Week 12 – Sydney and Canberra, Australia

Fred's world tour

Week 12 – Sydney and Canberra, Australia
15^th until the 21^st of December 2012
In brief:

1. More beautiful runs, gym and chillaxing.
   
2. Attend a traditional Australian family birthday barbecue in Australia's semi-outback.
   
3. Travel to Canberra the Nation's Capital.
   
4. See Australia's oldest bonsai trees.
   
5. Visit the inside and stand on the roof of Australia's parliament house.
   
6. Trek up to the Telstra tower for a perfect view of Canberra in the setting sun.
   
7. Visit Australia’s best galleries and museums.
   
8. Listen to the sounds of one of the world's biggest instruments, the National Carillon.
   
9. Watch an art-house film at the National film and Sound Archive of Australia.
   
10. See the light and video show spectacle at the War memorial museum.
    
11. Learn about Australia's origins and see the architecturally splendid National Museum.

It feels like the last two weeks have absolutely flown by and I've loved every minute. Well... having said that... calling lots of hospitals and making multiple applications without being too fruitful has been quite tough. Regardless, while the job search continues I enjoy more beautiful runs along the coast and also to local parks like Waverley or Centennial park. I spend time with my hosts, cool down in the waters of Bondi beach and get some vitamin D by chilling in the morning sun.
This week I also got invited to accompany my hosts to a birthday party in the countryside. It was for Rosie's birthday who is Tony's brother's wife. It was a 2hour drive due north-west towards a place called Campbell town along route 5! The party was at a farm house and because Tony has a big Italian family it was a pretty big gathering. I got the opportunity to chat to a fair few people, try my best Italian to talk to Tony's relatives and sampled the food at this authentic Australian 'barby' with an Italian twist. The food was plentiful and the desserts magnificent. This was my first taste of the Australian outback and because its comparatively not too far from Sydney apparently it can't be called the 'outback'. So... as I couldn't really see many other houses nearby and it was pretty hot I'm going to refer to this place as the 'semi-outback' :-)

However amazing the last two weeks have been by simply living in one place, my tourist cap was starting to get sad. So off I planned a trip to the Nation's capital, Canberra. It was a three and a half hours away from Sydney on a wi-fi bus so I couldn’t complain. Canberra is Australia's capital city and its in the state called the Australian Capital Territory (funnily enough). It is actually a purpose built city. In 1901 when the colonies were federated and became states there was a strong rivalry between Sydney and Melboune as to which one should be the capital. It was then decided to build a new place halfway between both cities and by 1927 Canberra took over from Melbourne as the capital city. Canberra is strategically planned to make the most of the hilly wilderness. Its clearly divided in zones centred around an artificial lake. Famous for its political assembly and cultural richness. There are more museums, galleries, sights, activities, shopping and night-life than you can shake a stick at. Absolutely perfect for a tourist but has the reputation of being dull by the locals. At first glance I can't imagine why (not sarcastic by the way). On my arrival I headed straight for the youth hostel passing the shopping and bars area and was hugely impressed. There were lots of activities for adults and the kids. They even had rides on camel which I thought was strange.

At the hostel I checked in, read the guidebook a bit more and planned a route. With sun cream on, sunglasses, hat and a bottle of water off I went into the mid-day heat. It was pretty hot but I was on a mission. My first stop was the Commonwealth park on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. The artificial lake was the vision of Burley Griffin that wanted to turn the most undesirable place in Australia into the vibrant city it is today. Within this park there was a Bonsai garden which was serene and housed the oldest beautifully shaped bonsai trees in Australia. From there I toured the shores of the lake and was shocked to see people running and cycling in the mid-day heat here but good on them. I passed the Captain cook memorial and crossed the road to the government zone where I saw the world's embassies in one place. Each architecturally designed by their respective countries which is rare I believe. I particularly like the Papa New Guinea embassy.

I then walked to capital hill to the hugely impressive parliament house. Set to look like it was built within a grassy hill. You can even walk on the slopping grass sides. Almost like a modern day hobbit house from Lord of the Ring :-) After a few pictures outside I managed to join the last guided tour. The really entertaining guide took us round the house of representatives and the senate. He showed us some interesting decorative ancient tapestry and gave us interesting information about the objects in the different places. For example, did you know the two highly decorated boxes either side of the centre table in the house of representatives were traditionally used to deliver the results of the discussion to the king for his approval? Now completely obsolete obviously because the monarchy has no power in the house of representatives. Also did you know on their coat of arms there is a kangaroo and an emu? It turns out that this is because both can't walk backwards. Interesting. This place also holds one of the four surviving copies of the 1297 Magna Carta which is a 700yr old manuscript that is the 'foundation stone of constitutional and parliamentary government'. This manuscript basically details in writing that 'no one in society is above the law; not the king nor his subjects, not the government nor the governed'. (ref 1)

After this it was getting late so museums were closing I hopped on a bus to the university and walked the empty campus streets to the base of Black mountain. This mountain is 812m tall and at the top it has the Telstra communications tower, restaurant and viewing platform. With no means of public transport off I walked just in time to catch the setting sun over Canberra. The not so densely laid out city around the lake can easily be admired from there. The sunset was pristine. A long walk back to the hostel ended with a meal cooked by me and a chat to fellow travellers at the hostel. This was then promptly followed by a well deserved sleep.

