Floriade: The first thing we did while in Canberra was go and look at the many tulips and other flowers they had at Floriade. For those who are totally oblivious to this event, Floriade is a flower show they hold in Canberra, where they get lots of flowers, mainly tulips, and arrange them in stunning shapes and objects. And of course, Dad being the garden fanatic that he is, Floriade was definitely not going to go unpassed. We gathered our gear and drove through the bustling streets of the Australian capital so we could get to the flower show. When we arrived there, there were so many tourists from other countries it was like we left Australia and ended up in another country.
After walking past some people meditating we rocked up at the entrance and entered, we were now in Floriade. The flowers and the way they were set up was amazing, next to all the displays there was a basic overview of what it was meant to look like. Also the smell of some of the flowers was so strong, sweet and aromatic that it was like being in a lolly store. There was also some live entertainment like people doing juggling shows and swallowing balloons. But after a while we had, had enough so we left to go do more exploring.
Parliament House: We walked around the Old Parliament House and looked at all the fancy displays and learnt about politics and our former Prime Ministers. There was lots to see and do. We went into the House of Representatives and the Senate. While looking in these rooms one of the people who worked there let Emily, Levi, Miriam and myself hold the replica Mace which was pretty awesome. While there we learned that the Mace had been stolen three times in the past. After spending at least an hour or two in the Old Parliament House we decided to leave and go to the new Parliament House. The new one was much like the old except for the tacky 70′s decor and we weren’t allowed in half the new one, however we were allowed to watch one of the fancy-pants debates. Once we got bored we left and headed back home.
Cockington Green: Today we were heading out of town to Cockington Green which is a tourist destination where they have a set up of miniature buildings from all parts of the world. At Cockington Green there were heaps of miniature villages and even a soccer field with a streaker running across the field. There was a train line and a small maze and lots of other buildings and monuments from around the world. It was pretty awesome not the most amazing thing ever but it was cool and I liked the soccer pitch and the miniature train line.
War Memorial: After visiting that other place we had to go to the War Memorial because we couldn’t come to Canberra and not go there. Once we had entered the first thing we did was go and look at the grave of the unknown soldier and then we looked at all the peoples names. After we went down stairs and looked at all the displays on the numerous wars such as WW1, WW2 and Vietnam. It was pretty horrible some of the conditions they fought in, how many people died and also how many wars there were.
Questacon: Our last day in Canberra was spent at Questacon which is an uber interactive science complex where they have numerous displays informing you on everyday science and all the science and math behind lots of different things. We spent nearly half the day there learning about our brain and optical illosions, we also leart about the science behind music.
After looking around at most of the exhibits we went to watch one of the shows Questacon puts on and todays was about rockets. The show was funny, interesting and we learnt lots of thing to do with rockets. My favourite part of the show was when the host person got a large water jug, put 2 teaspoons of rocket fuel in it then droped a match in. The flame was uber and I couldn’t believe that that amount of heat and flame came from such a minute amount of fuel. After lunch we left and continued our journey.
