Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[roverdriver]

Day two. Yesterday we traveled over a route that I had explored back in 1965. Today we were to cover 'new' territory. We packed the car and set off from Jindabyne, pausing to look back at the town and its lake. The town is close to the ski fields, so it caters to tourists, consequently all prices are a little higher than in other spots.

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/posting.php?mode=editpost&p=63081

We had enough fuel to get to Cooma, the next major town, so continued on to there, passing through the fairly flat alpine plains. Here the elevation is about 3,000 feet. The few trees are quite stunted, and the land is rock-strewn.



We did see a few sheep in the landscape, but boulders seemed to predominate. We wondered if perhaps the farmers were actually rock-growers. Oftentimes close to some large rocks could be found smaller ones, possibly seeded from their neighbours.



After fuelling at Cooma, we continued on with the road following alongside the now closed railway line that was so important for bringing in supplies for the Snowy Mountain Hydro-Electric scheme. Eventually we reached the border of the state within a state of the Australian Capital Territory, and onwards to the city of Canberra.

We had been to Canberra before, in 1968. I had found it hard to navigate around the inner city streets then. The streets are laid out as a series of circles, so to get from one place to another, it is necessary to drive around from one part circle to another, thus making navigation a little difficult.



Our planned first place to visit was the Australian War Memorial, and as luck would have it, we had to diverge from our chosen path because of roadworks, and shortly after passing them I spied the place we were looking for.



The War Memorial is well worth a visit. It is a museum covering Australia’s involvement in conflict, although the permanent displays cover mainly WW1 and WW2. The dioramas of First World War scenes are really brilliant. I was disappointed to find that there were no motor vehicles from that period on display, however there were a couple of WW2 ones to see.



















Leading up to the Memorial is Anzac Avenue which has on either side specific memorials to the services and to particular conflicts. The gardens surrounding the building also have some interesting specific memorials. We spent a couple of hours inside, then walked the length of Anzac Avenue, so the feet were starting to protest by that time.

Below is the all glass memorial to nurses who served during comflicts.



From the main entrance of the Memorial, both the ‘old’ and the current houses of parliament can be seen. That was our next objective, but with an arm of the lake and the street layout to contend with, it took a while to navigate to that area, and a bit more time to find somewhere to park, but fortunately we found a spot right in front of the ‘old’ Parliament House.



Australia developed as several separate colonies or states, hence the customs post that I mentioned at Willis. The states united to form a federation. That took place on the first day of the 20th Century- January the 1st 1901. After much inter-state rivalry, a site for the centre of government was chosen in about 1913, but it was not until 1927 that the Federal House of Parliament was opened. The building was planned to be in use for only fifty or sixty years until a more substantial one was constructed at the top of the hill. The new House was opened in 1998, allowing the ‘old’ building to become a museum.



It was very interesting wandering the ‘corridors of power’ as they had been. Many of the rooms are set up just as they had been when in use.





Our next stop was the ’new’ Parliament House, but we didn’t feel like walking around it by that time. I found a spot to park the car for a few moments, so I could photograph it near the building, and while adjusting the camera was approached by a member of the Commonwealth Police, who started off by pointing out that I couldn’t park there. I said “I just wanted to get a photo if this car in front of that building”. He looked at the car.
“Oh a Rover SD1", he exclaimed, “A mate of mine had one of those, and I drove it from time to time”. And so we chatted about Rovers for a full ten minutes while we were ‘illegally’ parked.



Time to move on. We had seen enough, and I was not happy about driving around Canberra any more, so we found our way out of the city and started heading south, and soon passed back into NSW.



Mrs RD suggested visiting Adaminiby, a place we stayed overnight in 1968. When we stopped for petrol, we were told of a nice short cut. Well I expect every driver knows about ‘short cuts’ that aren’t.

The start of the 'short cut'



Although the road was gravel, rather rough in places and took much longer than if we had stayed on the tar-seal, it took us through some interesting scenery.







We finally we arrived in the small town, found a motel and settled in for the night.


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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[peter scott]

Hi Dane,

An interesting trip. Thanks for posting. I didn't know anything about Canberra before. When you described the circular street plan it reminded me of New Delhi and I wondered whether Lutyens had been involved but I see it was American architects Griffin & Griffin who won the contest. I know what you mean about getting confused by it.

I see the Jeep was converted for railway running. Was that in the Burmah campaign?

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[roverdriver]

Peter, the layout of Canberra was by Walter Burley Griffin. He won the competition of 1911. If interested there is a little information here- http://www.tomw.net.au/cnbst3.html

I couldn't find a plaque or any information about the railway jeep, unfortunately. I might be able to do some on-line hunting.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[peter scott]

Hi Dane,

Thanks for the link. Lot's of interesting stuff. Looks as if Walter Griffin got rather badly treated by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Looks like the Jeep Trains are in Borneo: http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/121636

Peter

http://www.australiansatwar.gov.au/stories/stories_war=W2_id=140.html


http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/lastbattles/landingsG.html

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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[roverdriver]

Thanks Peter, you have saved me hunting for it. There is lots of good information on that AWM Site!
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.