Interesting places in Canberra:

Acton		GDE
Black Mountain (Australian Capital Territory)		Parliament House
The Parliamentary Triangle		University of Canberra
National Museum of Australia		Mount Ainslie
National Zoo and Aquarium		Telstra Tower
wattle grove		The Castle
Exhibition Park in Canberra		Canberra International Airport (IATA: CBR, ICAO: YSCB)
Ursula Hall (College), ANU		The Shine Dome
Roll of Honour		Manning Clark House
Lennox Gardens		Hotel Breakfree Capital Tower Apartments
Hyatt Hotel Canberra		Belconnen Way Hotel/Motel and Serviced Apartments
The Marque Hotel Canberra		Hotel Pavilion On Northbourne
Hotel Kingston Terrace Serviced Apartments

Canberra (pronounced /|kæn.br@/^) is the capital city of Australia and with a population of just over 325,000, is Australia's largest inland city. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 300 kilometres (190 mi) southwest of Sydney, and 650 kilometres (400 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital in 1908 as a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne, the two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities as an entirely purpose-built, planned city. Following an international contest for the city's design, a design by Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title "bush capital". Although the growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving city after World War II.

• Australian War Memorial, Treloar Crescent , ph 02 6243 4211 or 02 6243 4598 (for recorded information), fax 02 6243 4325. Daily 10am-5pm. Not just a memorial, this is one of Australia's premier museums, covering Australian military history from Federation to the present day and including fascinating exhibits of equipment, memorabilia and battle dioramas. You could easily spend a full day here (it has a café, or bring a picnic lunch if the weather is nice and sit on the lawns at the front). Free.
• Parliament House of Australia, across the lake from ANZAC Parade, ph 02 6277 5399 or 02 6277 2727 (for recorded information). The seat of Australia's federal government and legislature and a remarkable piece of modern architecture.
• Old Parliament House, King George Terrace, ph 02 6270 8222, fax 02 6270 8111. The headquarters of Australian government from the 1920s to 1988, this building is a must for political and/or historical junkies. The building gives a real feel of what it was like when it was in use and has regularly rotating exhibitions on the controversies and scandals that rocked Australian politics. Most of the main rooms - the Prime Minister's office, the Cabinet Room, the various party rooms, the two houses - are open to visitors, as are many smaller rooms like the whips' offices and the broadcasting area. There are also historical photos of Canberra as it used to be, including the times prior to the creation of the artificial lake that show Canberra under snow during winter (the lake warmed up the city and snow falls rarely on the city now). The gift store has decent souvenirs. Parking is free, admission is A$2 for adults, A$1 concession.
• National Museum of Australia, Lawson Crescent, ph 02 6208 5000, fax 02 6208 5099. This controversial museum has lots of interactive exhibits and groups items by concept rather than era. Free admission except for special exhibits.
• National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place, Parkes, ph 02 6240 6502. 10am–5pm. Located by Lake Burley Griffin, this modern structure is one of the country's largest art galleries. It has a vast collection of paintings and sculptures collected from Australia and the rest of the world and has excellent Aboriginal artwork. A nice gift store. Free except for special exhibits.
• National Library of Australia, ph 02 6262 1111, fax 02 6257 1703. The library is primarily a research centre, but normally has one exhibition showing parts of the collection. Also notable for its neo-classical architecture.
• Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Leverrier Crescent, Bruce, ph 02 6214 1111, fax 02 6251 2680. The AIS is Australia's elite athlete training facility. It is open both for tours and for fitness classes. There is a large pool available for public lap swimming at certain hours.
• Questacon - The National Science and Technology Centre, King Edward Terrace, Parkes, ph 02 6270 2800 or 1800 020 603 (free call, recorded information). 9am-5pm. Questacon is an interactive museum of science with exhibits illustrating scientific ideas from the principles of physics to the motion of an earthquake. Great for kids and excellent science books can be picked up here. (Oct 06) $15.50 adults, $10.50 concessions, $9 children, and $46 for a family of 2 adults and 3 children.
• Royal Australian Mint. Take a tour of the mint and see how coins are made. You will even get the chance to mint your own souvenir coin. Look for the pudding coins as a souvenir (not always available). The mint is currenjtly being refurbished, so as of October '07, there is only the coin shop, mint your own dollar and an exhibition on the history of Australian coins for viewing by the general public.
• Australian National Botanic Gardens. Located at the base of Black Mountain, the ANBG has the largest collection of Australian native flora in the country. It also has some interesting water dragons that live in the water features around the gardens. A delightful place for a picnic, try to grab some food from the city centre first to take with you for lunch. If you are there during summer, call and ask about the jazz evenings. These are held on the weekend and many families attend with evening picnic and champagne in tow, to chill out to the sounds of jazz in the balmy evening temperatures. Entry is free, however parking is $1.40/hr or $7 all day at ticket machines, with proceeds going towards the gardens.
• Telstra Tower, Black Mountain Drive, Acton, ACT (5 km from the city centre), tel 02 6219 6111, fax 02 6257 6600. Daily 9am-10pm. This functional communications tower rises 195 m above the summit of Black Mountain, providing 360 degree views of Canberra and the countryside around it. Well worth a visit, day or night, for the fantastic views - look for the cork tree plantation and Parliament House. It has a revolving restaurant and telecommunications history display. $6.00 adult, $1.90 child/concession.
• Prime Minister's Lodge. Generally closed to the public and one can only see part of the garden from behind the wall. There are open days about once a year and if you are lucky to be in Canberra then, it shouldn't be missed.
• Government House. An official residence of the Governor-General, representative of the Queen. Closed to the public except for open days. It can be observed from the hill off the Scrivener Dam Rd. Often kangaroos are to be spotted munching grass on the lawns, so be careful driving along the ride that gets to the viewpoint, especially at dusk.
• Embassies. As the national capital, Canberra hosts the embassies of other countries. Some of them are architecturally interesting and worth looking at, particularly:
  • The Embassy of China
  • The Embassy of Papua New Guinea
  • The whole 'Embassy district' in leafy Yarralumla suburb. It is best to have a car for touring here.

