A day in Canberra 30^th November 2014

We found accommodation in Canberra fairly close to the “centre” in NewActon, well centre doesn’t quite mean that everything is close. This purpose built capital, the first of its kind, is so spaced out that you would find it tough to walk to all the attractions in a day and find time to digest the details. Traffic is not a problem.

We decided to take the City Explorer, a bus that circles the city attractions, but not as frequent as found in other cities. 

Australian War Memorial

We headed for the seat of government in the “new” parliament building.  Australian government is based on the UK parliamentary system but with the two houses called the House of Representatives and Senate House, with similarities to the USA two house government arrangements.

The Senate

We learnt some interesting facts: first, while bankrupt personnel and those working for foreign entities were excluded from being members of the House of Representative or Senate, criminals were not specifically excluded, were we ever in doubt?  Secondly, who was the Prime Minister who was in power for only 7 days, and thirdly, the Prime Minister who managed the “Ramrods” and said he took them “from nowhere to obscurity!” (answers on stamped addressed envelope).

Old Parliament in background

From the Parliament we took a guided tour of the old Parliament building from one of the volunteer staff, excellent and absolutely free. 

A selfie with the Crown Jewels - a first?

We just had time to fit in a quick tour of the National Art Gallery to see some aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander’s art before catching the tour bus back to the apartment.

A touch of Magritte in Canberra

Our accommodation in the Capital Tower - the tower on far right 

The evening’s meal was taken just across the road in the Bicicletta where we found another good wine, a cabinet sauvignon from the Swift winery, which is between Canberra and Yass, just north of Canberra. With a plate of cheese I tried a glass of Wily Trout Shiraz, not nearly as good. I doubt these wines travel so the chances of finding then in the UK will be minimal.