Eric Conway, D.M.A., Morgan State University Choir, writes:
G'day Mate!
Today was a travel day to
Canberra, Australia - pronounced Can-bra. Canberra is Australia's
capital city and the home of Australia's parliament. Much like our own
U.S. capital, Canberra is a territory, not a state or other political
division. As told by our tour guide, Udo Jungmann, Canberra was created
because the young country of Australia, founded in 1788, could not
decide on whether to have Sydney or Melbourne, Australia's two largest
cities, as its capital. So they decided to create a capital center
somewhere in between this two city regions. Our ride to Canberra was 3
hours.
On the way to Canberra we made a rest
stop in Berrima, a unique and historic village. It was established in
1831 and is the only example of an existing and largely preserved
Australian Georgian colonial town. We enjoyed this quaint little town,
especially the arts and crafts present - like the attached photo of
ducks with colorful boots. One the most interesting sites on the way to
Canberra was lake George. A lake with no water! The lake which must be
at lest 25 miles long, is a extraordinary basin that collects rain when
it rains, to the extent of water perhaps as deep at 20 feet in some
parts when a lake. However, Australia goes through extended periods of
drought, when over time the water evaporates and leaves the lake looking
like a large field, where sheep graze.
Upon
arrival in Canberra, we visited a mall for lunch. This was a huge mall,
perhaps the size of our Arundel Mills Mall, but with two levels!
Although several of the stores in this mall were similar to those in
America, several were uniquely Australian, like the store called
Hairhouse - Warehouse, where one could go wild buying hair!
We
noticed how considerably colder it was than in Sydney. When we arrived
the temperature was 49 degrees. We are told that during the evening,
temperatures get below freezing.
We then drove
up to the highest point in Canberra, Mt. Ainslee Lookout. We passed the
Australian War Memorial on the way, which is has the distinction of
being Australia's most visited museum. We will tour this museum
tomorrow. At the top of the mountain, we had a perfect view, as the day
was especially clear. We took a group photo on the top of the
mountain.
Only in Australia can one be driving
along the highway, and see a mob of kangaroos. Mob is the appropriate
word - see photos attached.
When we reached the
hotel, Dr. Wilson and I, had only minutes to check-in and go to the
radio station for an interview. The radio interview was scheduled to
promote our concert tomorrow, Sunday, June 16, at the Australian
National University. After the radio interview, we traveled to a
welcome reception hosted by Australian American Association (AAA) in
conjunction with the Embassy of the United States. The reception was
held in a gallery of Aborigine Art Work. This gallery is run by
Aborigine artists who were very proud of their work, which was all for
sale. At the beginning of formal event, two Aborigine Didgeridoo
players performed for the reception. Their music making was significant
as the Didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by the Aborigine over
1500 years ago, still played today. Afterwards, the choir sang two
short selections, which was a musical way of saying thank you for the
evening. It also was a great way to announce our concert tomorrow at
the Australian National University. All were encouraged to attend. We
believe that there will be another full house at this concert.
More to come.
Eric Conway
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