Trip to Canberra, Australia's Capital City!

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One of the places that I wished to visit while here on my Rotary scholarship was a trip up to Canberra. When I met Louisa Dow, a Rotary Peace Fellow who's going to Duke in August, she offered to let me come up to Canberra and visit her.

I spent four days touring all around Canberra. For a city that has a population of about 330,000, the city was very unique and you could definitely tell there was an architectural difference in style. The story of Canberra's birth is very interesting: during the time where Australians were trying to decide on whether Sydney or Melbourne would be the capital of the country, someone suggested building a city known as Canberra (which means "the meeting place") which was equi-distant to both cities. Even during the construction some of the government houses and city planning, there were several architects who submitted ideas for the city. However, it was a man from Chicago named Walter Burley Griffin whose plans were adopted for the planning of the city.

With Canberra being Australia's largest inland city, it was such a contrast from Melbourne. It was much much cooler than Melbourne, but the climate was warm in the sun so it made for some mildly cool days, but very cold nights. I spent most of my days site seeing and touring many of the memorials, both Parliament Houses, and galleries. In the evenings, Louisa and I spent time traveling around the city where she showed me where we could find kangaroos in the wild and we saw some amazing views from the mountaintops surrounding the city.

I really really enjoyed my trip up to Canberra. It was such an exhilarating feeling to be around the federal government and to also see all of Australia's embassies. One of the coolest parts of my trip was the access I had to the House of Representatives during their afternoon question time. Sitting in the gallery, we were able to see the Prime Minister and his party being questioned by the opposition party. It was an experience like none other: there was so much yelling, name calling, and outright loud behaviour from both parties! It was so enjoyable...even to the point where the opposition party presented a motion to condemn PM Rudd's party for their 7 months of "pure ineffectiveness"....haha it made me wonder why we don't engage in the same behaviour in the US!!

I hope you enjoy these photos of Canberra (with the exception of Question time, in which we weren't allowed to take photos). Who knows, maybe I'll be there one day, working for the US Embassy?!? One can only dream 😊

All the best!
Cindy

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Photos

Old Parliament House
There was a display on the wives of previous and current Prime Ministers of Australia

Old Parliament House
inside the foyer of the Parliament House

Old Parliament House
I took a tour of the House, which included the original rooms that party members held conferences and meetings

Old Parliament House
Both Parliament houses are fitted with clocks which indicate with a light whether the House or the Senate is in session and/or voting on legislation

Old Parliament House
There was a figurine display of some lawmakers in action, convening on legislation...they surprised me because they looked so real!

Old Parliament House
on the steps outside Old Parliament House

Landscape view
The Parliamentary Triangle is situated between two mountains, this one being Mt. Ainsley

Old Parliament House
View of Old Parliament House (which was used until 1989)

Aboriginal Embassy
On the lawns facing the Old Parliament House there was an Aboriginal Tent Embassy set up

Aboriginal Embassy
There were people who lived in tents and facilities in this embassy, so you could go into a tent and speak to someone about Aboriginal rights

Outside
Lawns facing the Old Parliament House

Buildings
Some buildings facing the Parliamentary Triangle

PT Map
Map of Parliamentary Triangle--this proved to be one of the best markers for seeing everything

Mt Ainsley
very serene photos

Flag
The Aussie flag, waving in the air