N  75  Canberra  (Part  2 )

 

After the Botanical Garden we continued on to the National Museum. This museum came to this permanent home only in 2001 and its architecture can be called extraordinary. It is based on a theme of knotted ropes , symbolically bringing together the stories of Australians including the Aborigines , the original settlers. The building is meant to be the centre of the knot with trailing ropes or strips extending from the building. It profiles a long history of indigenous heritage, settlements since 1788 and key events in Australia’s history.. We could see a large collection of Aboriginal bark paintings.

We strolled leisurely along the several galleries displaying paintings, photos or other works of art and the social history of Canberra, looking for the featured stone tools, the heart of the champion race horse Phar Lap and the Holden prototype No. 1 car and found them.

 

The last place we visited was the Royal Australian Mint. Beside producing the circulating coins it also produces medals for military and civilian honors, most notably the Order of Australia, and also mint coins for other foreign countries. It has the capacity to produce 2 million coins a day. The public can observe the coin processing ,which is mostly done by robots from designated places.

On the groundfloor there is a place where people can buy coins to keep as souvenirs. There is a machine that produce a single coin at a time, with the concerning year to keep as souvenir. Because we went in 2012 it was minting coins with the year 2012 on them. If we queue in front of the machine and press some buttons the coins will come out from the machine. And so we can say we minted the coin by ourselves. But only  after paying 3 dollars for a 1 dollar coin.But it is worth  paying for the experience and everybody seemed happy about it.

After that we came back for some rests at the hotel. The  place we were staying was a little far from Canberra CBD because the city was built like that. SL who was living in Canberra told us that the  suburbs are somewhat distant from the town centre at the present with natural vegetation and bushlands in between , but they are expected to close in on the city later and filled it up.

 

That evening we made some plans to go and look for kangaroos because we have heard that there are plenty of them in Canberra. We hadn ‘t seen a single kangaroo since we had been in Australia. SL said they were often found near the golf course , and so we went there. Parking the car we walked into the golf course and began to cross the lawns to the other side where there was a plot shaded by trees, but a little worried that we will be hit by golf balls.

Then somebody exclaimed… there they are…. the kangaroos ; And we saw a  whole lot of them , some standing , some lying on the ground. We were so excited and want to go near them but we were warned beforehand that they are fierce animals and can attack people. So we stopped a little distant from them and just took pictures without enough light , and so didn’t get good photos. We saw more of the creatures in the distant on the other side too. So only with the thought that we had seen them we came back contentedly.

N  74  Canberra  ( Part  1 )

We visited Canberra, the capital of Australia during our 2^nd  visit to Melbourne in 2011. We went there  by car with UKT and USBN’s family who were going to Sydney , but had to visit Canberra on the way to renew their girls’ passport at the Burmese embassy there.

So we took off in 4 or 5 cars to Canberra which is 669 klms  northeast of Melbourne, along the highway which like other roads is very good. At one place we crossed the Murray river which is one of the rivers I heard of while learning geography in class. I think we reached Canberra about 2:00 pm . After eating a late lunch at KFC we drove right to the Myanmar Embassy, where we all got excited and started to take photos with the simple building , but with a Myanmar flag flying over it. They would have to wait only about 2 hours for their passports to be renewed and stamped (see how it is different from Yangon which took about one month at that time )

So because there was enough time to visit one place we went to the New Parliament . It contains 4700 rooms and many areas are open to the public. That is why we could visit it then. The main foyer contains a marble staircase that leads to the Great Hall which has a large tapestry on display. The House of the Representative Chamber is decorated in green , while the Senate Chamber has a red colour. Visitors to the Parliament House may view the proceedings of both the Houses from public galleries in the chambers when Parliaments are in sessions.At other times may visit the public galleries , art collections and photo galleries.

