Namadgi National Park

Namadgi National Park in ACT is just over 100km² comprising almost half of the state's area. It includes granite mountains, alpine meadows, grassy plains and snow gum forests. You can find Aboriginal rock art, quarry sites and ceremonial stone arrangements, as well as European settlers' huts, fences and evidence of pioneering farming techniques.

We walked the Settlers' Track, which is an easy 9km loop on a bright autumn day.

Brayshaw's Homestead

Crimson Rosella

Old fence posts



Waterhole Hut

So then I decided to play with different camera effects.



Australian Gothic



An old sheep dip

I went for the slightly sepia, faded, muddied colour look for these photos of Waterhole Hut



Back to the natural look for these eucalyptus trees on Shanahan's Mountain.

Where We Live

This is where we live now. Well, okay, maybe not in the trees, but this is Franklin, a suburb of Canberra, and I walk along here each time I go to the shops. The light is amazing. It's not got the same clarity as Central Otago light, but it has a soft, blanketing quality, especially at sunset and dusk.

This is really where we live, in this block of town houses.

And these pictures are especially for Scarey Sis who wanted to see the artificial grass that people 'plant' around their houses.

No-maintenance gardening

Bateman's Bay

Bateman's Bay is two hours from Canberra and many Canberrans go here at weekends to see the sea. We did too.
 

We had lunch at Innes Boatshed sitting out on the wooden deck over the water. I had oysters while Him Outdoors had fish and chips - you choose what you want from the cabinet and they cook it for you in light, crispy, golden batter. Yum! And no, we didn't feed the seagulls.

The Clyde River meets the sea here and according to the brochures it is "a marine playground full of Australia's favourite past times including sailing, big game fishing and river cruising"- not drinking and fighting then?

Corrigan's Beach

Broulee Beach

First Week in Canberra

Canberra is obviously the capital of Australia, so it has all the government and national buildings; parliament, treasury, art galleries and museums. Some accuse it of being sterile, and it is certainly functional. Every tree has been planted for a purpose; every park designed just-so, which makes it an easy city to negotiate with appropriate amenities and facilities where you need them.

The National Treasury of Australia

I was a little surprised that the buildings were so staid - there are few flourishes and curlicues in the architecture department, considering they could have been designed in practically any fashion. However, I saw a quote in the Canberra Times from architect, Paul Wilson, about the High Court that makes sense.

"It's not a mean building. It's bold and confident. [But it was designed] to have a presence that should engender in people visiting it a fear of the power and stength and significance of the law in our country and a respect for that role and position in our democracy."

The High Court

A walk around Lake Burley Griffin proves that there are hills in this city. They are called mountains, which is probably a little debatable, but it's certainly not flat.



Captal Hill across Lake Burley Griffin



King Edward Terrace

These sculptures were created for the Melbourne 1996 Olympic Games bid, and were relocated to Canberra as a permanent exhibition.

The following pictures are especially for The Great Galah, as they feature his namesake. The screeching pink and grey parrot is noisy and ubiquitous, and yet, somehow quite charming.



A couple of lovebirds on Lake Burley Griffin made a cool silhouette. Actually, they're cormorants. They call them shags in New Zealand.

We had a lovely afternoon at Mt Majura Vineyard, where an extremely friendly and knowledgeable bloke talked us through a tasting, while we sampled the wines and a platter. I love these bottle wind chimes; the different levels of water within alter the tune when they chink against each other.