Canberra
I arrived at Canberra and instatntly began to miss the simplicity of the Magic Bus as I struggled with my pack around the streets trying to find the hostel. The hostel had been bought by YHA and was crowded as it seemed to be about the only cheap place to stay in town.
I headed out to watch some football at the pub. I had to move rooms next morning but it actually worked out well as I met Dan, an Australian who wanted to look around Canberra too. He was kind enough to give me a lift as Canberra is quite spread out. We headed off to our first stop - Old Parliament House home to Australia's Federal Parliament from 1927 to 1988.
This turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought as it was like stepping back in time as we took a tour through the different rooms. A lot of the rooms were decorated to fit a particular time period. Some of the best rooms were the Prime Ministers Office:
And the Press Gallery:
The House of Representatives and the Senate looked a lot like the British Parliament:
Inside the Old Parliament building we also saw the National Portrait Gallery with an exhibition by Karin Catt.
Next we headed over to the Australian War Memorial. This was a monument and a museum but we only had time for a quick look around before the place closed. However we did get to see the Last Post closing ceremony and decided to come back and have a better look the next day.
That night we checked out a few local pubs - The Wig and Pen and P.J. O'Reilly's. Next morning we headed back to the War Memorial a little too bright and early as we had to wait an hour for it to open.
To get a better overview of the place we took a tour. The guide was really good and took us around a number of galleries and exhibits. We started in the Commemorative area which has a huge wall with all the Australian soldiers who died in the World Wars. The Hall of Memories was an impressive building with huge stained glass windows and sculptures. From there we visited galleries about the First and Second World Wars, the Hall of Valour and the Aircraft Hall before finishing the tour in the ANZAC hall. In the Anzac hall we watched two shows - Striking by night and Sydney Under Attack.
Striking by Night was about a night operation by a Lancaster bomber, G for George, that took place over Berlin in December 1943. Sydney under attack was about a Japanese mini sub attack on Sydney harbour.
The museum had an excellent layout and there was so much to see including planes and vehicles from the wars.
Our next stop was Parliament House where we did another tour.
It was good to contrast the old and new Parliament buildings. The New Parliament house has an ultra modern design but the House of Representatives and the Senate still keep the red and green colours.
There is a spectacular view around Canberra from the roof as you can see back accross Old Parliament house up to the War Memorial.
Next day after changing rooms in the hostel (again!) I headed for the National Museum of Australia. Dan had moved on as he couldn't get a bed in the hostel so it was quite a walk to get there!
The museum building itself had a very modern design to it and although I wasn't keen on it at first when you start to walk around the design makes a bit more sense. The jigsaw-like building wraps around the central "Garden" of Australian Dreams:
The route around the museum starts with Circa which is a revolving Theatre which introduces you to the museums 3 main themes of Land, Nation and People. You then walk through the 5 main galleries:
Eternity: Stories from the Emotional Heart of Australia.
First Australians: Gallery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Horizons: The Peopling of Australia since 1788.
Nation: Symbols of Australia explores common expressions like "g'day'"and "mate" and symbols of national identity from the flag, to Anzac, the kangaroo and Vegemite.
Old New Land: Australia's People and Environment.
On my last day in Canberra I had a quick walk around the park and the free Floriade festival which had some great nature photography exhibits. After my cultural overload I set off on the Greyhound to Melbourne.
I headed out to watch some football at the pub. I had to move rooms next morning but it actually worked out well as I met Dan, an Australian who wanted to look around Canberra too. He was kind enough to give me a lift as Canberra is quite spread out. We headed off to our first stop - Old Parliament House home to Australia's Federal Parliament from 1927 to 1988.
This turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought as it was like stepping back in time as we took a tour through the different rooms. A lot of the rooms were decorated to fit a particular time period. Some of the best rooms were the Prime Ministers Office:
And the Press Gallery:
The House of Representatives and the Senate looked a lot like the British Parliament:
Inside the Old Parliament building we also saw the National Portrait Gallery with an exhibition by Karin Catt.
Next we headed over to the Australian War Memorial. This was a monument and a museum but we only had time for a quick look around before the place closed. However we did get to see the Last Post closing ceremony and decided to come back and have a better look the next day.
That night we checked out a few local pubs - The Wig and Pen and P.J. O'Reilly's. Next morning we headed back to the War Memorial a little too bright and early as we had to wait an hour for it to open.
To get a better overview of the place we took a tour. The guide was really good and took us around a number of galleries and exhibits. We started in the Commemorative area which has a huge wall with all the Australian soldiers who died in the World Wars. The Hall of Memories was an impressive building with huge stained glass windows and sculptures. From there we visited galleries about the First and Second World Wars, the Hall of Valour and the Aircraft Hall before finishing the tour in the ANZAC hall. In the Anzac hall we watched two shows - Striking by night and Sydney Under Attack.
Striking by Night was about a night operation by a Lancaster bomber, G for George, that took place over Berlin in December 1943. Sydney under attack was about a Japanese mini sub attack on Sydney harbour.
The museum had an excellent layout and there was so much to see including planes and vehicles from the wars.
Our next stop was Parliament House where we did another tour.
It was good to contrast the old and new Parliament buildings. The New Parliament house has an ultra modern design but the House of Representatives and the Senate still keep the red and green colours.
There is a spectacular view around Canberra from the roof as you can see back accross Old Parliament house up to the War Memorial.
Next day after changing rooms in the hostel (again!) I headed for the National Museum of Australia. Dan had moved on as he couldn't get a bed in the hostel so it was quite a walk to get there!
The museum building itself had a very modern design to it and although I wasn't keen on it at first when you start to walk around the design makes a bit more sense. The jigsaw-like building wraps around the central "Garden" of Australian Dreams:
The route around the museum starts with Circa which is a revolving Theatre which introduces you to the museums 3 main themes of Land, Nation and People. You then walk through the 5 main galleries:
Eternity: Stories from the Emotional Heart of Australia.
First Australians: Gallery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Horizons: The Peopling of Australia since 1788.
Nation: Symbols of Australia explores common expressions like "g'day'"and "mate" and symbols of national identity from the flag, to Anzac, the kangaroo and Vegemite.
Old New Land: Australia's People and Environment.
On my last day in Canberra I had a quick walk around the park and the free Floriade festival which had some great nature photography exhibits. After my cultural overload I set off on the Greyhound to Melbourne.
posted by Phil at 1:48 AM
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