After a tour of the parliament we parted ways and we continued on our own to visit the Aus; War Memorial which is nearby. This memorial tells us the history of Australia’s involvement in war. It also commemorates the service and sacrifice of all Aus; men and women in wartime. All the displays are very excellent and informative but visiting it for only a few hours cannot absorb them all properly. But we didn’t  have more time , so we departed from there to have dinner and rest at our hotel.

The 1^st place we visited the next day was the Australian National University (ANU ) which is top in Aus; and so just want to see it. But we just drove around the campus and took some photos.

Then we went to the Black Mountain which is 812 metres high, but the highest in Canberra. It is home to the most significant  landmark in this city, the Telstra Tower, which is a telecommunication tower and lookout. This tower offers panoramic views of the city and its surrounding countryside from an indoor observatory deck and 2 outdoor viewing platforms. 

 

After we came down from Black Mountain we visited the Botanical Gardens which is on the lower slope of it. This garden displays many living Aus; native plants and is a place for recreation, and learning as the garden cultivates native plants threatened in the wild.

N 73     Sydney

It was on our first visit to Melbourne that we went to visit Sydney. Sydney though it is the biggest in Australia is not the capital of it. It is the state capital of New South Wales and located on the west coast. It is 545 miles northeast of Melbourne. This metropolitan surrounds the largest natural harbor and sprawls towards the Blue Mountains to the west.

We went there by flying with a budget air and stayed in a budget hotel. I cannot recall anything special about what we did on the day we arrived , but maybe we went to dinner  Ko Ko Aung gave us at a restaurant (or was it the next evening ? )But the younger people said they visited Chinatown.  We older people may  just stayed at the hotel.

Our itinerary for the next day was to visit tourists’ attraction sites. So naturally we went to the icon landmark; the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge which is nearby. As we did not go in, what we did there was to go round the famous architecture , taking photos and absorbed in the magnificent sceneries. And with Harbour Bridge which joins Sydney CBD and North shore, we did the same. I am now regretting that we did not walk on it.

After that we went to Bondi Beach. We took the sightseeing bus, but I remember that it is not free like in Melbourne. These buses are going around the whole day . Once we had bought tickets we can get on one from where we are and alight where we want to. By this bus we got to Bondi beach. As it is a famous beach there were crowds of people enjoying themselves, like surfing , swimming,  soaking up in the sun or jogging.But as for us we just did sightseeing. And we saw Bondi lives up to its name. After some resting , and strolling around, taking pictures and having lunch we got back on the city bus and headed back to the city.

I  cannot recall clearly about the places we visited serially. But I remember we had been to the Hay Market where we bought some souvenirs. We  strolled leisurely along Hyde Park, among its numerous monuments and statues, The Anzac Memorial building, and pretty lanes shaded by big trees. And when we got tired we took some rests on the garden chairs provided there.

We also visited the Museum of Sydney which took us on a journey exploring Sydney’s people, places, and cultures from dream time to modern times.

The next day we went to the famous Blue Mountains. We had booked seats on a minibus in advance  and it came to pick us up punctually. Our driver’s name was Jim, but he was everything, driver, conductor, and guide and was also friendly.

I had heard that the Blue mountains’ elevation is about 4000 feet above sea level and thought we will have to climb high and  was feeling afraid to climb such heights. But I soon found out that there was nothing to be afraid of because the roads are very good and wide and   the climb so gradual that there was nothing to be afraid of. And we also saw pretty houses and villages on the way.

When we came to a viewpoint Jim would explain to us about the place, stop the bus and took us to see the view. Every place is carefully planned and done for the convenience of visitors. And every place is so nice and the sceneries awesome. But when we got to the top of the mountain ; Wow....what a panorama.... so magnificent.... so awe inspiring....We felt we were in the midst of a blue ocean surrounded by blue waters nearly on all sides. We could see Blue Mountain lives up to its name. I have seen beautiful  blue seascapes but not such blue mountains. We stayed there for sometime absorbing the beauty of panoramic view.

