Royal Australian Mint after dark- the short of it.
Tonight the Humans of the Brochure and some of their mini-humans took an after dark look through the Royal Australian Mint. The crowd of mini-humans were abuzz with excitement of being let loose in a building full of money!! The vibe was palpable. Penny! Can you see her? Kind of smack dab in the middle of the photo?
This orange robot is probably Penny’s boyfriend. He wasn’t actually programmed for a job this particular evening, so he was just chair-dancing to pass the time..
We met the CEO, Ross MacDiarmid, who reminded us that every Australian coin we own has been made right there at the Mint.
We encountered a historical story teller who regaled us with tales of the forger, William Hershell and the early days of Australian money.
Here are a few of the coin displays.
This is where the action happens!
You MUST check out the Coin Cascade down the impressive glittering staircase. It represents the journey of how a coin comes into being. At the top of the staircase are ‘blanks’ that turn into 5 cent coins as the steps progress down. It is a piece of art.
The hanging coin display was modern and beautiful. It took me a moment to work out what I was looking at.
Finally, it was time to make our own coin! This year the special coin that the machine creates is one that commemorates Matthew Flinders, the first explorer to circumnavigate Australia. It was exciting to see my own coin appear like magic!
See my coin coming??
Travis makes his coin while others look on eagerly. :)
My mini-human was looking for the coin to commemorate the year of his birth. So many amazing coins for collectors here. Bring your wallet!
There are a couple things to note when you visit. Weekdays are the best time to see robots, and the kids are going to want to see these massive robots. :) And, very importantly: don’t come thinking you are going to be able to get away with some kind of dumb heist. I have seen and heard about the security measures that are taken. Don’t bother. You’ll be toast. Go to the website of the Royal Australia Mint to learn more about your visit! http://www.ramint.gov.au/
Cockington Green Gardens at Gold Creek Village- the short of it
We Humans of the Brochure spent a memorable, fairy- light-strewn night out at Cockington Green Gardens, Canberra’s own miniature village. Mark and Rob have been creating intricate building replicas here to delight local Canberrans, as well as interstate and international guests for 14 years. This is not only a miniature village; the Gardens feature a miniature maze, the Parson’s Nose Garden Cafe and a miniature steam train.
Iconic buildings from 30 different countries are also represented to the smallest detail. This is a work of love and attention to detail. There are funny and cute little details to look out for. Flynn is pretending to push a trolley like the little person to the right of him. :)
Take a moment to see Flynn’s take:
Make sure you stop and really take time to admire the handiwork on display here. The average miniature building take 1000 hours to create. This one, a replica of Turkey’s Kucuksu Pavilion took 3000 hours!!
Proud little Aussie
There is a little waterfall.
There is a sweet little shop to help kick-start your own miniature collection.
Café!
We have and will continue to keep returning to Cockington Green Gardens for a fun couple of hours out. It is open every day from 9:30-5pm bar Christmas and Boxing Day. Get stuck into the adventure yourselves!! The National Dinosaur Museum at Gold Creek in Canberra- the short of it.Tonight we the Humans of the Human Brochure had exciting date with dinosaurs!!!! The Dinosaur Museum at Gold Creek here in Canberra had generously extended an invitation for us to bring along our kidlets to share the fun. And such fun we had!!! Phil, our Dinosaurs At Night tour guide was a fearless, highly interactive and witty leader through the treacherous prehistoric world we crept through. The kids were enthralled the entire time, hanging on his every word and I learned a lot myself! One of the highlights was the piece of dinosaur poop that we could hold and even lick!! The museum houses the biggest store of prehistoric and dinosaur-related merchandise in Australia I won’t rattle on anymore, rather, I’ll let you look at some photos of the museum and also listen to a few videos of my mini-Human chatting about exhibits there. Information about the Dinosaur Museum is at the end. :) Dinosaurs on the highway!
Rubbish bin!
So many to look at and interact with.
Biggest Dino store in Australia!!!
Thanks again to all the wonderful staff at the National Dinosaur Museum! afterDARK tour at Australian National Botanic Gardens- the short of it(let me preface this post with a warning that photos do not do our tour justice!!!)
The only thing I have successfully grown is dandelions. No plant thrives or does what the packet says it should under my care.
