Day 1 - Canberra is a city created and built expressly to serve as the capital city of the country of Australia. It is built in a series of concentric circles all radiating out from the central hub of the new Parliament Building. There is a central lake named after the American master architect of the city. The Parliament building complex in turn has numerous other government buildings near to it. There are also several noteworthy sightseeing opportunities further out in the city, but with the city being so spread apart, it is difficult to get around without a car. We discovered that there was an "Explorer" bus, which would take us from site to site and give us sufficient time to peruse one area, before picking us up again and transporting us to the next point of interest. 
Our hotel, the All Seasons Olims Canberra, was a historic building in and of itself, built when the city was founded. 
It is located in close proximity to our first sight-seeing stop of the day, the Australian War Memorial. We were amazed at the grandeur of the monument.
The museum resembles an airplane structure with the main exhibit as the cabin, the one wing dedicated to World War I, the other wing to WWII, and the tail being a huge building in and of itself. In this building there were full-size airplanes 
plus an authentic Japanese submarine from both world wars. This room was used to show fantastic video footage as three separate sound and light shows featuring first the air force, then the army and finally the navy. The army film was produced by the director Peter Jackson of "Lord of the Rings" fame. As per the schedule, the bus picked us up on time and transported us to our next chosen destination - the National Portrait Gallery 
and the Aboriginal exhibit in the National Art Gallery. When we arrived there, huge six-hour queues were waiting to get into the Impressionist exhibition, but we did not have this on our agenda for the day. Our third stop was a visit to the immense new Parliament building. 
The Aboriginal art displayed here was most impressive.
. 
Here we were free to view the red House of Representatives room 
as well as the green Senate chamber. 
The outside of the building has a huge steel structure on top of which is a gigantic Australian flag, purported to be as big as a double-decker bus! 
How proud we were to see the Canadian flag flying majestically in the "Parade of Flags" which lines the road approaching the Parliament Building. 
Our last stop of the day was a boat sight-seeing cruise on Lake Burley Griffin. It was a beautiful warm day, perfect for a lake cruise. 
Along the shore we spied a huge wooden flag pole which was a donation from the country of Canada to Australia. In thanks, every year the Canadian flag is flown on July 1st! Later that night we returned to the lake front from the other side to watch a long spectacular fireworks display. We could never figure out the reason for the fireworks - I guess the Australian government is no different than ours in Canada, and just likes to spend money! 
Our hotel, the All Seasons Olims Canberra, was a historic building in and of itself, built when the city was founded. 
It is located in close proximity to our first sight-seeing stop of the day, the Australian War Memorial. We were amazed at the grandeur of the monument.
The museum resembles an airplane structure with the main exhibit as the cabin, the one wing dedicated to World War I, the other wing to WWII, and the tail being a huge building in and of itself. In this building there were full-size airplanes 
plus an authentic Japanese submarine from both world wars. This room was used to show fantastic video footage as three separate sound and light shows featuring first the air force, then the army and finally the navy. The army film was produced by the director Peter Jackson of "Lord of the Rings" fame. As per the schedule, the bus picked us up on time and transported us to our next chosen destination - the National Portrait Gallery 
and the Aboriginal exhibit in the National Art Gallery. When we arrived there, huge six-hour queues were waiting to get into the Impressionist exhibition, but we did not have this on our agenda for the day. Our third stop was a visit to the immense new Parliament building. 
The Aboriginal art displayed here was most impressive.
. 
Here we were free to view the red House of Representatives room 
as well as the green Senate chamber. 
The outside of the building has a huge steel structure on top of which is a gigantic Australian flag, purported to be as big as a double-decker bus! 
How proud we were to see the Canadian flag flying majestically in the "Parade of Flags" which lines the road approaching the Parliament Building. 
Our last stop of the day was a boat sight-seeing cruise on Lake Burley Griffin. It was a beautiful warm day, perfect for a lake cruise. 
Along the shore we spied a huge wooden flag pole which was a donation from the country of Canada to Australia. In thanks, every year the Canadian flag is flown on July 1st! Later that night we returned to the lake front from the other side to watch a long spectacular fireworks display. We could never figure out the reason for the fireworks - I guess the Australian government is no different than ours in Canada, and just likes to spend money! 
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