The knack of being inconspicuous ...

In 2007 I took a 4WD tour from Adelaide to Uluru for 10 days. There were 10 of us in the long-wheel base vehicle, including the driver. I was the only Australian on the tour, the other 8 were mostly European backpackers, with a couple of tourists thrown in. In general, Australians do not value, nor respect, their environment. They use it, for their recreation, but don't put a value on it.

Walter Burley Griffin [1876 - 1937] and Marion Mahoney Griffin [1871 - 1961] were Americans from the mid-west, who having won the design competition, lobbed in Australia in 1912 to bring their vision for our National Capital to fruition. Anyone who knows Canberra today, will acknowledge that Canberra is perfectly sited within its landscape. The design - drawn by Marion - uses the natural landscape to perfection. Each hillock has its special purpose and the river running through it echoes that same narrative.

The Griffins attempted to do the same with the Castlecrag peninsula, which was and is, a landscape of a totally different ilk. And the era was different. The Greater Sydney Development Association [GSDA], purchased an interest in the Castlecrag estate in 1921, and the Great Depression began to bite in 1928/9. However, the Griffin's love of the harbour landscape, its hilly precipices, its mossy gullies, and its water glimpses saw them develop designs that endeavoured to squat their domestic buildings into that landscape.

Remembering them

Within two minutes of the torpedo from UB-64 striking the 'Tregenna' in the North Atlantic in September 1940, she had gone to the bottom with the loss of all hands, save four. My father's cousin, Ross Charles Cole aged 24, was not one of those four.

Today, I accept, from a curator at the Australian War Memorial, a box of original letters, documents and photographs that was found in the ceiling of a deceased-estate in Canberra that a real-estate agent was readying for sale in 2009. The curator tracked me down via Ancestry.com and insists that we share the contents with wider family before donating specific items back to the AWM. More tomorrow.

ANZAC Parade - the Vietnam Memorial

Standing sentry on either side of ANZAC Parade in Canberra, from the Australian War Memorial to Lake Burley Griffin, is a number of impressively emotional memorials to citizens who have served this country in theatres of war around the world. I have chosen to highlight the Vietnam Memorial.

The photo etched into the rear wall shows Australian soldiers waiting to be airlifted to Nui Dat after the completion of Operaion Ulmarra. A scroll containing the names of Australians who died in the Vietnam War is sealed into the stone. Surrounding the memorial are 6 seats dedicated to the memory of the 6 servicemen missing in action. I noted that 2 of these had been returned to their homeland for burial within the last 5 years.


Shooting data

All three shots were F6.3, ISO=100, Focal Length 24mm.
The first shot had a S/S of 640. The second shot had a S/S of 160. And the third shot had a S/S of 400.

Pig-iron Bob

Sir Robert Menzies was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1949 (after Ben Chifley) until he retired in 1966 (followed by Harold Holt). Now Ming was not a particularly sporty cove, although he had a penchant for cricket which saw him sitting in the stands at Lords cheering on his antipodean flannelled fools. He was barrel-chested, and barrel-waisted, with a bit of a basso-profundo. And yet, in Canberra, THE main walking track is named after him. Bit of a contradiction in terms, I thinks to meself. But there is a charming story to it.


The main walking track in question is from bridge to bridge around Lake Burley Griffin. Canberra is an engineered city, plonked in the middle of nowhere so that the nation's capital was in neither Sydney nor Melbourne. To complete the air of artifice, a man-made lake was cultivated at its centre. When I lived in Canberra, during the tumultuous period of 1974-1977, I 'learnt to exercise' around the lake. During any given lunch-hour, it felt that half the bloody city was doing likewise. I would jog 100 steps, then walk 100 steps, thereby making it around.


And so to the charming story. Menzies had a daughter who had a daughter. Hah! I know that phrase well. In 1956, said daughter the elder (Heather) would take her baby for a walk in the pram (you know, that big wicker thing that required Arnie-sized biceps to push!) The paths around their home - and Canberra more widely - were terrible and they would come home and whinge, and the old man felt compelled to put things to right. At the same time, he was getting money through the Financial Estimates Committee for the lake itself. All items coallesced, and today there is a wonderful series of walking paths around the lake, from which these photographs were taken.


Photo 1 - From Kings Bridge looking West, with The High Court on the left and Black Mountain communications tower straight ahead. You can just see Commonwealth Bridge in the distance, below the tower. The High Court is the court of last appeal.

Photo 2 - From the northern bank of the lake, looking South. With the National Art Gallery on the left, the High Court in the centre, and Parliament House on the right.

Photo 3 - Still on the northern shore, looking south-east toward the Carillon. There can be nothing nicer and more soothing than to sit on these benches and listen to the bells being played, like I did on Wednesday.

Photo 4 - Also taken from Kings Bridge. With the reflection of the Carillon, which was a gift from Britain in 1970.

Casting Shadows

When in Canberra earlier this week, I lodged at the Hotel Kurrajong which is about two blocks from Old Parliament House and built at the same time - late 1920s. In the foyer of the K, they have old photographs showing empty paddocks stretching between the two. Fast forward 15 years, to the years of World War II, when the Prime Minister was John Curtin from Cottesloe in WA, and his Treasurer was Ben Chifley from Bathurst in NSW. Curtin died in office in 1945 (a few weeks after Rooseveldt) having been PM for 5 years. Chifley was PM from 1945 to 1949. During the war years, they used to walk to work from their lodgings.


This statue of their friendly morning ramble was unveiled about a month ago by our current PM, Julia Gillard from Altona in Victoria. It is based upon an iconic photograph which I have also included. It really is a terrific statue to stumble upon. Extremely life-like and very Australian in its accessibility and egalitarianism. The sculptor was Peter Corlett who was born in 1944. I cannot remember which street it is on, but it is very close to the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet (PM&C).

Chifley is the one with the pipe!

Curtin was a recovering alcoholic. Chifley had been a train-driver in his earlier life, and kept a mistress.

We said "Yes"!

I squibbed Parliament House today. After my experience yesterday, I knew what was going to happen and who would be swarming all over the building, making assumptions that I was one of them. But regardless, the deed is done. The Act has passed the lower house. It has taken a lot of consultation and a lot of determination.

Instead today, I walked from the Hotel Kurrajong over to the Australian War Memorial and back again. This photograph is taken from the AWM (the most visited museum in Australia) looking down ANZAC Parade, and across Lake Burley Griffin. The white building is Old Parliament House. And there on the hill behind, in all its glory, is the house of the Parliament of Australia.

Saying 'Yes' to a clean energy future

A bitterly cold wind blew down from the Brindabellas today, causing me to clutch my coat around my chest, and tug my hat down over my ears. I am here in Canberra to support the first incarnation of our ETS, putting a price on carbon. I really did not need a hat to keep my ears warm: I copped a fair bit of ear-bashing!

After Question Time, I wandered down the lawns to watch as the 'Say Yes' group labored in the wind putting their banners out. Tomorrow I have to make do with QT in the Senate because the 'anti-carbon-tax' demonstrators have QT in the House of Reps all booked out.

I am lodged at the Hotel Kurrajong - lovely old place.