My second day in Canberra started with and early breakfast and a visit to the old parliament house, which is basically the same layout at the 'new' parliament house only smaller and with a lot more history to it. Unfortunately the guide was not as entertaining as yesterday and in fact overran by 30minutes which didn't help my ambitions schedule for the day. Nevertheless worth the visit if only for the million dollar interactive display exhibit at the back!
My next stop was the National Portrait Gallery, I was probably more impressed by buildings architecture and the bus-sized painting of the queen during her jubilee than the other face paintings/photos. Each one to their own, but taking pictures of people from around the world and displaying them doesn’t really constitute art in my book. I might need to be educated on that one. All I know is that the coffee shop did make an amazing cured beef and mustard baguette!

Once I satisfied my belly I was off across the walkway to the National Gallery of Australia. This was an overwhelming mix of artefacts, paintings, sculptures and outdoor exhibits that made one wish there was more time in the day to see it all. Even before going in I was impressed by the sphere flying in mid-air (actually it was suspended between the High Court of Australia and the Gallery). The outdoor 'skyspace, within without' by James Turrell made for a placid and tranquil start to my visit. I won't try to describe it. Its probably better you check out the pictures or google it.

Once inside I made my way around the highlights including the Aboriginal memorial, the sacred bull Nandi vehicle of shiva statue (11^th - 12^th century), the Arthur Streeton painting 'Golden summer, Eaglemont' (1889) and my first Claude Monet painting 'Waterlilies' (1914-1917) The spectacle didn't finish there. The gardens has Rodin replicas dotted around, a miniaturised version of Antony Gormley's Angel of the North which stands in full size at Gateshead in England and other astonishing works. One pleasant surprise in the garden were the bells that I could hear across the water which was coming from the National Carillon. One of the world's biggest musical instruments. It comprises of 55 bronze bells and was a gift from the British government to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the nation's capital. I supposedly missed the recital yesterday so it was nice to be able to appreciate the loud and polyphonic sounds of this huge towering instrument.

From the Carillon on Aspen island to the oldest remaining cottage of the Blundells. The Bundells were family that worked on these lands for generations when it was farm land and not the metropolis you see today. The house still stands as one of the only ones in the area which enables us to appreciate how they lived in those days.
With time almost out for my second day I managed to get a seat at the film theatre of the National film and Sound Archive of Australia. They were playing the art-house documentary of a Japanese film maker who followed a family after the Tohoku earthquake that brought a tsunami and that caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant on the 11^th of March 2011. There was a Japanese film-maker introducing the film and then they played the film. What is really good about all the things I went to see today is that they have all been free including this film. Well there was a small fee of $2 for the old parliament house.
On my last day I woke up fairly early to meet a friend of a friend for breakfast and then quickly made my way to the Australian War Memorial museum. On the hour they have a spectacular display of lights, video and sounds around real war machines. They had a Lancaster bomber, world war one fighter planes and a Japanese mini-sub that exploded in Sydney harbour  The museum also educated me about the wars that occurred over on this side of the world something that I hadn't learnt much about at school. The memorial part of the museum was pretty impressive too.

The war museum also had a brilliant temporary exhibit called 'Rememberme: the lost diggers of Vignacourt'which tells the story of a photographer that took pictures ofsoldiers passing through the village of Vignacourt during world warone. This French village was near the front line and gave passing soldiersthe opportunity to send a photo-postcard back home. Unfortunatelynone can be identified by name as this was never recorded. Most onshow were Australians. http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/remember-me/'

I then took a bus across town to the National Museum of Australia. The Lonely planet called this place a 'big abstract Australian storybook using creativity, controversy, humour and self-contradiction' (ref 2). I would say that is a pretty accurate description of what I saw. One moment I was seeing how they preserve and restore museum pieces and then the next I'm watching videos on all the killing of rabbits that plagued the landscape after introduction from Europe. I posed next a real Olympic relay torch and cauldron from the Sydney 2000 olympics, sat in a huge digger scoop and finished by staring at the marvellously odd architecture that houses this museum. My day then finished by a bus ride back to Sydney and an early night to prepare for the weekend's events. All in all it was an amazing week.

Next week I feed possums in a rescue centre, experience my first Aussie summer Christmas, see the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race and shop for lots of Borneo expedition gear in the sales.
References:

1. http://exhibitions.aph.gov.au/magnacarta/
   
2. Lonely Planet – Australia. 16^th edition, Nov 2011