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.