Enlighten

This covers our visit to the main Enlighten Festival site in the Parliamentary Triangle (or whatever the stupid NCA want to call it now).  At first it will just be my photos.

We had intended to park at the Royal Canberra Croquet Club but some friends we met there with croquet in mind said that there was parking very close to the site.  So after a couple of good malleting efforts (winning my first game 7-6 with a jump shot!!!) we took the Pajero over to the National Library carpark.  As it was not yet dark (1915 hours) we had time to assess the food carts ...

... and put ourselves outside some very good prawn dumplings.  We strolled up to Old Parliament House (aka Museum of Australian Democracy) noting en route that the rose garden is totally buggered: I don't think it has been weeded, watered or pruned for at least one year and possibly more.  Shime NCA, shime.  Some of the few roses had been repositioned on the statues  of Dame Dorothy Tangney and Dame Enid Lyons, two courageous and trailblazing women who, together, carved a legacy in politics and public service. In 1943, Dame Dorothy Tangney and Dame Enid Lyons became the first Australian women to enter Federal Parliament.
Dead on 2000 hrs the lights came on to MOAD.
Not quite pitch dark!  A few of the fruit bats from Commonwealth Park flew over, but too high for photography.
Mount Ainslie is clearly visible across the Lake.
Our next port of call was the National Gallery of Australia.  Their effort, titled "Indigenous All Stars", had been created by Vincent Namatjira from Indulkana.  He is the great-grandson of Albert Namatjira.
Presumably - judging by the footballer's uniform - he is a Bulldogs fan although Adam Goodes of the Swans gets a mention in the NGA page.

The globe is just visible in that image. Here is a more focused snap.
Nice one Gough!

The footbridge to the High Court.

This is my favourite image of the evening: looking down the ramp from the High Court.
Portrait Gallery
On the way to Questacon.

Questacon: this was a very amusing presentation about scientific experiments.

The National Library: this image was one of a sequence about 10 pound Poms.  There are many reasons to admire Julia Gillard - a small one is that she made that phrase part of normal speech.
Another migrant: in this case a woman born in Fiji, talking about her attachment to Australia after living here for 48years.



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