Copyright: Jurgen Brauer, Augusta, Georgia, USA

1. For the summer of 2005, I accepted an offer to assume a visiting professorship at the School of Business of the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, Australia (i.e., winter in Australia). Here are some photographs and stories. The picture below was taken just after lift-off from Sydney International Airport on the way to Canberra.

2. One among the many pleasing aspects of my stay was that the winter sky over Canberra was absolutely clear (no pollution, no haze) and offered brilliant sunlight and colors. Here is an early morning view taken from my apartment (or 'flat' as the Aussies call it).

3. And here an evening view, also from my apartment window ...

4. Another enjoyable part of my stay was that my university office was a pleasant 20-minute walk from the flat in the Campbell neighborhood (below). A bright day and rarely a moving car to be seen!

5. The walk to the university involved a short hike across a knoll where early morning sightings of kangaroos could be had.

6. Not quite a 100 years ago, Canberra was stamped out of the Australian outback. An international design competition was won by the American architect and city-planner Burley-Griffin, after whom Lake Burley-Griffin is now named. Created by damming a river, it forms the centerpiece around which the city lies. Here is one view of the lake; in the far distance a bridge crossing may be seen.

7. Canberra is pedestrian friendly; good for me as I had no car and enjoy walking. Virtually every weekend (and on many weekdays) I would be out and about visiting the sights. One of the first visits was to Parliament House. The picture below shows Australia's national emblems, the kangaroo and emu, mounted on top of the building. These animals were chosen, or so the story goes, because neither is said to be able to walk backwards.

8. The Senate chamber inside Parliament House.

9. For a forward-looking nation, Australia does an awful lot of looking back as well, epitomized by the immense popularity of the Australian War Memorial.

10. The 'founding myth' of Australia is tied up with the death of nearly 9,000 Australians, in 1915, on the shores of the Turkish peninsula Gallipolli. In that futile 8-months long campaign virtually every Australian family lost a relative, an event as defining for Australia as the American Revolution for American. Inside the War Memorial, the names of all Australia's war dead are listed, some 60,000 in all.

11. The Memorial houses an exquisite collection of materials and a well-respected research branch. Among the artifacts are a German World War II fighter airplane, the ME-109 ...

12. ... and a Lancaster bomber, used by the Brits and its allies to conduct bombing raids over Germany and the territories it occupied. This particular aircraft flew 89 missions, an unusually high number to survive.

13. The old Parliament House now serves as a museum and gallery space. The front law, however, is used for more contemporary purposes, here a permament demonstration regarding indigenous people's rights by Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, the original inhabitants of Australia and its waters.

14. The Torres Strait is the waterway between the northern-most tip of Australia and the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. As may be seen in the photograph below, Australia claims virtually the whole of the Strait.

15. The Questacon - or National Science and Technology Centre - is Canberra's hands-on science museum (one of the very few public buildings that charge an entry fee).

16. A large building, it is dominated by a multi-floor sprial tower, seen in the picture below. Each floor branches off into various exhibits where the kids (and adults) can play with science and technology set-ups.

17. Australia's High Court (or Supreme Court) is an imposing building, fronted with flags from a variety of nations.

18. Inside, the building is spacious and modern. It houses three court rooms, administrative offices, and of course an immense law library.

19. Next door to the High Court lies the National Gallery where one is greeted by a sculpture of Earth (I take it), strung up high above the entrance.

20. Inside, surprise, a US$2 million acquisition, Blue Poles, by American abstract-expressionist artist Jackson Pollock, famous for his drip-paint work. (I once had the pleasure of visiting Pollock's work place on Long Island, New York.) 

21. Of course, the National Gallery houses Australian art as well. Below, "an installation of 200 painted hollow log coffins by the artists of Ramingining in Arnhem Land."

22. Outside the Gallery lies the sculpture garden where the piece photographed below attracted my particular attention. I wanted to take this shot at "eye-level," and to do so lay on my belly at the water's edge. I have no idea what the sculpture is meant to convey, but I like my photograph.

23. One day I decided to take the public bus to downtown, walk across the campus of the Australian National University (where I later gave a lecture) and make my way to the Botanical Garden. It being winter, not much was in bloom but in the hot house I found water lilies ...

24. ... and orchids ...

25. ... and this brilliant fellow of a flower.

26. Exit the garden's back door and off in the bush I go. My aim was to climb Black Mountain and capture a view of Canberra from on high. Hereunder a picture about halfway up the climb. The fountain in the center-left is Cook fountain (named after Capt. James Cook, of explorer fame); the bridge connects North and South Canberra. To the right of the fountain, way in the distance, is a second bridge. Keep it in mind for a moment.

27. On my way up Black Mountain I came across this burned area, still smelling of a fresh fire. Canberra suffered a terrible summer fire in January 2003 that threatened to engulf the whole of the city.

28. A view of Black Mountain (from the second bridge), topped by Telstra Tower. Telstra is an Australian telecommunications company, and the tower serves that purpose but also serves as a popular tourist spot, complete with museum and restaurant with view of the city. The wind blows the Cook Fountain spray across Lake Burley-Griffin.

29. The lake dominates the city. Here a view of the National Library.

30. One of the lake's peninsulas forms the location of the National Museum of Australia which features the country's environment, its people, and their statehood. The land's natural beauty, sadly, is facing many challenges including that of species extinction - an "endling," below, is the last surviving member of a species of animal.

31. Hereunder, however, a rather more ample species .. parrots were everywhere, this pair spending a lovely evening on the roof, as seen from my apartment.

32. Black Mountain was just one of three I climbed around the city. The view below is taken from Mt. Ainsley which I walked up on a Sunday morning. Another mountain is Mt. Pleasant, near the Defence Force Academy.

33. A burned-out tree makes for a nice composition ...

34. ... and offers a close-up opportunity as well.

35. And so does this tree fork ...

36. ... and this shot of a mossy patch by the lake.

37. One weekend I took a walk up Mt. Pleasant, then back down, and came upon an old dairy farm (not in use anymore), and then to the east end of Lake Burley-Griffin. Hereunder the view ... and to think that this is in a nation's capital city.

38. Above the lake was a helicopter chugging along as it carried an advertisement perhaps 20 times the size of the helicopter itself. In fact, the chopper moved so slowly and the engine sounded so tortured that I was getting concerned for the crew.

39. Back down on earth, a bit of wind whipped up the lake surface, here with a view onto the Carillion, a gift of Britain to Australia. Its bells are played by artists from around the world.

40. As the nation's capital, Canberra is full with public buildings, monuments, and memorials. Hereunder, a memorial given by New Zealand to Australia. It symbolizes a basket handle (the other handle is across the street) in commemoration of the two countries' joint war-fighting effort in World War I.

41. An inscription along the walkway leading up to the memorial reads "Each of us at a handle of the basket."

42. Here's another memorial, this one in recognition and honor of the nation's emergency response services.

43. Canberra brims with wide-open and green spaces. Here is a view of greenery along the lake.

44. A close-up shot ...

45. ... and hereunder a view of Mt. Ainsley, taken on the 20-minute walk from my apartment to downtown toward a conference center at which I attended a couple of conferences. Nature everywhere.

46. And, finally, a photograph of a daily sight of common vegetation planted around homes in the Campbell neighborhood. I still have a hard time believing the extraordinary brilliance of Canberra's winter colors.

The end.