Canberra
Canberra is an elegant city of wide streets, gardens and parkland. The Old Parliament House is impressive and complemented by its replacement, a grand modern edifice completed in 1988, Australia’s bicentennial year. There are guided tours around Old Parliament House (home to the National Portrait Gallery) and the new Parliament House, where visitors can view both the Senate and House of Representatives. Parliament House also offers free guided tours daily where visitors can learn about the role and function of the Federal Parliament. The Australian War Memorial is deservedly one of the city’s most popular attractions, and is the scene of the annual ANZAC Parade; it contains archives, galleries displaying relics, photographs and art. Lake Burley Griffin, a vast manmade waterway named after Canberra’s architect, features prominently throughout the city area. Cruises and boating are popular. Blundell’s Cottage (built 1858-60), which predates the lake, is a stone-slab construction calling to mind the location’s earlier incarnation as a sheep station. The new, architecturally radical National Museum of Australia (located on the shores of the lake) displays a vast range of exhibits, chronicling Australian life from the first indigenous peoples through to modern times. It is a further cultural addition to the present National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia and National Science and Technology Centre (Questacon). The Australian Institute of Sport offers guided tours by elite athletes and the interactive Sportex Centre with facilities for virtual rowing and virtual golfing. Some of Australia’s deadliest and most colourful reptiles can be seen at Canberra’s Australian Reptile Centre. The centre is open daily and, apart from the permanent displays, features special exhibitions. The National Archives of Australia hold archive material and Commonwealth records from Federation Day to the present. The Archives also feature special exhibitions and are open daily.
There are several hills in the immediate area of Canberra; from the 195m (650ft) Telstra Tower, topping the 825m high (2750ft) Black Mountain, there is an excellent view of the area for those who do not get dizzy in revolving restaurants (meal optional). Hot-air ballooning trips provide other ways of taking in the view. Glenloch Sheep Station, located in Belconnen on the outskirts of Canberra, is a popular tourist attraction. Activities include sheep shearing, boomerang throwing and sheep-dog demonstrations, rounded off with a traditional Australian barbecue lunch. The Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex, 40km (25 miles) southwest of Canberra, contains a collection of space models and memorabilia (including a sizeable piece of the moon) and interactive exhibits covering 40 years of space exploration. The Snowy Mountains are to the south of Canberra, in New South Wales, and provide excellent opportunities for winter skiing and summertime pursuits such as bushwalking, horseriding and watersports. Organised trips from Canberra are available; for details, contact the Canberra Tourism & Events Corporation (see Contact Addresses section).
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