Canberra

Well have returned from my trip. Had an interesting time in Canberra. Visited the Tom Roberts exhibition at the National Gallery. Very good especially the 'big picture' which is the one of the 1901 federation ceremony - it is huge and very detailed. But perhaps too many portraits in the exhibition as opposed to landscapes. Went to the Museum of Australian Democracy in the old parliament house where you get a run of the parliament and offices, including the prime minister's office. But the best exhibition there is Behind the Lines 2015, the year's best political cartoons. But the highlight for me, perhaps disturbingly, was seeing  for the first time a High Court case - an appeal before the full court (5 justices). The case concerned an appeal from Queensland in relation to a conviction of a person intentionally infecting someone with HIV. The decision has been reserved. The funniest thing was when Justice Keane blew out a big breath of air when e barrister for the appellant made a particular argument and presided with it. Also I felt sorry for the poor students being made to go to attend a case about esoteric legal arguments, nowhere as interesting as day to day magistrates court matters. I don't think they would have got much out of it apart from querying why these people are wearing those funny wigs. I bet they were thankful they were made to stay only for about 15 minutes. Also saw The Revenant (at the Pakace Electric on cheapskate Monday) - very grisly. Almost forgot, also saw an exhibition of aboriginal artefacts at the National Museum acquired by the British Museum from "collectors".

I really like Canberra, it is well laid out, it is not busy, it's so green (especially with Australian bush which makes it a bit different from other cities), and there are plenty of places to visit. But why is the visitor's centre 3 km out of town? Admittedly it's on the major road from Sydney and Melbourne and I guess the theory is put it out there then tourists can visit it before they get lost in the heart of Canberra which can be confusing for drivers with roundabouts and roads going everywhere.

I also like Sydney - as I mentioned the public transport is great, it's pretty, but the humidity is terrible and it's very busy and traffic is crazy even on a Sunday. What I particularly didn't like is bring forced in Woolworths to use those self service scanner things because I had a basket  - I proved the point by scanning three things twice and then I had to call the attendant over (twice) to cancel the transactions. They trust you to scan correctly but don't trust you to cancel mistakes! I also don't like ATMs - particularly when there is perfectly good tellers waiting inside. Ironically, in Slovenia I do use ATMs because it is a major performance there to go into a bank and withdraw money. 

The trip back was generally uneventful - apart from a couple of people on buses trying to get sir by adjusting the reading lamps.

Anyway some pictures from Canberra to conclude....

High court

War Memorial

Lake Burley Griffen and Telecom Tower

Old Parliament House

Blue Mountains National Park - the final part

Hello again,

This is the last of the photos from the Blue Moutains. The first lot are from the Jenolan Caves - I took a bus tour there when the weather wasn't looking good and the other photos were taken in the Govetts Leap area, near Blackheath, and Gordon Falls, near Leura - when the weather wasn't great.

Blue Mountains National Park - Part 4

The weather has deteriorated in recent days but got in some good walking anyway during my time in the Blue Mountains. In Canberra now for the Tom Roberts exhibition etc. - so no more walking. It's a lot warmer here, 30 today. First, a few observations...

Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains is a very welcoming area. Although it looks very suburban in parts - when you look across the area you see few houses but lots of trees. People like their greenery here. It's also a lot cooler than Sydney - sometimes 5-10 degrees cooler. But it retains its country friendliness. The stationmaster at Wentworth falls asked me whether I was going to the falls and gave me a map on how to get there he made up himself. In Blackheath when I was on my way back to the station in the rain, a woman stopped and asked whether I wanted a lift to the station. That hasn't happened for many years.

There also a bit of a hippy influence in the Blue Mountains. You see a lot of hemp bags and weird looking hats. Leura, a town near Katoomba, is full of shops doing things organically and the smell of lavender, rose petals, perfumed soap and incense is everywhere. The town of Springwood in fact has a shop called The Hippy Shop.

Interesting People

Katoomba appears to have only one busker and not a very good one at that. She is an older woman who tries to play a wooden flute. I am no expert on flute playing but she is terrible. She sits on benches near cafes with her little bowl in front of her and tries to play tunes. I think people may offer her money just to go away as that can only be the reason she persists with this career. On one occasion one of the locals in the cafe told her to go away as he was trying to have a cup of coffee in peace.

Interesting Places

In Katoomba saw a building with the sign T.I.N.N.U.T.S Collective. I am not exactly sure what they do.

In Springwood  I saw a real estate agent co-located with a gift shop. I suppose when business is slow gifts is a good side business or if you really like the area you could buy a property instead of just a small momento.

It always concerns me about the names people use for their businesses. In Leura I saw The Ritz Nursing Home. Overreaching.

Greeting People on the Trail

I usually say hi when I see people on the trail. Often I get an acknowledgment - particularly from Australians, Japanese and some Europeans. The Chinese don't appear to actually see you let alone hear you and some other foreigners just look straight through you. Maybe they don't understand or have heard the stories of tourists disappearing in the Australian bush (Ivan Milat etc.). It's safer not to make any eye contact.

Public Transport Tales

As I was getting on the train to go to one of my walks me and another person had to turn back and go to another carriage as someone was sleeping on the floor.

The train trip from Katoomba back to Sydney was an interesting one. A woman was wearing a hat, scarf and gloves on the train. It was 17 outside. Eventually she removed all that as we got close to Sydney. While in front of me a child was making all sorts of weird sounds appearing to be half asleep or concussed.

While on the bus trip from Sydney to Canberra, there were a few incidents. There was the couple that came on the bus and didn't know where to sit even though it was three quarters empty. Too much choice or indecisive?  Then there was the two scientists going to an egg head conference in Canberra talking scientific for most of he way (3.5 hours) behind me. Got the headphones but had an Iphone music technical issue which at least distracted me especially as another person was talking on the phone with the loudspeaker on or was deaf, or both. It was more like a walkie talkie than a phone. Also saw a woman in shorts riding a motor bike on the highway. Idiot.

The pictures that follow are from the same area as the last blog, Wentworth Falls, mainly from the cliffs above and you can see parts of the National Pass Trail too which there were pictures from in the last blog...

Blue Mountains National Park - Part 3

Hello again. Catching up on a backlog of photos. These are from the National Pass track, near Wentwiorth Falls (a small town near Katoomba). Whereas the previous tracks were either across the top of cliffs or below them in the valley, this track has been been cut through the middle. Remarkable foresight and skill. It's one of the best day walks I have been on. You walk over waterfalls under overhangs hugging the dude if cliffs.