We, la Brochure Humaine, received a warm welcome from out hosts at Australian National Botanic Gardens with drinks and a gift as we gathered for our afterDARK tour tonight.
I threw back a tall glass of Lemon Aspen and Lilly Pilly cordial which was an exotic refreshing taste sensation. After being split into small groups ( I was a Wattle!!) each group set off with a guide in front and a shepherd who brought up the rear. Our guide kicked off the tour with: ‘Where else in the heart of a city can you find a rainforest and a desert?’ Indeed!
Here are a couple of highlights from our afterDARK tour.
We were shown a plant that houses a type of spider that only live in rainforests. These particular spiders are thriving here which is indicative of how well this rainforest is doing.
We saw a Wollemia Nobilis- an ancient and rare tree which is another one of the successes of the botanical garden. It is thriving here.
The plant that captured my imagination here was the porcupine grass rings- the centre of it dies early on and suddenly there is a ring of spiky protection around which emus and other animals come to lay their eggs.
We ate: All were amazing!!
I have now been to Australian National Botanic Gardens in the daytime for breakfast and done the child friendly activities; I have gone there for the Sunset Cinema, and now have experienced the afterDARK There are free guided tours here twice a day. Go here to see what events are happening at the Botanic Gardens this month: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/whatson/index.html National Portrait Gallery- the short of it
Tonight we went to the National Portrait Gallery to take a tour of two of its current exhibitions and to hear from award-winning Aussie photographer Peter Brew Bevan. I wish I had encouraged myself to reflect more about the night in advance and let the significance of what a privilege to hear from such an esteemed photographer actually sink in. That way I could have really anticipated the experience and anticipation is half the fun, right). We started off with drinks and more amazing food as we had a very light-hearted and warm welcome from the director. Ok, let me pause to showyou the obligatory food pics. Our delectable canapés were catered by Sharon of Trippas White Group who is also head chef at the National Portrait Gallery. This was a beetroot and goats cheese tartlet with candied walnut. Best pastry, so buttery and crisp. The taste combination was fantastic.
Gruyere and mozzarella Arancini with aioli. Best arancini I have had. Oh, so yum. .
Five spice prawns with lemongrass and chilli dipping sauce.
Seared scallop tomato and fennel salsa and dill. salivaion city.
Then the staff showed us a video of how seriously they take themselves. Must watch!!!
The first exhibition we saw was Portraits From Prime Time. Recognisable Australian faces from both the small and big screen smiled or glowered at us from every wall. 8 photographers took part in this exhibition, one of whom was Peter Brew Bevan.
Each portrait features quotes from the photographer and there are videos to watch as you walk around, letting you get a sense of what the photographer experienced in the process of the photo shoots. I loved this aspect. Portraits tell a story and it was fascinating to hear the backstory of the story.
I had so many favourites. Here is one I really liked:
I especially loved how unique and tangible this next part of the exhibition was. What a fun iconic Australian idea! Quite a few of the portraits made me think of candy; so vibrant and bold in color. Mmmm, candy…..
'A housing for his camera'??? I never knew you could get a mute thingamybob for the camera click!!!
The second exhibition National Photographic Portrait Prize 2014 took my excitement to another level because the subjects were ordinary people photographed extraordinarily well. The ones that really captured my imagination were those more photojournalistic ones that caught the subject halfway through a story and left me wanting to know where they had come from and what is happening to them now. These are a few: It is seriously hard to make this kind of pose look casual and intense. Notice me in the reflection (yup, that is why the pic is really here, haha)
After our look through the exhibitions we sat down to hear the curator interview photographer Peter Brew Bevan. It was an interesting insight into the crazy busy life he leads. We heard how Peter started off on his photographic journey; what it is really like to photograph the stars and we gasped at his hair-raising story of defying death in Jakarta alongside the person he had been commissioned by Reader’s Digest New York to photograph.
It was my first visit to the National Portrait Gallery but I am hooked and will return to look at these two galleries in more depth very soon. If you want to be inspired to photograph differently (whether you hold a $2000 or $50 camera in your hand), GO! Both Portraits From Prime Time and National Photographic Portrait Prize 2014 exhibitions are in the gallery until the 9th of June. Find the information here: http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/gallery.php |
