Six days in Canberra, in one short blog!

Australia's newest Speaker

Acacia pycnantha - Australia's floral emblem

Riding beside Lake Burley Griffin

On the right side of the High Court benches

Actually, the title sounds a bit disparaging, and it shouldn’t, as we’ve had a great time here over the past 6 days.  There are only 2 caravan parks around Canberra, and we chose the one at Fyshwick simply because it has public transport to the city past the door every 15 minutes.  It is possible to buy an all-day ticket on the buses for $4, so $8 for the two of us to travel around Canberra all day.  There’s also a free bus, the Centenary Loop, which travels every 30 minutes from the City around to the major tourist sites, dropping off at the War Memorial, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Questacon (Science Museum), National Library, Museum of Australian Democracy (in old Parliament House), Parliament House, National Museum of Australia, and the National Film and Sound Archive. 

We started on our first day with the National War Memorial, stopping first (of course) for coffee in the excellent café beside the Memorial.   I hate to admit it but it’s over 40 years since we last came to Canberra, and that was for the Flying Fifteen sailing championships in the 70s “when we were young”.  The Memorial is a marvellous and moving tribute to all of Australia’s soldiers, sailors and airmen and encompasses every theatre of war in which Australia has been involved.  As always, it’s impossible to see everything in one day, but being Canberra’s centenary year, there are lots of volunteers giving talks and showing visitors around.  We had a lovely young girl from the War Memorial discussing the history of Legacy, and it turned out that we were the only ones taking her up on her talk so we had a personal tour.

Day 2 saw us once again on the buses, this time stopping off at Parliament House.  We weren't there at the right time for a tour, but as we expected, the only people there were visitors like ourselves, the politicians having all repaired to their electorates for the last week's campaigning.  Much as I love the old Parliament House, the new one is truly magnificent.  We were able to see both the Senate and the House of Reps, the Great Hall, the beautiful courtyards, plus take a lift to the roof and walk around the grassy areas for what we were told is the best view of Canberra.  The marble entrance to Parliament House is really beautiful, and it's possible to understand, after a tour of the small, cramped, old Parliament House, why it was necessary to build the new one.  We walked down the hill to Old Parliament House and once again were treated to an (almost) personal tour of the building by a very knowledgeable guide.  It houses the Museum of Australian Democracy, which, very undemocratically, is not free.  However, this being election week, and also the 100th anniversary of Canberra, it was!  

Day 3 we elected to see the Botanic Gardens at Acton, just a short(ish) walk from the city, through the grounds of ANU.  We missed out, yet again, by one day.  September 1st was Wattle Day and of course we visited on the 2nd!  However, that made no difference and we joined a volunteer who showed a group of us around the gardens, specifically concentrating on the different types of wattle, of which there are over 760.  The wattle in Ray's picture is the official Australian wattle, and a symbol of unity.  Wattle was unofficially accepted as the national floral emblem to mark Federation in 1901.  Wattle Day (1st September) was introduced in 1913 by an association called the Wattle Day League, and in 1912 the Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, suggested that the wattle be included as a decoration surrounding the Commonwealth Coat of Arms.  

Those of you who suffer from hay fever may also know that wattle is a powerful irritant, and I have suffered mightily since coming to Canberra.  However, I was assured at the Gardens that it wasn't wattle at all, but the local grasses, causing the hay fever.  I'll reserve judgement on that, and have a pharmacopoeia of drugs and sprays in the fridge to help me through.

Day 4 took us to the National Museum, a spectacular building on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.  Again, one day just doesn't cut it, as it houses a huge collection of Australiana and history.  It's good to see lots of schools taking their children (generally around the ages of 7-10) around the various Museums and Galleries here in Canberra.  I don't know how much they actually get out of their short visits but even if it inspires just a few from each group, that's a good thing.

Today we took bikes along the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, and to some of the other places not visited by the buses.  As you can see by the photo, all the flowering trees in Canberra are bursting forth, with white, delicate and bright pinks.  It's Floriade here in less than 2 weeks, but unfortunately the designated site is off limits at the moment so we just had to peer through the barricades to see what we could see.  One of the workmen directed us to a nearby hill where he said we could see most of the site, but it was a bit steep for the bikes (no, probably us) so we decided to make another visit here in the future at the right time of year; next time neither too early nor too late!

There's still 2 days to go before we leave, and Sunday there are good markets at the Old Bus Depot on the way into the city, so we shall pay a visit there before heading south.  Fyshwick Markets are open from Wednesday to Sunday, and they're on our bus route, so we've been able to buy wonderful fresh vegetables and fruit, plus lots of delish deli items there on our way home. 

I'm SO disappointed that we pre-polled in Dubbo.  We didn't know that we would be here in Canberra for the coming election, and voting at old Parliament House would have been a buzz.  We saw all the cardboard boxes and booths being taken in there a few days ago, ready for the hordes on Saturday.  I guess at least we'll be here for Election Night, but probably not anywhere interesting, just watching on the TV as we would if we were at home in Brisbane! 

Ciao.