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Parliament House Canberra
Made by Sam Ilić
Parliament House was opened on 9 May 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II. Its construction cost was over $1.1 billion. At the time of its construction it was the most expensive building in the Southern Hemisphere. Prior to 1988, the Parliament of Australia met in the Provisional Parliament House, which is now known as Old Parliament House. There are 25,000 granite slabs on the curved walls which, placed end to end, would stretch 46 kilometres. The building required 300,000 cubic metres of concrete, enough to build 25 Sydney Opera Houses and has a design life of at least 200 years. The building has 4,700 rooms and has 2,416 clocks that are used for voting. On a non-sitting day there could be 2,000 to 3,000 people working there. The flag flown from the 81-metre flagpole is 12.8m by 6.4m, about the size of half a tennis court. The flagpole weighs 220 tonnes and is made of polished stainless steel from Newcastle, New South Wales. It was designed to be the pinnacle of Parliament House and is an easily recognizable symbol of national government. It is visible by day from outside and inside Parliament House and floodlit at night. The flag itself weighs approximately 15 kg. Although security has been greatly tightened in recent years, much of the building is open to the public. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_House,_Canberra Explored! Highest position #463. Thank you so very much! The Shot - 3X [-2,0,+2] - Tripod - Canon 10-20mm lens Photomatix None :) Photoshop - Added three layers: +2 0 -2 - Layer mask on top two, in the oven on 180C, cooked for 20 mins until nice and crispy :) - Curves on bottom layer to saturate the water reflections a little bit


Old Parliament House in Canberra
Made by Sam Ilić
I've been trying to get a nice shot of the Old Parliament House in Canberra for some time now and just can't manage to get a nice evening for a long exposure shot. This time when I got there it was so windy and unbelievably cold. So I froze for an hour trying to do my stuff. The trees are a little blurry because the winds were really strong, so I guess better luck next time. Old Parliament House opened in 1927 and served as the home of Federal Parliament until 1988. In Canberra’s early years the House was the social, geographic and political heart of the new Australian capital. Over time, this impressive building became synonymous with some of the country's most important moments including Australia’s declaration of war against Japan in 1941 and the dismissal of Gough Whitlam’s Labor Government in 1975. The significance of Old Parliament House today lies in its historical and social value to the Australian people. The House is a nationally significant ‘museum of itself’ and of Australia’s political heritage—so, as well as being a popular tourist destination, it is also a precious place which needs conservation. Source: moadoph.gov.au/the-house/ Explored and Front Page! You guys rock!


