Today was my last day with Rachael and Dave. I am very very grateful for their many kindnesses. I have returned to Canberra – Rachael kindly drove me to Sydney and I caught a bus. I am staying with Dave’s parents who have kindly offered to show me the town. Unfortunately, the air quality is horrible and the daytime temperature will be over 40 degrees for the next two days. I feel an air conditioned art gallery coming on. Peter and I went to see this lake. This is what is supposed to look like – I didn’t bother to take a photo. Just imagine what it would look like next to the one I took a couple of weeks ago of the Sydney harbour bridge.

Friday 2nd January

It was very hot today although the smoke had cleared a little. Apparently it will be even hotter tomorrow and the news was full of doom and gloom about the wildfire spread. The prime minister, full of platitudes, went to visit some of the homeless and stranded and the news report was almost entirely bleeped out. He’s not the most popular……

We went firstly to the Old Parliament House which was abandoned in the 80s when it got too small. Two chambers, one in red leather and one in green, just like the mothership. Interestingly, their speakers chair was an exact copy of the one Pugin made for the House of Commons and used timbers from Westminster Hall and Nelson’s Victory. Our original chair was destroyed in the Blitz so the one Bercow has been using is a copy of a copy, made entirely from Australian wood.

After that we went to an exhibition of Matisse and Picasso at the National Art Gallery. Comparisons made between them as they were sometime friends and almost contemporaries. They have a nice collection of works on paper that you don’t see very often.

This is some of the other stuff they have there – oriental art and aboriginal art. They had interesting displays of early Australian paintings, silverware, furniture, portraits, photos etc to give you an idea of what life was like in the early years of the colony.

We also went to the National Portrait Gallery but I didn’t take any pictures there.

Canberra seems to be rather an odd place. Because it was purpose built, it has everything laid out in an orderly fashion. Yesterday, Peter took me to see the embassies. All in the same area, nothing else in between them – except brown grass – and all built in different styles. All the government buildings and important galleries etc are also all in the same place. It’s all carefully laid out and must be beautiful when it’s had some rain – there are masses of trees.

Saturday 3rd January

Hot hotter and hottest. It has been 43 degrees and the news is full of people being told to evacuate their homes as the fire service cannot protect them. Not here, I hasten to say.

We have been obtaining more culture in air conditioned buildings today. Firstly, to the new parliament building. This doesn’t look very big from outside as a good chunk of it is underground. It is all very grand and, whilst they have stuck to the green and red colour scheme it is much paler to make it more Australian.

Then to the National Library for a look round and a tour of the ‘Treasures’ department – stuff to do with the history of Australia that isn’t books. And lunch.

The Australian War Memorial is actually their equivalent of the Imperial War Museum – rather than an obelisk in the middle of town. Australian soldiers through the years – Gallipoli, the Western Front, the Japanese in the Pacific, Korea, Vietnam etc.

Is anyone else reminded of Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones?