Old Parliament House Canberra

After Sydney we went to Canberra. Canberra is Australia's capital and its political heart-land. The city was planned in 1908 as the new seat of federal parliament to end rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. Canberra was once little more than a sheep station on the edge of the Molonglo River. Its name is based on an Aboriginal word meaning "meeting …

17.10.11
After a 4 1/2 hour trainride I arrived in Canberra where I met my new couchsurfing hosts. What a lovely couple. Very nice and well travelled. Got a home cooked meal that night :) Yummy :)
They were very helpful and gave me a few tips where to go and what to see but there isn't as much as I expected. Basically just the Parliamennt …

While we were in China we were travelling with the most amazing couple, Anne and Brent, who were on their way back to live in Australia after many years working in Scotland. They invited us to come and stay with them when we got to the country, and we very excitedly left Sydney knowing that we would get to see them again.

Brent picked us …

... would be the best time to watch in the public gallery, as it's Question time then. A short walk down to the Old parliament House was the next logical place to visit. However, on arrival I didn't actually go in as I was distracted by the Aboriginal ...

... there are tremendous views of Canberra. Including the view of the alignment with Mount Ainslie, the Memorial and the Old Parliament house as above. Another fascinating fact (this entry is full of them...) that the flag supporting structure is made of ...

... we went outside to the Queen's Terrace (complete with statue of Queenie herself) to look at the great views down to Old Parliament house and a straight line right to the Australian War Memorial we had visited the previous day - pretty impressive. I will ...

... a more educational day (just this once). The walk back to the city was much more pleasant and we stopped off at the old parliament house (which we preferred to the new)  along the huuuuuge Burley Griffin Lake. This walk took up most of our day so ...

... . Over the next few days we went to the old Lanyon Homestead, an early colonial settlement outside of Canberra, Parliament House, Old Parliament House and the museums. Parliament house was interesting and they have a water feature in a ground ...

... was on, a tax case against some company. Not the most stimulating stuff, I can tell you. I went to the old parliament house, surprised to see a white building with architecture you expect a parliament house to have. The guide expressed his unhappiness ...

... , and the central business district is based around a hexagon/circle. People still get easily lost here???? We went to the Old Parliament House whish is a long white building with a rectangle lake and protesters at the front of it. It reminded me of a ...

... We spent the morning there - a lot to do - heaps of fun (see the photos!) Then we headed to Old Parliament House - another interesting afternoon. John became fascinated with the Aboriginal Embassy outside on the grounds of Old Parliament House. We ...

... nbsp;tops The Jeremy Kyle Show and I've seen that live thrice). We followed this with a stroll down to Old Parliament House where the main attraction was The Aboriginal Tent Embassy which sits stubbornly on Parliament's immaculate lawns. ...

... of the courtyard just a few yards from their tables and in the shade. So I sat there instead. The guide at the Old Parliament House had obviously worked there for many years when it was used by the Parliament and she spoke about the way it used to ...