Memories of Heroes (War Memorial, Canberra)
Made by Kyaw Photography
Memories of Heroes (War Memorial, Canberra) The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia. The memorial includes an extensive national military museum. The Memorial is located in Australia's capital, Canberra. It is the northern terminus of the city's ceremonial land axis, which stretches from Parliament House on Capital Hill along a line passing through the summit of the cone-shaped Mt Ainslie to the northeast. The Hall of Valour, a display of most of the Victoria Crosses ever awarded to Australian soldiers. The display of 60 medals is the largest publicly held collection of Victoria Crosses in the world. There is an individual display for the holder of each Cross shown there, an excerpt from the citation that accompanied the award, and usually additional medals awarded to the same soldier. The relatives of Australian VC holders often donate or lend the Crosses to the Memorial for safekeeping and greater public awareness of their honoured kin. The list of fallen servicemen during WWII is held at the Australian War Memorial. (Wikipedia) (100% straight from Camera)


Fast moving White-plumed Honeyeater redux
Made by aaardvaark
(In search of insects; certainly no nectar left in these thistles but it was finding a surprising number of insects on the stalks. At this moment though I think he was checking me out of curiosity). I still think this is the best photo I've ever taken, in a technical if not artistic sense. This version is a reprocessed version of the original posted FOUR years ago! I was sitting amongst some dried thistles in spring, watching some nesting woodswallows above me when this honeyeater flew close and perched on a thistle. As I swung the camera towards him, he flew straight at me towards another thistle and landed sideways on it! Somehow I got four perfectly focused photos of this movement, a feat I've never replicated since. At the risk of being boring, I reckon the 20D could focus better than any camera I've had since. I honestly couldn't take another photo like this with my current gear. No chance. Anyway I love this series, it's a lucky treasure. I chopped off part of one wing to give more immediacy and for composition, not sure if it works or not.


Welcome to Australia
Made by Könrad
Sunset in Canberra, with great thanks to for him friendly welcome in this wonderful land. Tramonto a Canberra, grazie di cuore a Prescott per il suo amichevole benvenuto in questa terra straordinaria. Yeah Desert sky Dream beneath a desert sky The rivers run but soon run dry We need new dreams tonight Desert rose Dreamed I saw a desert rose Dress torn in ribbons and in bows Like a siren she calls to me Sleep comes like a drug In God's Country Sad eyes, crooked crosses In God's Country Set me alight We'll punch a hole right through the night Everyday the dreamers die See what's on the other side She is liberty And she comes to rescue me Hope, faith, her vanity The greatest gift is gold Sleep comes like a drug In God's Country Sad eyes crooked crosses In God's Country Naked flame She stands with a naked flame I stand with the sons of Cain Burned by the fire of love Burned by the fire of love (In God's Country by U2)


National Carillon In Canberra
Made by Sam Ilić
Who said Canberra isn’t beautiful? You just need to look at it from a different angle :) The National Carillon, situated on Aspen Island in central Canberra, Australia is a large carillon managed and maintained by the National Capital Authority on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia. The carillon was a gift from the British government to the people of Australia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Capital, Canberra. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Carillon In and out of Explore! Last seen on page 37 somewhere. Thank you all! The Shot - 3X [-2,0,+2] - Tripod (still no news on my lost tripod - ordered a new one and got lost in the mail - booo hooo) - Canon 10-22mm lens Photomatix - None Photoshop - Added three layers: [-2,0,+2] - Layer mask on bottom two, a wee bit of brushing there, there, there and there... - Layer of high pass filter on the building, brudge and trees


Canberra Lake Sunset II
Made by Sam Ilić
Its amazing what you find in your archives. I just took a casual glance over some of the shots I took last summer, and there are so many of them still waiting to be processed. I think I could almost get through winter without getting out much. Either that, or I buy my self that macro lens I've been wanting, and start shooting flowers :) Also a big thank you to everyone who wished me well yesterday. At least the fever is gone. Still had to go to work today though.... suggested I heat up some red wine with lemon and honey. Thanks Nadia, I'm off to cook some wine and then to bed for an early one. Back to work tomorrow. This shot is taken on the foreshores of the Lake Burley Griffin. The bridge on the right is the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge. You can see the National Library of Australia in the background. Managed to get this into Explore!!! Thank you! View Large