 I later heard that we were lucky that we can enjoy the magnificent views of Blue Mountain when some other people cannot . This happens when the weather is so foggy or when there are too much mists.After we came down Jim drove us to a jetty where we can board a river craft for some sightseeings along the coast.   

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N  72   Melbourne 4

around city….

        

 Frankston hot spring and Cranbourne Gardens…. On our last trip we were taken to a hot spring . It is a very nice place as all other places are , so pretty , so creative and good services everywhere. We also went to visit a botanical garden which is not far from there , in Cranbourne . It is a new garden and not yet completed. But still many projects are finished and we could not  resist taking photos because of the amazing sights.

  The Great Ocean Road….To experience the GOR is one important activity a tourist to Melbourne must do. So off we went on our first trip. Our 3 families in a rented van driven by Ko Sithu a PR of Melbourne. The round trip is about 200 klms and took a whole day. Not before long we took off  we reached Geelong town, and as it is a pretty seaside resort we stayed there , over an hour , eating, exploring and taking photos. So for the rest of the journey we did not have much time to leisure. Even then we reached Melbourne only after nightfall. It is needless to say about the amazing views as  the road runs along the ocean with it in and out of our views. And just imagine….it is the Great Pacific.

 

Ballarat…. is an old mining town 65 klms west of Melbourne. We drove there and when we reached the city   we went direct to Sovereign Hill, which gave us a glimpse of how it may looked like in the gold mining days of mid 19 century.This town was created in 1970 and is like an outdoor museum, drawing 2.2 mill tourists a year. We saw everything, the mining facilities, the dwellings, the stalls, shops, saloons, the Press, the workshops, as in the olden days. Even people going around were dressed in the 19^th  century fashion. I met an English lady there and after some small talks she asked me where I was from. When  I told her I was  from Myanmar she didn’t know, but when I said I was from Aung San Su Kyi’s country she got excited and exclaimed  Oh…. Aung San Su Kyi….I know her , you are from her country . See…. how much ASSK is popular and admired around the world.

 

Before we came back we visited the Gold Museum which extends the Sovereign Hill story of Ballarat and the Kryal  Castle ( not a real old one, but is good to take photos because of it’s nice surroundings. )

Now… back to the city

The Yarra…During our stays I didn’t want to miss interesting places and experiences. So I thought we should go cruising the most symbolic river, the Yarra while we were there. I  was taken to the South Gate where we can board a river craft.I saw the Yarra offers a multitude of picturesque settings as all places do. There are a number of barbecue and picnic facilities, fishing platforms, pleasant walkways, and bicycles lanes on the banks and jetties at some places. We heard from the guide that it is 242 kls long and that the water although it is the color of mud brown it is very clean. Festivals and rowing regattas are held according to seasons on the Yarra.

The Puffing Billy…. is an old train used in the olden days to carry people and their commodities around Melbourne. It is not used today, but like Sovereign Hill in Ballarat it is transformed into a train for leisure ride especially for children.  But at the end of the ride there is a  picnic spot where people can enjoy boat rides and the nice scenery.   One remarkable incident I noticed while going there  was that the trees growing  on the roadside are very big that they formed a real jungle and even the fern which are only small plants in our country grow into big trees.

I have to wrap up my going around Melbourne now even though I still have to relate more. But before doing so,  some short experience that cannot be left out. Once my daughter Lin and I boarded the sightseeing bus (it is free )to go to see the famous Melbourne University, which is top in the city. When we were not visiting any landmarks we usually went shopping as all of us like to shop. And I think there were not much shopping centres left that we haven’t been to.

Melbourne has a reputation as the world’s most liveable city and we really can see why. It is a city that offers a combination of arts and culture, festivals, shoppings public gardens and so on…And also the glorious parks, the tree lined boulevards, and excellent ways to get around makes it worth its reputation. If I have a chance to visit it again I would like to, But….