Aren’t you all lucky that everything in Canberra closes super early so I have absolutely nothing to do from 5pm onwards? Thus the epic catch-ups that have happened on this trip. 3 days, 3 blog posts. Whattup. I’ll start from the top.
The bus driver called in sick and so we ended up leaving Sydney about 45 mins late, and arrived in Canberra just before 2, leaving me with just enough time to buy a disposable camera and visit one or two main sites. Minus that they don’t really have places that sell disposable cameras here. At all. Nor do they have free WiFi. Fail. So I buy myself a new camera (that I still don’t know how to work fully well, but it’s pretty baller) and head towards somewhere that I know I won’t be taking photos at (since I have to charge the battery, so I don’t want to go somewhere super cool). It’s getting late, too, so I opt for the closest tourist attraction: the National Film & Sound Archive. It was actually pretty cool in the end, and I got to learn about Aussieland radio and television, and got to watch chill clips from back in the day. Fun fact of the day: the highest grossing Australian film in history is Happy Feet, followed by Crocodile Dundee. Fun Youtube time: check out Skippy, Australia’s most famous kangaroo, and check all the fun things he’s done. Fun fact #3: Australians are obsessed with Ned Kelly. He’s Australia’s most famous outlaw, and was most recently portrayed by Heath Ledger. But there have been a bunch of movies, and a lot of art dedicated to him. He’s pretty much Australia’s Robin Hood. So after the archive I set back for the hostel, stopping quickly to buy some food for the next 3 days. Slash literally this entire trip have run into slash seen all of maybe 20 people? The city is dead, honestly. Like I went a full 20 mins before running into my first person. Get back to the hostel and discover that there IS free WiFi semi-nearby, at McDonalds. So, cool. I can get free WiFi, I just have to be fat. Slash they have 50 cent ice cream here – success! Come back home for dinner, then watch The Green Mile with a bunch of other people (yay being semi-sociable) before crashing for the night. Early morning the next day so that I can get to see all the sites I planned on seeing.
Next morning I get up and hit up McDonalds before heading to the National Museum of Australia, which is different from the National Gallery of Australia, which I visited after. The National Museum essentially tells the story of Australia, and is a super huge interactive museum. While the exhibitions were pretty interesting, the coolest part of the museum is probably the structure itself. Check the pics when they go up, because it’s so intense. Like architect had this whole nature motif going on. I think this is another architect thinks he is super cool and wants to give civil engineer cancer design. Which is so mean. But the building is still amazing. Anyways, so after about an hour at the museum, I head towards the Parliamentary zone and South Side. Slash that’s the thing about Canberra. It’s a fairly new city that was designed only after it was decided that the new capital of Australia would have to be between Melbourne and Sydney. There was a urban design competition to design the new city, and the model chosen resembled the capitals of some other countries, with the civic centre being separated from the government. The city is super symmetrical, and very symbolic. I’ll explain once I get to Parliament. So the walk to the National Gallery takes me past Commonwealth place, and also along a path that has a list of Australian of the Year winners. The list is kinda interesting, because some of those people seem to be on there only for their international fame, instead of doing anything really special for Australia. But maybe that’s just me. Anyways, so I get to Commonwealth Place, and this place has nothing to do with the commonwealth. I mean, the first flag I see is the American one, and last I checked, the US was not part of the Commonwealth. Then there were a bunch of European countries and a bunch of Middle Eastern ones, and I’m like, this isn’t right. Walk past the High Court of Australia, but there’s a lot of construction going on, so I pass it by. Next up, the National Gallery. So straight up there is some really cool stuff outside the gallery, including this giant ball that looks like its floating, but really there is a bunch of fishing wire that you can barely see attached to the building on one side, and I guess the trees on the other? Once again, you can see the pic once it’s up. I get inside and immediately I know this will be an epic success of a museum, because unlike the one in Adelaide, the Rodin was front and centre at the start. Success! And the Rodin was followed quickly by a couple of Monets – even more of a success! I don’t know how they paid for it, but there was a lot of amazing well-known art, from Rodin to Monet to Gaugin to Picasso to Miro to Warhol. Amazing. And then there was some amazing Australian art, and if you can google this, you should. There was this amazing piece called “Austracism”. I forget the name of the artist but it was amazingly powerful. Its basically a bunch of excuses people give, ie: I’m not racist, but… with the word AUSTRACISM written on top of the excuses. Then there was this other piece by someone named Heather Ellyard, I think it was called “Inventories and Commentaries,” and it was just this amazing composition and I think it’s worth a look.