The Goal Of Life Is Living In Agreement With Nature
Made by Sam Ilić
What the hell is it with me and reflections. It just seems to me like I am a pervert, except I love perving on all things symmetrical in nature, just like this magnificent reflection in front of you. My goal was to take a few shots of a bridge, on which I was standing when I took this shot. I'll upload that next week sometime, and I'll leave you with this photo for now. Hope you have a super-dooper weekend and say hi to your mum for me :} It's about time you actually called your mum. This was taken near the Governor-General's house in Canberra on the foreshores of the Lake Burley Griffin. PS: What's the deal with those face-name-photo-less guys who constantly fave your photos. All my shots are Attribution Creative Commons licensed, and really I don't care what you do with them, but just curious... Explored and front page! I dont have a screenshot but I have plenty of stats :} Thank you soooooo very much! Quote by Zeno


Commonwealth Avenue Bridge
Made by Sam Ilić
Here is one from the archives taken a few weeks back. I haven’t had a chance to process any of my shots I took while I was at the coast last weekend. I have some really nice sunrise shots that I can’t wait to share them with you. I wasn’t going to upload this one but in the end I gave in. I am not happy with how this image turned out to be. I guess I was hoping for something more interesting, instead I ended up with this boring shot. What you see in there is the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge in Canberra. Flickr is broken because this made it to Explore. Thank You! The Shot - 3X [-2,0,+2] - Tripod - Canon 10-22mm lens Photomatix - None Photoshop - Added three layers: [-2,0,+2] - Layer mask on bottom three, made it look just about the way I remember it - A small touch of Lucis Art to sharpen up the buildings Lightroom - Borders added using Mogrify


We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About
Made by Sam Ilić
What’s with the title? I don’t know... It’s one of those quotes I get on my Google home page. It’s by Jimmy Buffett who is a singer, songwriter, author, businessman, and recently a movie producer best known for his island escapism lifestyle and music including hits such as Margaritaville. How is that for some random info (according to Wikipedia)? The quote caught my eye and made me pause to think that indeed we are the people that shall inherit the earth and destroy it consequently. According to some sources the world will end in 2012. OK, enough of useless stuff. Here is a shot of a sunset at the Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. It’s taken on the same night as my previous shot. I’ll be off to Sydney this weekend, leaving tomorrow afternoon, so I’m excited to see how that will turn out. Hopefully it won’t rain too much. In and out of Explore! Thank you!


Lake Ginninderra
Made by Sam Ilić
I took this on a night just an hour before a massive storm descended over Canberra. I think I left as soon as it started to sprinkle and by the time I started the car it was raining so hard I had to stop on the side of the road and wait for the rain to ease. I only managed to get 5 kms down the road, my windscreen wipers couldn't keep up. There was a massive lightning display, but I was too lazy to switch locations to get some lightining shots, so I stayed and got some night time pictures of the Belconnen foreshores area. On an unrelated note, my brother's wedding is coming up in less then two weeks, so I might be a little bit busy coming up with a speech. Tried to come up with something last night and I had a complete mental block. If anyone knows of a nice helpful website, please let us know :) Explored! Thanks everyone!


Double-barred Finch aka Owl Finch (Taeniopygia bichenovii) 09873
Made by SillyOldBugger
This is certainly not the most colourful of Australia's finches, but IMHO with its owl face and dumpy appearance, it is one of the cutest. This one was hanging out with a flock of Diamond Firetails at Cooleman Ridge on Canberra's south-western edge. This is very much at the southern extremity of its range. This photo is at least in part a testament to flickr. I only have it because I met Tobias Hayashi on-line here, and he very kindly showed me around his favourite hunting ground all morning. I look forward to seeing his photos of the day, which will almost certainly be much better than mine. A big thankyou to Tobias!! Also, this is the first image I've pp'ed on my new laptop screen, and it's taking a bit of getting used to. I'd be really grateful for any comments about saturation, brightness and contrast levels.


Doubt Whom You Will But Never Yourself
Made by Sam Ilić
Interesting. Looks like Photoshop has wiped the EXIF data from this file. I'm not sure at which point that happened, but I'm sure I was looking at EXIF data in Lightroom, and it was all looking good. Yes, this is a recent shot, taken last weekend at the Yerrabi Pond in Canberra. It was a beautiful evening, no wind. Perfect for some long exposure shots on the calm looking waters. If it wasn't for the bloody 10 000 ducks which all wanted a piece of me. So bye, bye calming-glassy-still waters. This was one of the few shots I managed to get where no bird cramped my style. PS Hey, I really love duckies, got nothing against them, just having a little rant :) I'm a happy person :} Explore and Front Page! Thank you guys! Legends! Quote by Christine Bovee


