The lady in the cafe wasn't overly friendly but I found something to eat and drink. Yes, the views are spectacular. Fortified with caffeine, I ventured to the outdoors viewing platforms above the cafe level. The first is wide and has a nice spiky fence. It was windy, I took some pictures but didn't exactly stick my nose out through the bars. Managed a lap. Up again to the second level and OMG it was windy and scary! I got to the top of the stairs and could not move any further. The platform is narrower and, perversely, has a lower fence (no spikes) than downstairs. Even in calm conditions I would have struggled although I might have held onto the wall for a few yards. This was ridiculous, I could stand upright braced against the wall and took a few pictures but move? You are joking. But I did it :-)
Back at ground level there is the Telstra Heritage Exhibition. It was tiny and the signs say the collection was put together by volunteers. I'm presuming that there's another Telstra collection elsewhere which is a little more in-depth. However, an absolute highlight was the film showing in the 'Theatrette' - about ten minutes of 1970s/80s commentary, clothes, outfits and technology! It deserved to be in a museum exhibit of its own! Oh yes, it was about the construction of the tower. Health and Safety was slightly different too. Fabulous.
Having walked up the road, I decided I would take a track down through the trees to find the Australian National Botanic Gardens. That was beautiful with glorious sunshine poking through, lovely scenery and views out over the lake towards Canberra. I even saw some kangaroos hopping off in the distance. The gardens were well labelled with lots of signs to encourage children to look at their environment. The cafe was quiet but the young lady there was much more friendly and suggested the most divine macchiato, chocolatey cake. Of course I tried it, would have been rude not to. And outside the cafe I found laughing kookaburras, they are cute to look at but other birds don't seem to like them. There were also plenty of other birds - yellow-tailed black cockatoos, pied currawong, Australian magpies, crimson rosellas, ducks, gorgeous little wrens and everything. The gardens were good and free. Well, I didn't have to pay the parking fee, did I. I walked back through the university, wondering why you would go to Canberra (unless you're studying politics) when there are so many more exciting places.
For my final day, I went to the Parliament Zone - isn't that a sterile way of describing a part of your town? Kind of sums the place up for me. The National Gallery is in an impressively huge building with a pretty good collection. Not only did I have to give in my bag but you couldn't take any photographs at all. It's normal that they ask you not to use flash. Now I've photos of other pieces by the same people in Canberra which I've taken at other museums and galleries. Where's the sense or consistency? They can include caveats for non-commercial purposes only but I don't see why there should be this seemingly arbitrary ban in some places. I always try to acknowledge the creators of anything that I post online and where I saw the piece.
Having surveyed the cafes in the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, I lunched at the High Court of Australia. No queues, views over the lake and reasonably priced, normal food. This building too, is majestically impressive in the brutalist style. I sat in on a little bit of a school tour in one of the courts and watched another video. Not quite so dated and less hilarious, but very informative about the building as well as the High Court itself. A very satisfactory diversion. I was going to take in the Old Parliament House but by the time I'd walked all the way round to the opposite side to the way in, I gave up and ploughed on up the hill to the Parliament Of Australia.
I tried to smuggle in my Swiss Army knife but they spotted it! I sat in on part of Prime Minister's Question Time. They are extremely rowdy and noisy. I know it gets a bit 'interactive' at home but this seemed plain rude at times. How can you debate if you can't hear what's being said. Or is that the point? Interesting to see, in any case. The building was very sparkly and gleaming and I took afternoon tea on the Queen's Terrace. One poor chap left his cake on the table while he went to get his coffee and returned to find three magpies already pecking at it. There are some practical difficulties to travelling solo - reserving a table and guarding your food being one of them!
After that I walked back to the hostel. The evening's entertainment was an interpretation of Henry V at the Canberra Playhouse. It was good although I have no idea how it drew from Mr Shakespeare's work. The young Australian lady next to me said it was "Awesome" so that's the verdict.
It's now Wednesday morning and I've written this in the fog at Canberra airport. So far my flight to Melbourne is delayed by 4 hours. Thank you to Qantas for the free wifi and the nice man from Brisbane for the conversation.
I'll be back.
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