• Flower art at Floriade, Canberra

    Every year Canberra’s Commonwealth Park becomes a botanical wonderland when it hosts an incredible floral display called Floriade. The month-long event displays an incredible number of blooms, arranged in artistic displays across numerous flowerbeds. A wander through Floriade is not to be missed if you time your trip to Canberra right. It’s a rare person that worries about being in the presence of flowers but, I must admit, it was with a sense of trepidation that this chronic hayfever sufferer headed to Floriade, I needn’t have worried though. The flowers were mostly ‘blooms’ rather than ‘blossoms’ and, dosed up to the eyeballs with some strong hayfever medication, I was fine.…

  • The Australian War Memorial, a humbling experience

    What do you think of when you read the words ‘war memorial’? Probably a statue or the memory of a remembrance ceremony, no? The Canberra War Memorial is certainly an awe-inspiring building, constructed to honour fallen ANZAC soldiers, but it is also so much more than that. Even if Australian military history is not a subject you are especially passionate about, the inspiring, and often heart-breaking, stories you can uncover on a visit to the museum are truly humbling. The Australian War Memorial The walkway from the main entrance leads through an arch to the main memorial area, the commemorative courtyard. In the airy rectangular courtyard the names of thousands…

  • Visiting Parliament House in Canberra

    After several years in the country, Australia’s ‘warts and all’ style of politics still intrigues me. The headlines of the Julia Gillard vs Kevin Rudd tussle to lead the Australian Labor Party and the aggressive campaigning ahead of the 2013 federal election that featured some outrageous allegations about both sides have been part of my Australian experience. So, when an opportunity came to visit Parliament House, I was keen to see the politicians in action. Before you get anywhere, there are high levels of airport-style security screening, which you have to complete before entering the building, and again if you wish to enter the two chambers: the House of Representatives…