To Infinity And Beyond
Made by Sam Ilić
You are looking at the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge in Canberra, Australia. Taken on the foreshores of the Lake Burley Griffin. This one was really hard to get right in terms of symmetry. I took about 50 shots trying to get the correct angles to line up. In the end I still couldn't get it perfectly symmetrical so I just used my primitive ninja skills in photoshop to try and correct the symmetry. I still think its a little too much on the left side. Also, my new cheappy tripod arrived a few days ago, after being lost in the mail for about 3 weeks, so I am glad I can put that to rest. I got a Velbon Sherpa 600R, which is much better than the old $20 one :) Have a safe and happy weekend! In and out of Explore! Thanks guys!


Somewhere On A Planet In A Galaxy Far Far Away
Made by Sam Ilić
I was really lucky that day. The clouds were just amazing. Yay! Explored! Highest position #27. Thank you so very much! The Shot - 3X [-2,0,+2] - Hanheld - Canon 10-22mm lens Photomatix - Just a touch :) Photoshop - Added four layers: +2 0 -2 Photomatix-ed on top - Layer mask on top three, brush until happy :) - Clone stamped a couple which was freakin' kissing at the other and and would not move for hours so i gave up waiting - Noiseware Pro - LucisArt filter, masked on everything but the clouds and the grass - Orton Effect, masked on the walls and the ground - Black and White filter on top, masked on the walls - Crop a bit to center Lightroom - Borders added using Mogrify


Concept for augmented reality mobile phone
Made by Electric Images
Blogged at The Mobile Learning Blog. Here's my idea for a really cool mobile phone. A curved transparent OLED screen renders augmented reality data in front of the user's POV, using a camera mounted on one (or both) side(s). The OLED screen is touch sensitive on the *outside* to allow the user to touch the visor and interact with the device. The visor can be stowed over the head (like a headphone band) when not in use. Smaller, more streamlined earphones could make the phone lighter and sleeker. Information about the user's surroundings could be provided to the user in real time, as well as playing of related video or audio content.


webIMG_8188
Made by Allyeska
Published in the Canberra Times 03/02/11 The first storm alerted us and got us out of bed. I couldnt resist - it was so active we just HAD to head out and shoot! Stood between paddocks watching one storm to the east and one to the west. Lightning everywhere! SPectacular! Then, in an instant, it was upon us and the wind was phenomenal - jumped from speed of 7km to 39km/h instantly-, and the lighting was closer and closer and we fled home before the torrents of rain began. What a wonderful midnight adventure! For Nat's pics, a story, and likely classification of the storm, go to: nbphotoblog.wordpress.com/


What Worries You Masters You
Made by Sam Ilić
Here is one of my recent shots taken last weekend at the Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. I've been busy, stressed, and a little un-motivated to venture out and take shots. I think it's that time of the year where I just don't feel like doing much. The weather is also ferocious these days; we are in mid winter down under. I decided I should combat this by investing in a few photography books, read about famous photographers, learn something new to get me some motivation back. If you have a favourite photographer or a book you'd like to recommend then please do so. I'd be sure to check it out. Explored! Thank you guys! Quote by Haddon W. Robinson


Canberra From Top Of Mount Ainslie :: Vertorama
Made by Sam Ilić
Here is my first HDR vertorama upload. I tried doing vertoramas a few times before but couldn't manage to stitch it all together properly, so I got a trial version of PTGui which I highly recommend. It makes doing vertoramas really easy and it can even merge the HDR for you so I didn't have to use Photomatix. Now that I know how to do this properly, I'll try doing this more often. This is a shot of Canberra taken at the top of Mount Ainslie . Also, I've uploaded this in its full glory, so feel free to zoom in at street level :) Use the all sizes link above the image. This is a 6 shot vertorama, 2 sets of [-2,0,+2] exposures. Thank you, Explored!


Day 205/365 (24 July 09) - The Carillon at Sunrise
Made by CB 357
The National Carillon is situated on Aspen Island in Lake Burley Griffen, Canberra. The carillon was a gift from the British government to the people of Australia to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Capital, Canberra. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the National Carillon on 26 April 1970. Carillons must have at least 23 bells to be considered as such, and the National Carillon has 55 (increased from 53 during recent refurbishments). Each bell weighs between seven kilograms and six tonnes. The bells span four and a half octaves chromatically. On a side note, it sounds great :-) Maybe for a better view ;-)