Big day for our last day in Canberra. I loved spending time at Old Parliament House, even more so than the new one. It is such a special building. We took the free tour and got to see so much – the Senate and House of Rep chambers, the Prime Minister’s office and other various offices and rooms.
There were also a number of exhibitions that were worth a look, including one of political cartoons of 2017 – very good. We must have walked miles and miles! Then we topped it off with a yummy lunch at Hoi Poloi, a restaurant in the old dining room. We actually sat outside which was lovely.
The afternoon plans called for Gaz and Kev to go off to golf and off they went. Maz and I were keen to check out the National Arboretum, so off we went! What a fabulous place! Established in 2013, it is on land that used to have a pine forest, but the forest burned down in the shocking bushfires of 2003 and this is how the land has been re-purposed. A fabulous project of planting 100 forests of trees from around the world that are either rare, endangered, or iconic. The trees are obviously small now, but it will be fantastic watching them grow.
Marion and I had a free tour / intro talk and then we drove and walked to check it all out. There was a bonsai exhibition which was amazing.
Another feature was a massive sculpture of Dorothea Mackeller’s epic words “wide brown land”, in her own handwriting, set high on a hill. In the photos below you can see how big it is - look for me between the “wide” and “brown”.
We also looked at a cedar forest planted about 100 years ago and a Cork Oak forest planted by Walter Burley Griffin in 1917 from acorns from Spain. Incredible! They still harvest cork from the trees, and have done so since the 1940s.
Pretty tired out from a big day, we all met up for a BBQ this evening as we farewell Canberra and plan for our trip across to the coast tomorrow for our last stop on the trip. Almost homeward bound…
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