Tuesday 1st May 2012: New Parliament House, and various Embassies

I am the proud Pinch and Punch Queen of the month of May even though Dave tried to cheat by earlier turning my mobile phone clock back to WA time when he thought I wasn't looking. But right near midnight I spied him sneakily peeking at his glow watch under the blankets so I beat him at his game and gave him some pinch and punch bruises to teach him a lesson! Don't mess with a determined woman in a tent in a freezing paddock!

Today we enjoyed a tour of the grand New Parliament House. Again, free entry, free parking too to national places, and free tour guides. But before we got into the building we were frisked and scanned by a bevy of security guards and Dave had to hand in his Swiss Army pocket knife to the Cloak room. They told me to take off my jewellery bracelets and rings but I said NO, they are too hard to get off as I never take them off, so they didn't argue with that. Just as well! Maybe my hoiking stick scared them heh heh.

Once we were allowed entry, Dave took more impressive photos, inside and outside. We saw magnificent marble staircases, wood panelling in the Great Hall, and portraits of all the different Prime Ministers since Federation in 1901. The outside is just as impressive, as the building is sited on a hill which you can walk around on top. The Australian flag blowing gently on top of a huge tower structure is the size of a double decker bus, we were told. Through the top floor windows we could see beautiful autumn toned trees in various courtyards down below. Very pleasing for the eye to see.

The House of Representatives (Lower House) is a lovely pale green colour to match the Australian eucalypts…unfortunately we didn't get to see the House sitting this week with all its lively theatre, as it is in recess for a few days. The Senate House is a soft red colour, not as heavy as the Old Parliament House red. We were able to be in the public gallery of both Houses.

While we were having a lunch out on a top terrace, we were pestered by a mob of magpies…one swooped over Dave's hand and pinched a tiny bit of his bun, while the others eyed me off cautiously, as I had waved my hoiking stick at them earlier. They were kind of cute but greedy looking.

In the afternoon we paid to go on a bus tour around Canberra so we could hear a running commentary. It was interesting seeing the various Embassies from around the world. Of course the Americans had a great big site bristling with security, and the Israeli embassy is scary looking with signs and barricades near the main gate. The bus driver said you'd get shot first and questions asked later if you dallied too long near there! I was surprised to see how grand and big the South African embassy looked, like a grand manor.

The bus driver told us about Government Budget night happening next Tuesday and if we phoned up we may be able to get seats in the public gallery, as this is always a very popular night to see Parliament in action. Hmm….first thing tomorrow morning we'll see if we can get lucky and have a real tourist treat, seeing Julia Gillard hand down the new Budget, and seeing in real life all the theatre that goes with this show! And we have the cheapest accommodation in town, $35 a night for 2 people. Not bad when hotels around will be charging fortunes, we've heard. Looks like we may be spending more than 5 nights in Canberra!