Canberra, the Capital of Australia!

Unlike other Australian cities which grew out of early settlements and spread haphazardly across the landscape, Canberra was carefully planned before a single brick was laid.

While other great cities have parks scattered through them, Canberra has often been described as a city scattered through a park. Built in a splendid natural setting, it is a rare example of harmony between humans and their environment.

Click on pictures!

Old Parliament House	The New Parliament House

The House of Representatives		The Senate

Beautiful ornamental wood inlays all from Australian timber.		Floor, stairs and columns are all made from Australian marble. The columns represent tree trunks of an eucalypt forest.

The Anzac Parade	The War Memorial	Desert Rats	War Machines

The Anzac Parade is an imposing avenue, streching from the Australian War Memorial to Lake Burley Griffin. It was completed in 1965 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing. It is bordered by Australian Blue Gums with the centre strip planted with New Zealand flowering shrubs, and flanked by memorials of the different wars.

The Australian War Memorial is one of the world's greatest memorials and war museums. Two bronze walls listing the names of 102 000 Australians who have lost their lives in war. It displays feature aspects of all military conflicts involving Australians, from Sydney settlement in 1789 to the Gulf War in 1991.

The Embassies	Emb.of Germany	Emb.Papua New Guinea	Emb.of China

Over 70 countries have diplomatic representation in Canberra, bringing a variety of national architectural styles.

1. Telecom Tower. The Tower, 195m above the summit of Black Mountain, was opened in 1980 to centralise Canberras television and radio facilities. Visitors can see all of Canberra from the top of the tower and there are three public viewing galleries, exhibition room and theatrette, snack bar and revolving restaurant.

2. The Carillon. The three-column belltower was a gift from the British Goverment to mark Canberra's 50th jubilee. It contains 53 bells and regular recitals are given. The Westminster chimes sound every quater of an hour. A footbridge connects the island with the shore.

3. and 4. The Captain Cook Memorial Water Jet. The Jet is powered by two 560kw motors and spurts a column of water up to 137m above central Lake Burley Griffin near Regatta Point. The jet and lakeshore Terrestrial Globe were built to mark the bi-centenary of Captain Cook's discovery of eastern Australia in 1770.

The Royal Australian Mint. Plate glass windows in the public gallery give excellent views of the production floor where visitors can watch the minting process through all its stages. There is a coin exhibition in the foyer which traces the history of coins and the development of coin design.
The Royal Australian Mint has in its 26 years of operation, developed a reputation as one of the leading numismatic Mints of the world. In fact, the reputation of the Mint is such that it is one of only five Mints in the world to have been selected to take part in the prestigious International Olympic Coin Program leading up to the 1996 Centenary Olympics.

"The Floriade" is Canberra's Spring Festival!		Cockington Green Miniature Village is a superb display of traditional British buildings set in a beautiful 2.4ha garden.

The National Gallery of Australia is home to the national art collection. Eleven galleries provide more than 7000 square metres of exhibition space spread over three levels.Sculpture is displayed in the garden.		The Law Courts.The six rooms are panelled with timbers donated by the Australian States. The building features the Australian coat of arms.

Tidbinbilla Deep Space Tracking Station is managed by the Australian Space Office for NASA, the complex operates the largest barabolic antenna in Australia. Its dish is 70m in diameter, weighs about four tonnes and is more than 80m high.
The Informations on the "Tracking Projects" are very much outdated. I have to apologize for this. We have visited Canberra in 1992 and the data comes from that time. We plan to go back coming autumn and I'll update it.

There is so much more to see in Canberra, the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Institute of Sport, the Australian National Botanic Gardens (over 6000 species of Australian plants), the Australian National University, the High Court of Australia, the National Film and Sound Archive, the National Library of Australia (over 6 million books), The National Museum of Australia, the Under Water Walk of the National Aquarium, the National Science and Technology Centre, this is a must to see, we spent a whole day there. The churches and lookouts and much, much more. Perhaps one day I will add another page.

Back to our travel!