Visit the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

I have visited the National Gallery of Australia on several occasions.  Tagging along after a volunteer guide, carrying my stool, as a sullen high school student; as a young university student with boyfriend, and late last year to celebrate my tenth anniversary with my husband (yes, the same boyfriend).  The National Gallery rocks.

You cannot get bored at the gallery.  You can spend minutes staring at Jackson Pollock's "Blue Poles", for example.  I was upset that I could not find the square block of black painting that mesmerised me as a teenager.  I tell you, there were shapes in that seeming simple block of black.  I am not being facetious here.

Highlights of my recent visit with hubby were the colonial art, and the brilliant photographic exhibition tucked away at the back by an Australian woman, Carol Jerrems.  There is a lot of post-modernism and pop art that can be a little tiresome.  However the Aboriginal art is compulsory.

The gallery is large enough that you can look over everything thoroughly in several visits, or flit through and see everything that catches your eye in one.  There is also a delightful sculpture garden between the gallery and Lake Burley Griffin.  Facing out to the gardens and onto a pond with disconcerting heads poking up out of it (purposely so to bring about an emotional response to a massacre that occurred in Indonesia), is the restaurant.

Fittingly, the gardens are native and are designed around a four seasons theme, although I couldn't pick it.  The kids are free to roam, but not touch or climb on the sculptures.  The experience was stimulating for the KTNM, who don't really need any more stimulation - but what the heck, it is art. The native gardens are a superb example of how attractive and sustainable an Australian native garden can be.  The resident flocks of blue wrens have to be seen to be believed.  I also saw several groups picnicking on the lawns, which is an idea I have tucked away for future reference.

Do visit the NGA.

PS - Toulouse-Lautrec has just arrived and OMG Turner is coming in 2013!!!

Visit the National Museum of Australia, Canberra

Today I took 3 of the KTNTM (kids too numerous to mention) to the National Museum of Australia, Canberra. 

After spending an extra ten minutes or so driving around ANU and trying to find the Museum (not actually part of the University but accessible from it) we found it on a peninsula on Lake Burley Griffin's northern shores.

The Museum, also known as Canberra's 'rollercoaster', has a striking, colourful and fun exterior.  On the inside it is made up of large, light-filled atriums.  It looks huge, but its collection can be traversed in an hour or two.

The kids enjoyed the entry foyer which was based on a transport theme, including steam engine, old coach, model train collection, aeroplane, tinker's trailer, malvern star bicycle, vintage Holden etc.

Other collections include Australian animals, Australian popular culture, white Australian history, Australian industry and farming, Aboriginals, and Torres Strait Islanders. 

In K-Space, kids can design their own futuristic homes and vehicles then watch the resulting 3D movie, with their photos included.  The take away message is that our choices will affect our history.

There is an outdoor area that kids like to explore, featuring tunnels, waterways and sculptural aspects.

All in all, we had a nice time as the museum kept the kids interested.  The first time I visited the museum I didn't think it had a lot for me, and seemed geared towards people with little knowledge of Australian history.  Still, the exhibits are bound to contain something new for everyone.  And frankly I will never tire of looking at the stuffed platypus and thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) skeleton, or putting my kids in the convict leg-irons. 

As a bonus we also bought some historical kids stories in chapter books reduced to $1 each at the museum shop.

National Museum of Australia website

Visit Floriade, Canberra

Aaaaah fantastic, funky, flowery, Floriade!  By glistening Lake Burley Griffin, under the bluest of Australian skies grow the pampered floral beds of Floriade.  Located in Commonwealth Park, Canberra, Floriade is Canberra's premier festival. 

The stiff Canberra cold must be the perfect breeding ground for bulbs, because the flowers of Floriade were just perfect when I visited on Thursday.  I visited again today, and some of the heads were a little less vital after the weekend wind and rain.  Nevertheless, the flowers were brilliant.  Not quite as spectacular as the Dutch tulip fields, but pretty great all the same.

Free entry to the festival means you can come and go as you please.  There is plenty of parking available off Corranderk Street, or you can catch a free shuttle bus from the city.  There is disability parking adjacent to Commonwealth Park.  We parked in the CIT carpark off Constitution Avenue, where a couple of dollars in the parking meter is all it takes to secure a worry free outing to Floriade.

