Day 4: The new city of Canberra

Tonight we are in Canberra (pronounced Can’-bruh, with the emphasis on the first syllable).  Canberra did not exist before the 1920s.  Sydney and Melbourne were squabbling over which city should be the Australian capital, so they decided to build a new city as the capital (similar to the U.S. building Washington, DC as the country’s capital).   An American planned the city, it is in the shape of a wheel (similar to Paris).  Evidently, the planner planned for a system of rail transit to be down one of the main streets, and they are now building a light rail line in fulfillment of that vision (that’s not why they are building it, of course). 

So we drove about four hours here this morning and are staying in a definitely not-posh, budget hotel tonight.  Smaller, basic room, bare lobby, tiny no-frills bathroom, no free wi-fi (except in the lobby).  There is a TV here, not that we would watch it.   Not even box springs for our bed—the mattress is on wooden slats.  Oh well, it is a good price. 

We went to a local bar and grill for a late lunch and had burgers, then headed out to walk to the parliament building.  To drive there, we would have had to pay another $20 to park the car (on top of the $20 we had already paid), so we walked.  Partway there, Kathi’s friend Marian’s knees were hurting too much, so she turned back; it was then just the four of us.   It was a fair hike there.   We were allowed to go inside and do a self-guided tour (look around).  This is the new parliament building, not the original building.  Australia has a system of government similar to the US:  three branches of government, parliamentary style.

The parliament building in the background towers above the area

Joshua in the parliament building's "mall" area

The new parliament building

details have the name "Australia" as well as a kangaroo and emu

The mosaic in the center reminds me of the aboriginal painting style with the dots
 (wonder if it's supposed to?)

The entry area of the building

The great hall with the tapestry at the end

"In Australia alone is found to be the Grotesque, the Weird, the strange scribblings of nature learning how to write."

On the roof

On the roof

The windows cause rainbows--even on Joshua

Joshua as King (the Queen beside him)

Kathi's aspirations of being Queen

The Senate

The House of Representatives

The long walk back to the hotel gave Joshua and I a chance to talk about him becoming a teenager and closer to an adult and how we can work through it , the three of us (Randy, Joshua, and I) together.  Heady stuff for a long, chilly walk, but good.  Tomorrow is Melbourne.