Floriade in the Australian Capital Territory - Flower Show, Canberra, Australia

We then proceeded in through the turnstile to find that this was where everyone was! There were Indians, Filipinos, Brazilians, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Indonesians and many other nationalities taking photos of the tulips.

Two things struck me as soon as I walked in. 1. All I could see were tulips and 2. I couldn't see how this display had anything to do with rock and roll.

Now unless we'd got there at the wrong time, (the flowers had died) or we didn't see all of Floriade (there were lots of flower beds) but I didn't see a single tulip bed that remotely looked as though it represents a Rock and Roll star.

In fact, the Rock & Roll theme was pretty non-existent.

The group explored a few places but ultimately, seas of tulips was pretty disappointing.

 What was surprising and interesting was the multiple pavillions of food, creative displays and gardening equipment that were dotted about the park. I bought a Gardening Australia bag which contained lots of useful satchets for taking care of plants. As well as this there was some tea and magazines. There were stalls featuring creative things like jewelery, water fountains, glycerine soap in assorted colours and shapes, and many other things.

We had a coffee at the food pavillion which was basically a collection of plastic chairs and tables surrounded by food stalls - sandwiches, BBQ, Indian and others. Why there was a sandwich place there I don't know. The majority of visitors to Floriade were from Asia and Asians don't eat sandwiches! Interestingly there were queues at every stall except the sandwich stall!

Unfortunately no one was selling any rice dishes, so a large market has been lost.

The weather was 21 degrees Celsius and even after a couple of ice creams (gaytime, calypso, paddlepop and others) our group was over Floriade within a few hours.

We stopped and had a look at the Alice in Wonderland Tea Pot and tea cup kids ride, but left soon after and headed back to the city.

Canberra is a temporary visit. I had noticed that a large variety of local women in various situations were checking me out. This doesn't usually happen in Sydney (or if it does, I'm too occupied to notice) but I found out that the Canberra proportion of available single men and women is so small that if you were to have one night stands here you'd be having an awkward time after a few weeks as you'd be regularly running into people you'd 'met' already. The pickings were small so when any tourist turns up that looks available, chances are good that they'd be goal number one just for variety!

After getting back to the city we went to one of the shopping centres. There were hundreds of shops but not that many people so one wonders how they can do any business.

It must have been a special occasion as there were ring dancers in the mall. A very fit, attractive girl in her early twenties climbed up a metal ring and for the next ten minutes or so did some acrobatic maneouvers that I'm sure were for the benefit of the men in the shopping centre.

Half an hour later, after a quick box of sushi in the food court, there was another girl climbing a curtain and wrapping herself in suggestive ways. Even with this event there were only 100 or so people watching.

I had believed that perhaps it was because it was the long weekend, and that was why there weren't a lot of people about. I was reliably informed that this was a normal Canberra day.

Our friends went home afterwards and the plan was for me to meet up with them for a beer on Sunday. After they left we went for a bit of a walk around the shops, which were closing, and then a walk around the pedestrian area which was emptying. Apart from the bars, restaurant and bottle shops, Canberra seemed to close at 5.00pm. We went back to the hotel room and crashed.

Our room was positioned above the 'King O'Malleys' pub - a fantastic Irish pub that had great music and a lively atmosphere. We knew how lively because we could still hear them at 5:00am the next morning. But that was good because it meant that things do happen in Canberra!

We checked out at 10am and left our bags at reception. There was a nice breakfast available next to the Irish pub and so we went there. (Since when did Equal start containing lactose?) The food was great and the fig and date cake was well worth the money.

Afterwards I met up with my friend again and we spent a relaxing few hours catching up on old times and drinking Guinness. In the time we were there only about 8 people walked in, which suggests that Canberra city is not really for people during the day. 

The shops started to open at 10:30am, so I checked out a souvenir shop. No signed posters of John Howard nor any plastic cups with Canberra on them. Oh well. :)

While this short travelogue has put Canberra down a bit, we really havent' explored it that much. There are lots to see and do in Canberra, making it a worthwhile place to visit as a tourist, but, if you're used to the faster pace of Sydney you wouldn't be able to live in Canberra.

If you plan to visit Canberra you can see everything in just a few days. The Australian War Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia and, of course, Parliament House, are all worth a visit. The National Museum of Australia, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Zoo & Aquarium are also worth visiting. Next time we come to Floriade we may check those places out too.

If you're a fan of politics then the best time to go would be during Question Time in the House of Representatives. Question Time is enjoyable, free, public theatre. The Opposition asks a stupid question and the Government shoots them down. Or, on rare occasions, usually when Julia Gillard has something to say, the Labor Party asks an intelligent question and the Liberal National Coalition prevaricates. Hugely entertaining but unless you've got the full complement of both party's front benches, the performances aren't the best. Some of the front bench members include:

Liberal party (right wing):
John Howard, Peter Costello, Tony Abbott, Alexander Downer, Brendan Nelson and Kevin Andrews

Labor party (left wing):
Kim Beasley, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan, Anthony Albanese and Stephen Smith

And, of course, seeing the fountain at Burley Griffin lake is worth while, the Australian mint is not far away, and there are all sorts of small exhibitions and events happening all the time. But it really isn't a place to live yet, just a place to flit through.

After drinks we got our stuff and headed for the taxi rank. We got there with plenty of time to spare but after waiting for a taxi for 45 minutes we were getting a bit anxious that we would miss our train. So I rank directory assistance and they sent a taxi out who was able to get us to the train with 5 minutes to spare. Definitely earning a tip. The trip back was uneventful, except for the fact that I was able to get a small bottle of red wine from the canteen as it was after midday!!!

All, in all, it was nice to get away from hectic Sydney city life and check out the tiny town of Canberra. :)

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