Of course we revisited some of our favourite places from last time, and one of these was Parliament House. We arrived shortly after opening time to find a mob of kids and assorted disgruntled adults waiting outside to get in. Apparently three busloads of school groups had arrived at the same time, and it was taking ages to get everybody through the security screening system.

Eventually we got in, and Tony wandered off right away to have a chat with some Italians, or maybe they were Polish or Bolivian…. in any case, they didn’t speak English at all, but that didn’t stop Tony from telling them his exciting life story thus far..

Linda admired the architecture while she waited for Tony, who had finished his life story thus far and was having one of his many ‘wees’.

Representatives Chamber

Among the many interesting people we met on the trip was this security guard, whose name we forget, but whose political views were memorable. He told us lots of insider gossip about who’s going to win the next election, and who’s stabbing who in the back, and what John Howard is really like. There was no doubt who he was going to vote for in the coming election.

He and Tony are standing in front of a painting of the first session of the House of Representatives in this building, in 1988.

A view from the roof, looking straight over the front entrance of Parliament House to Old Parliament House (the white building beyond the lawn), across Lake Burley Griffin to the War Memorial and Mt Ainslie.

On the right is same view from ground level.

Parliament House continues on next page Click here