Canberra & the Blue Mountains

Parliament House in the National Capital of Australia. This new complex was completed 20 years ago and consists of 5 connected buildings (the central building plus 2 each for the House of Representatives and Senate with their adjoining offices and staff)

December 31. Today we head into the inner city of Sydney and plan to see some of the fireworks at midnight (if we can stay up that late). Over 1.5 million people are expected to see the huge fireworks and we don’t know how good of a view we will be able to get with all of the crowds.

We spent 2 days in Canberra – the capital of Australia. Canberra is in a separate entity in the state of New South Wales that has been set aside as the Australian Capital Territory like the District of Columbia is in the US. This is where the parliament and other national activities take place. Parliament House sits right in the middle of the city and is surrounded by streets emanating out like spokes of a wheel. The center area covers a very large area and has lakes, parks, very wide boulevards, museums, government buildings, and monuments. The rest of the city is far enough out from the centre that at times you wonder where the businesses and houses are.

Parliament House is truly built for the People of Australia and is the main place to visit in Canberra. It is by far the most open centre of government that we have visited. Parliament was not in session and , after going thru security, we could wander in and out of the gallery areas of the House of Representatives and Senate as we wished. Surprisingly, the Parliament here is very similar to the US Congress (not like Parliaments in the UK, Canada, and New Zealand). They have a House of Representatives and a Senate. House members are elected based upon population, and Senate members are elected based upon equal numbers from each state. Bills must pass both the House and Senate to become law and all appropriation bills must originate in the House. The Senate here is considered to be the 2nd most powerful Senate in the world (the 1st being the US Senate). After seeing Parliament House we visited the National Art Gallery and viewed some fascinating aboriginal art works. Then it was on to the National Museum to learn some things about the history of this great nation.

Yesterday we drove thru the Blue Mountains north of Sydney. These are not true mountains since originally it was a mesa and has been eroded over time to produce sandstone cliffs, mountains, and waterfalls that resemble the Great Smoky Mountains in the US. The name Blue Mountains got its name due to the blue haze that covers them in the distance when you view them. They are a very popular retreat - especially for the people of Sydney. It is cooler here (at around 1,000 meters / 3,000 ft) than at sea level in the big city. Since this is holiday season, some of the viewpoints were packed. We will have to say that we were not really impressed by the Blue Mountains – probably since we have seen many more beautiful areas than this in our travels.

Side note: The signs here say ‘Mind The Step’ – instead of ‘Watch Your Step’

The Australian Shield on the front of Parliament House with the Australian flag flying in the wind. The Kangaroo & Emu are facing each other – to symbolize moving forward and they were chosen since neither of them can go backwards.

The ‘Three Sisters’ rock formation in the Blue Mountains. This is the main formation at the most popular viewing spot – Echo Point in Katoomba

The National Carillion (with the Telstra Tower in the far distance). This is one of the areas surrounding The Parliament House in Canberra.

Australian currency. Note: the sizes of the coins. The $1 and $2 coins are gold and are thicker than the other coins. The bank notes (bills) are different sizes. As a bill gets larger in value, its width increases.