Canberra (3) - Parliament House

This is the third post from my visit to Canberra.  

The roof lawn of Parliament House is Australia's largest, and needs regular watering and mowing to protect the membrane below.

Parliament House, Canberra was opened in 1988. It is huge (0.3Km wide and long) and contains 4,700 rooms, with many areas open to the public. We were able to see the House of Representatives in action, but no cameras are allowed in there.







The main foyer (below) contains a marble staircase and leads to the Great Hall.

Parliament House, Main Foyer

Parliament House, Main Entrance

The polished stainless steel flagpole (below) is 81 metres tall and is on top of the exact centre of the building.

Flag Pole, Parliament House, Canberra

 'Student's Guide' - this gives a useful overview to Australia's Parliament

View all my  previous Canberra posts 

Canberra Capital 'holiday planner' (online booklet)

Canberra (2) - Public Art

Some call it the giant orange blob. 
James Angus’s bright tangerine orange sculpture- ‘Geo Face Distributor’ greets you outside the National Portrait Gallery entrance.

In front of 'Questacon' are these sculptures  designed by Ken Cato. They were originally commissioned for Melbourne's 1989 Olympic Games bid.

THANAKUPI. Dhaynagwidh (Thaynakwith) people Napranum, near Weipa, Western Cape York Peninsula, Australia.  'Eran' c1988

This sculpture and 'La bobine' are outside the National Gallery of Australia (below)

National Gallery of Australia

Alexander Calder - 'La bobine'

Clement Meadmore - 'Viriginia' (above) - the rust-red finish is intentional. It's located in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden which is between Lake Burley Griffin and the gallery building. The sculpture weighs more than 8 tonnes and was fabricated in a specialty factory in North Haven, Connecticut USA.

Wentworth Falls - National Pass

This walk follows on from the Charles Darwin Walk at Wentworth Falls. (See my earlier post).

The photos were taken on two separate walks, one with a bush walking group and the other by myself, which gave me more time for photography. There was plenty of water in Jamison Creek on both days, after recent rain.

It is only a short distance from the peaceful surrounds of Weeping Rock (left), towards the end of  'The Darwin Walk' track, to the top of Wentworth Falls.






I took a side trip at this point to Fletcher's Lookout, to photograph the falls, before returning to the National Pass track.

Wentworth Falls from Fletcher's Lookout

Wentworth Falls from the National Pass track.

The track, which winds down 'The Grand Stairway' is cut into the cliff, is very popular, at least the section to the bottom of the falls.
Beyond this point the track continues along the cliff-line to the 'Valley of the Waters'. (see map)

We passed a section of the track where, due to the recent rains, we passed behind a water fall.

  We turned off to the 'Conservation Hut Cafe' when we reached the 'Valley of the Waters', then back to the station cutting through Murphy's Lane and Central Park to Falls Road.

This map (in the Falls Reserve picnic area) is provided by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service


Wild Walks Info

     Google Map



My thanks to our leader John.

Canberra Visit (1)

Lake Burley Griffin and National Carillion

This post features photos taken on a visit to Australia's capital Canberra (280km south-west of Sydney) in the Australian Capital Territory. The site was selected for a planned city, as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne.
In 2013, Canberra celebrates 100 years since Lady Denman, wife of then Governor-General Lord Denman, stood upon the newly laid Foundation Stones and announced that the name of the new Australian capital would be Canberra.

High Court of Australia, Courtroom 1, (left) is used on all ceremonial occasions and for all Full Bench sittings. The bench is made of Western Australian jarrah with red tulip oak from Queensland and NSW used for the rest of the furniture and wall panelling.


 The Public Hall below features a mural designed by Jan Senbergs which reflects the history, function and aspiration of the High Court.

 

High Court of Australia, Public Hall

The High Court Building is on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. The Public Hall (above) has a 24-metre high ceiling supported by two large pillars.







       
                  Transport to Canberra                          Information - Visiting Canberra

We found a reasonably priced Guesthouse style accommodation about 15 minutes bus ride from the City. It was not listed in the online accommodation booking sites.