Canberra, ACT
Sunday December 19, 1999
Points of Interest
Blundell's Farmhouse
This quaint cottage style farmhouse was full of antiques and lent a vision to how the early farm family in this area lived. It's a slab and stone type of building that I saw many places within my travels. I loved the cleanliness of the white simple garments worn by the children... and to think they didn't have stain blocking sticks... couldn't Shout it out either... but just the same the clothing was clean. Pretty impressive by todays standards even. It was very compact living quarters and they made good use of every nook and corner. The farmhouse is located near the Lake Burley Griffin as are many of the points of interest. The lake was created when they dammed up the Molongo River and was then named after Canberra's designer. The wind can pick up very quickly over the lake as we saw when the weather decided to take turn for the worst.
Regatta Point
Now you can see the water jet from the park level it was very impressive as I stood and watched the water. Bicyclers were buzzing by on the nice paved walk that runs the parks length for walking and skating and cycling. This skeleton globe has Captain Cooks three great voyages traced onto it. I wasn't all that familiar with the historical facts that surround all the monuments while I was there but I have since made an effort to read as much as I can. There were so many things that I wanted to see it was hard to narrow my list. The park was very nice and clean and gave a chance to stretch our legs a bit.
Parliment Houses
The Old Parliment house was brightly decorated with flags and banners. The pavement was colourfully painted by aboriginals that seemed to be camped in the area. We tried to be quiet as to not disturb them or any of their belongings from their ceremonies as I took pictures of the art and the building. This was the first building we stopped at and wasn't open for public yet. We didn't get back here as time was limited with just one day to visit Canberra.
The appearance of the New Parliment building was inspiring as we crossed the pavement. We saw people treking up the sides but I knew that wasn't for me, I was more than happy to do my exploring from the inside. Entering and looking around the beauty of the native woods used thoughtout the building was magnificent.
The woods had been polished and buffed accenting the colour and beauty of the grain and it seemed inconsiderate to walk on them but it was the only way to get thru the building. As we went by the gallery of hanging portraits I was impressed as Brian was able to name each person as well as give me a brief description on them in reference to their political ties and what views they supported on different proposals. While our governments has many differences we also have many similarities. One common point being the two houses of government, the Senate and House of Reps. This is the House of Reps. they are in their 39th Parliment and have 148 members the heaviest representation coming from NSW. We also visited the Senate which was similar in design but mauve in colour.
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*Sydney , other Attractions*
*Fun Filled Port Macquarie*
*Mildura*
*Mount Panorama Race Track*