Canberra is the capital of Australia. Prior to 1901, there were 6 colonies in Australia and each ruled its own. A movement was begun and in 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed (a "Federation"). After the Federation, Canberra was selected as the new capital city of Australia, as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne in 1908. An international design competition for the new capital city was held and won by Walter Burley Griffin in 1912. (Source: http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia)
I have not been to Canberra, the capital of Australia, for more than 15 years. In my previous trip, being new graduates and dreamers, we spent a lot of time in the Australian Institute of Sport. This time, I had to go to Canberra to pick up my new passport at the Singapore embassy. Canberra felt the same - a clean, neat and planned city. We love the very wide and empty streets.
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| View of Canberra from Mount Ainslie |
Australian War Memorial
It took us about 3 hours to drive from Sydney to Canberra. Our first stop was to catch a panoramic view of Canberra from Mount Ainslie. After which, we drove to the Australian Memorial. Charles Bean, Australia's official historian of World War I, conceive the idea after staying close to the soldiers at Gallipoli and watching how the soldiers would collect war relics. Bean advocated the systematic collection of records and the commemoration of those who have been killed. Sydney architects Emil Sodersteen and John Crust won the design competition with an Art Deco/ Byzantine Revival sandstone structure. (Source: http://www.architecture.com.au) The Australian War Memorial was opened in 1941 to "to assist Australians to remember, interpret and understand the Australian experience of war and its enduring impact on Australian society." (Source: www.awm.gov.au)
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| Poppies and Roll of Honour with names of thousands of Australians who died in wars since 1885 |
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| Pool of Reflection and the Eternal Flame |
Inside the war memorial, there are exhibitions of war related artworks, relics, warcrafts, video and audio records.
While proud and grateful of everyone who sacrificed their lives and normalcy for the rest of us, I cannot help but think that the walls are running out of space for new names of countries involved in wars and people who died from them and that there have been one war too many.
Floriade
My Canberra trip also coincided with Floriade. The annual event showcases tulips and annuals each spring and 1 million flowers bloom in time for 2014's theme "Passion". The first bulbs were planted in early April to be in time for them to bloom in September. It was the start of the festival and while it was hot, flowers were aplenty (my mum had gone during the later part of the festival one year and there were not much to see). The only gripe, however, was the flower beds were mostly flat on the ground and it was difficult to see the design patterns.
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| "Passion for Romance - Love Hearts" |
National Gallery of Australia
We got to the National Gallery of Australia too late (I regretted spending time at the National Museum of Australia.) and basically ran in to see my favourite Jackson Pollock and had to leave in 15 minutes.
Fortunately for us, while the Gallery was closed for the day, located in the compound's gardens were James Turrell's "Skyspace" and a sculpture garden. Turrell's Skyspace series has enclosed spaces open up to the sky and one can sit on benches in the enclosed space to view the sky. In "Within Without", the viewing chamber is a stupa made of Victorian basalt that resides in a green capstone-less pyramid.
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| James Turrell's Skyspace "Within Without" (2010) |
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| Stupa, turquoise pool, moonstone on the floor and sunset through the oculus |
The sculpture garden was interesting and as usual, I liked some sculptures and thought that the others were ordinary/ scary.
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| Bert Flugerman "Cones" 1976/82 |
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| Neil Dawson "Diamonds" (2002) |
Beside the National Gallery of Australia Sculpture Garden is a tree-lined esplanade next to Lake Burley Griffin that provided some refreshing respite from the harsh sun. The flowers were in full bloom in September and it was really beautiful.
Mission accomplished
It was not too difficult locating the Singapore embassy in an area full of embassies. We were in and out in 10 minutes and were soon on our way home.
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| Singapore embassy |
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| Sunset in Canberra |