Budget-conscious as ever, we took our own lunch.  There are many wonderful spots for a picnic lunch and many other families appeared to be taking advantage of the perfect weather and picturesque locale to do the same.  There is an assortment of food choices available, in kiosks scattered throughout the gardens.  There are coffee vans and a wine garden too. 

Kids are well catered for with a small selection of carnival rides, including the must-do attraction, the Ferris Wheel.  Atop the Ferris Wheel one can appreciate the full extent of Floriade.  Only from this point of view can one make out the pictures and patterns created in the floral arrangements.  This year there are shoes, lips and top hats to reflect the inspirational spring style and fashion theme.

For kids there is also an area that has craft activities, spray-on tattoos and face-painting, reptiles and a circus. 

Free entertainment on the Big Stage is high quality.  We saw a children's choir and an orchestra performing.  There was also an old fashioned organ that was pumping out well-know tunes.  "The Day We Went to Bangor" had me singing along enthusiastically. 

The crowds at Floriade were perfectly behaved and I didn't see a single person having a bad time.  Our group consisted of a couple of women and a bunch of little kids, yet getting around was no problem. 

Meander the flower beds, revel in mother nature's glory, and just try and keep your hayfever at bay at Floriade.  Visit Floriade's website here

Visit Yarramundi Reach - on the far reaches of Lake Burley-Griffin

On Saturday the KTNTM wanted to show Dad the Arboretum.  Unfortunately, the Arboretum was closed to the public as it is still a work in progress.  Instead, we decided to check out the nearby Yarramundi Reach.  Yarramundi Reach is sandwiched between Black Mountain to the North, the National Arboretum to the West, the Scrivener Dam and National Zoo to the South, and Lake Burley-Griffin to the East.  It is simply a spit of land jutting out into what is nearly the westernmost point of 'Lake B-G'.  Accessible off Lady Denham Drive, there is a walking loop and picnic area to explore. 

Firstly we had a look around the 'spooky forest' just to the South of Yarramundi Reach, which is planted out to an unidentified kind of nut tree with burnt-black trunks (note:  I have since found out these are cork trees that have been harvested for cork) and nuts (see pic below) littered everywhere.  It was dark and silent except for when a serious cyclist went whizzing by on the nearby bike path.  We disturbed parrots that were dropping nut shells from the branches above.  We saw green grass-parrots, rosellas and that lovely red/blue variety.  We also saw many ducks on the lake.  The KTNTM collected feathers and pretended a bear was after them.  Run!

There was sign post at Yarramundi Reach explaining that part of Walter Burley-Griffin's vision for Canberra was an arboretum at this site.  Almost 100 years later his vision is being fulfilled in the creation of the National Arboretum.  I found this a touching and encouraging sentiment; that one man's vision for Canberra a century ago had not been forgotten and indeed will come to fruition in the next decade.  Now that will be a legacy to behold.

Yarramundi Reach itself was quite desolate, just a bunch of natives, some naturally occurring and some planted in rows.  There were also a series of pines situated in a windbreak pattern about 20 metres from the shore.  The KTNTM enjoyed climbing on the huge boulders that have been placed along the gravel track and bounding up massive piles of aromatic woodchips, apparently the result of recent mulching of the lower branches of the pines.  When one of the KTNTM got bowled over by an over-friendly bull terrier we decided to head home, admiring the wattle in full blossom lining the main roads on our way home.  A simple but highly enjoyable outing.
           
Above:  Yarramundi reach on the centre right, with Government House visible behind it.

 Acorn on Cork Oak

Visit the National Arboretum, Canberra

Today, in the absence of hubby, I took the KTNTM to the National Arboretum to burn off some steam.  It was a beautiful 16 degrees, with piercing blue skies and a light wind to help us along.  The arboretum is situated to the west of Lake Burley Griffin, on a hillside that I believe was burnt out in the bad bushfires.  The area has been planted out to swathes of different species (including the notorious Wollemi Pine), and in a few years, the result will be nothing short of spectacular.  But for now, there are no pesky trees to impede ones views, and the views are immense. 

We made our own track up to the highest peak where a series of pines of the 'lone pine' variety stand.  The kids gathered pine cones and had a ball playing 'bowling' while I admired the views.  Lake Burley Griffin, Parliament House, Woden, the Molonglo Valley, Stromlo Observatory, Black Mountain and the Telstra Tower:  soaring 360 degree views. 

On our return we took the bitumen road which led us past a murky duck pond that kids eyed off for swimming. 

A perfect day and a perfect ACTivity.