of town (on the other side of the lake) to find some food.
Why have I posted a picture of my flip flops? Well because I said goodbye to them here in Canberra. I have been walking around in them for years and finally after hours of walking in them on Friday they broke. Lucky for me they broke when I was about 5 minutes from some stores and it was late night shopping and I made it just in time. My new flip flops are so pretty and soft. Like walking on pillows.
With new flip-flops and dinner eaten I decided to take the bus back to my hotel (took a break from all the walking). Apparently my accent is hard to understand because I asked the bus driver if he went to "Barton" (the area of town I was staying in ) and he said "yes" but apparently he heard me say "Woden". So I got to take a bit of a bus ride (it was only mildly scenic). Lucky for me, Woden is a major bus interchange so I found a bus that took me back to my hotel.
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Saturday I checked out a few more places and a few more things.
You'll find him in the CBD as you walk along the mall. Every time I walked by he made me laugh. I still smile every time I see this picture. I have no idea what he meant or why he was there but it really doesn't matter.
One of those was the National Bonsai Collection. Yes they have a collection of bonsai trees on display……most that are on loan by the artist. They have some very enthusiastic members of the local bonsai club who will tell you all about the trees and how to train them. It was very interesting. I never really knew you could train a tree to grow into certain designs and shapes. But now I know you can.
This is a Monterrey Pine. It has been around since 1947. The artist John Mackey has been training it since 1972. Interesting to note that this tree is 2 years older than its artist.
Looking like a miniature forest, there trees range in birth year from 1974 to 1993. They are all Montezuma cypress trees and the group has been training together since 2004. Grant Bowie is the artist.
From the Bonsai display I continued my walk along the shores of Lake Burley Griffen (named by the way for Walter Burley Griffen who was the American architect who designed Canberra. He has also been credited with the development of the L-shaped floor plan and the carport). There is a very nice walking/running/biking trail that follows the edge of the lake.
The trail will also lead you out to the Carillon, which was a gift from the British Government to the people of Australia. By definition a carillon must have at least 2 octaves or a minimum of 23 tuned bronze bells. This carillon has 4.5 octaves and a total of 55 bells. The bells range in weight from 7 kilograms (15 pounds) and 6 tonnes each.
A little listen to the bells of the carillon. Throughout the year there are many recitals by local and visiting carillonists who play everything from music composed specially for the carillon and popular music you wold hear on the radio. This is just the scheduled song you get to hear on a weekend in Canberra.
From there I found one of many free (or near free) things to visit in Canberra, the National Gallery of Australia. I wasn’t able to take any pictures inside but it was quite good. A lot better than I expected. It was full of a lot of really interesting pop, animation and conceptual art (a little contemporary which I like), but also has some of the classics like Henri Matisse, Picasso and one of my favourites, some Waterlilies by Claude Monet.
They also had a great section of aboriginal art by artists from all over Australia. I recognized the work of Albert Namatjira but the museum also houses some more modern and contemporary stuff by younger aboriginal artists. I really liked one called Death in Custody by Trevor Nickolls. It depicts a man behind bars locked in with guns, alcohol, Christianity and money……all things that many describe as destroying aboriginal communities.
Outside the gallery I could take all the pictures I wanted. This is Henry Moore's piece called "Hill Arches".
I also noticed (as I have in a few other places) that there is a warning sign on the entrance to the Aboriginal art section for aboriginals and torres strait people that there may be images of recently deceased people in the gallery and that their images are used with the permission of the family. I am not totally sure of the custom but it seems that aboriginal peoples in Australia do not show pictures or representations of dead relatives in public. At the Uluru Cultural Centre there were many photos that were covered up stating that the person had recently died. I find it very interesting.
Also outside the gallery. At first I thought they were just trying a different way of watering the plants but it turns out this is a piece of art. This is "Fog sculpture" (cleaver name, I know) by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya.
I couldn't find the name for this piece (I'm sure it is a sculpture) so I'm calling it "Floating ball".
Saturday night I decided to hit up a rugby game between the ACT CA technology Burmbies and the Warratahs (no I don’t know what a “Tah” is) from NSW. You may remember that I had seen a game in Darwin so this time around I understood the rules a little bit better but there was a nice man in front of me who explained a few more things. It seems even he had some troubles understanding it because the officials were making some very questionable calls. Makes it very hard to figure out what the rules are when the officials don’t seem to know what they are.
The rugby stadium. A little bit bigger than the one in Darwin. A little fancier too.
I had a great view of the game from my seats. It was a good game too although the Brumbies lost.......on the very last play of the game when the Tahs scored one final try (altough not a lot of people felt it was actually a try).
Sunday, March 27th, 2011
Sunday I had a few things to do. One was to check out more of Canberra. The other was to catch a bus north. The first thing I checked out was the National Portrait Gallery (also free to visit) which was really great. Also no pictures allowed and I wasn’t allowed to take a pen in so I had to make notes with a pencil (that’s a new one to me). Of course being a portrait gallery all the works had a person as their focus but not all appeared as you would think. In a few the person was actually very small….almost in the background. You also saw people with things that weren’t really there (like a portrait of Princess Mary of Denmark, with her standing next to a column in her palace in Copenhagen but with the Sydney Opera House in the background.) The gallery contained images of all kinds of people including settlers and soldiers and explorers and even celebrities like Heath Ledger and David Gulpilil (both Australian actors) and artists like Albert Namatjira.
Outside the Portrait Gallery I could take pictures and I found this and a few other similar rocks.
From there I made my way over to Old Parliament House which now houses a museum as well as a few other things. They charge a modest $2 entry fee but I think that is pretty reasonable, don’t you? The museum provided a lot of history about the change in democracy in the country. They also had a very good hands-on exhibit for children, teaching them about democracy and voting and how even at a young age they can be a part of it all. Very nice place.
The House of Representatives in Old Parliament House. You will notice that the green in this room is a lot darker than what you see in the new House of Representatives. That is because the green in the new House is suppose to represent the Gum tree that you find pretty much everywhere in Australia.
The rose garden next to Old Parliament House. If you look in the centre you will notice a cute little blue bird (a wren I think). Very hard to get a picture of him. He kept flying away as soon as I got him focused.
By then it was almost time to catch my bus. My next destination was Wollongong, just a few hours north of Canberra. A girl I met while in Fiji and her boyfriend live there and they invited me to come stay with them for a few days. They live just across the street from the beach so I could hardly say no. The bus ride was quite interesting. Leaving at 1800 (6pm) you can imagine that most of the trip was dark so I couldn’t see much so I slept. But at one point I could tell we were going down hill and around corners…..but apparently really tight corners because the bus actually has to stop and reverse to get around them. But like I said since it was dark so I couldn’t see why. That would have to wait until my return journey.
After the museums and the histroy and the politics I was looking forward to some relaxing time on the beach.
Julie
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