More than a Gateway to Everything Else

Bill Bryson referred to Canberra as "he "gateway to everything else" in Australia. I was pleasantly surprised that there were a few, at least 3, things to see.

When in a national capital, one is obliged to do some obligatory sight-seeing. We arrived a day before our work conference to a cold, windy, miserable Tuesday. Now granted, it doesn’t take much for the weather to be more miserable than sunny, delightful Perth, but it slightly dampened our walk-around-the-city plans. So we hopped on a bus. You know, one of those double decker, red, hop on hop off city tour busses.

 

Well, they didn’t even bother running the double decker in that weather, so we were in a little van. But it was still red. But it was a great tour of the city and oriented me to what would be my three sightseeing stops.

1. The Australian War Memorial

 

 

The Roll of Honour lists over 100,000 soldiers that have died in wars from World Was I onwards, up to the current conflicts. The contrasting red poppies added a certain air of solemnity and were quite beautiful.

 

Just like in Arlington, there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, guarded by service men and women (though they're changing of the guard isn't quite as elaborate but still stoic.

 

And you can go inside the tomb, where the soldier is watched over by beautiful stained glass and painted representatives from the armed forces.

 

 

 

It was interesting learning about the wars, particularly War II from the Australian perspective. They also had a moving exhibit with video and sound recordings of soldiers and families talking about "Coming Home".

 

 

 

2. Parliament

I’m not much into American politics, so you can image how much I’ve learned about the politics of Australia being here only a year and as a foreigner who can’t vote. We jumped on a tour that was just starting and got taken to see the great hall (which you can rent out for functions!) with the tapestry that was painted in 1986 and hence has Haley’s Comet.

 

 Can you find Haley's Comet?

 

We saw one of the four copies of the Magna Carta in the world. And we got to see the House of Representatives and the Senate. Parliament is a HUGE building, so to make it a little easier, they’ve color coded the different parts of the building: green for the house, red for the senate, and blue for the prime minister section (I forget what they call that part where all the important offices are). 

Unfortunately parliament wasn’t sitting at the time so we didn’t get to witness any action, but I still think I now know about 300% more about how the Australian government works.

The building itself is pretty neat too. It’s built into a hill (so it’s not on the top fo a hill above the people) and you can actually stand on top of the building (above the government). 

Plus it’s got a great view back to Old Parliament, Mt. Ainslie and the War Memorial.

 

3.  National Museum

My sister is a museum professional, so I had to go into at least one Australian museum. Turns out, it’s very much like an American museum.

Not a bad spot for a museum

 

We were in a bit of a rush, but saw some cool things. Like a giant 6.35 kg horse heart from Phar Lap, the legendary horse of the Depression that died in America in 1932 and led to the Aussie saying "A heart as big as Phar Lap's".

 

And model trains..

 

And a bushfire sign...

And a steamboat!!!

 I think the Sabino is better :)

And a whole lot about Aboriginal culture, which is only found in Australia. But it is really cool to think that these are the oldest surviving race of people.