Parliament

Saturday, 27 May 2017

Old Parliament House

Prime Minister's Office

Cabinet Room

First Three Prime Ministers

National Indigenous Youth Parliament

Parliament House

Ripple patterns

Coat of Arms

Foyer Stairs

Grand Hall

Tapestry in Grand Hall

Pond in the middle of the building

House of Representatives

Looking towards Australian War Memoral

USA Memorial

On the roof

Malcolm looking rather pleased with Gouph"s portrait

Senate

Breeding cords!

Another cold start to the day, but no frost or fog.  Before leaving for the day, we wandered across to the weekly Farmers’ Market with its very large assortment of fruit and vegetables, as well as meat, fish, bakery products , gourmet foods, etc.  It was nice to see a variety of potatoes on offer (not the usual three that we have a choice of at home!) and some sebagos very quickly found their way back to the caravan; a roast will be on the menu tomorrow night!

Doris didn’t have any trouble finding her way to the old Parliament House and being early in the day, we didn’t have any trouble finding a car park.  Being an hour early for an official guided tour, we decided on the self-guided option and had no trouble finding our way around the different areas and exhibitions.  The National Indigenous Youth were holding a parliamentary session in the former House of Representatives, with plenty of television cameras in attendance.  There were also some very interesting exhibitions/displays on the history of democracy in Australia.

Our next stop was at Parliament House, parking underground and entering from the front, along with many other people and queuing for security checks.  Lots of uniforms and guns very apparent, as well.  Again, we opted for the self-guided tour and checked out the Great Hall, both Houses, the roof (more armed personnel patrolling), the facsimile of the Magna Carta (the original copy is undergoing restoration) and the many portraits on display.

Being so close to the Kingston Foreshore, we decided to enjoy another ice cream whilst we had the chance and the nice man actually remembered us from yesterday.  We told him we were leaving tomorrow, so then had to explain why, where we were from and where we were going, how long it would take, which way we were going, etc.  We had only just sat down outside in the sunshine to enjoy the ice cream, when he joined us outside and continued the conversation, wanting to know all about our caravan and caravan parks.  Evidently he would like a caravan but is having trouble convincing his wife.

Then it was back to the caravan via a supermarket and service station, a sit in the sun for a while and some necessary hygiene chores ready to hit the road again.