After a quick glance at my watch, I noticed it was 20 to 2, which meant I had to get to Parliament asap if I wanted to catch question period. Only that Parliament was no in session because everyone is on vacation until May 16 or so. Fail. So instead I get on a tour of Parliament, where I learn that everything is the same as in Canada, except that the Senate is elected and the houses… ARE NOT RED AND GREEN!!!!!! LIKE WTFFFFFFFF. FAIL. Apparently they wanted to be all super cool here, and so the H of C is a pale blue-green that is supposed to remind people of the Eucalyptus tree, and the Senate is PINK. That’s right, pink. Like rose pink. More floral inspiration. Slash there actually are some differences though between our governments and the way they function that I find really cool, but I will spare you for now. Instead, other cool things I saw/ learned. 1) They have an original copy of the Magna Carta in there!!! Like seriously!!! Holy Shit! 2) The Main Hall of Parliament is available for rent to anyone, and any band or choir that wishes to perform there can rent it for free, provided that the performance is open to the public (because tax payer money paid for the construction of the building, which cost $1.1 billion). 3) The building is equipped with a bunch of bars and restaurants that are not open to the public, but if you ever get in, you might notice that the bar is where all the business goes down, and also where members of opposing parties chill, because apparently here you are just as likely to be friends with someone in the opposition as someone from your own party, because of the wide spectrum that each party covers. 4) They have a couple of baller tapestries that were made at the time that the building was constructed, in the late 80s, and in order to date the tapestries, the workers sewed in the design of a comet, to recall the comet that was seen that year. 5) The people who designed the city said that Parliament House could never be built on top of the mountain, because then it would look like Parliament was above the people, looking down. Instead, the hill was cut, and grass put back on top and all around, to make it look less imposing. Also, people can go up on the roof, which is also symbolic, ie: the people are above the house. 5) The structure is super symmetrical with the H of C on one side and the Senate on the other. 6) If all the doors are open, you can see from the room where the cabinet meets straight to the Australian War Memorial, with the idea that you see the consequences of your actions when making important decisions. 7) There is a triangle that forms from Parliament House, with Parliament at one corner, the war memorial at the other (with British ties), and national defense at the other (with American ties). Success on learning a lot?
So after that, I headed to the National Archives, which was pretty cool and I got to watch some old clips, learn about Communism and the abolition of the Communist Party in Australia, and read the Law creating the Commonwealth of Australia, signed by Queen Victoria. After I went through it, I headed back to Old Parliament House, minus that you had to pay to get in, so instead I just walked through the gardens and back again through tent city, aka Aboriginal Cabinet. Ya, there are tents perma set up at the base of Old Parliament House, with a fire and flags and signs for the government and Australians to get off their land. Finally, I made my trek back to the hostel for some lupper, and here I am, watching Jon Stewart in the common room. Success.
And now you are up to date.
Anyways, I hope you have all been thoroughly educated, if not entertained, and I will write again, probably on my way to Perth on Friday!
Miss you all, and hope you are all doing well. Party hard (but not too hard without me!), and for those of you who are done with exams already and have left Montreal, fml because I will miss you, but have an amazing summer and I will see you next year or hopefully some time sooner.
Love, peace, and chicken grease,
xoxo
Kat
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