The rain held off until mid-morning yesterday, about the time we set off up to Gungahlin to stock up with perishables and more. Back home over lunch, we watched out the window as caravans poured into the camp for a Caravan Club Rally to take place over the next week and set up camp, wrapped in coats and boots; hardly the gear one hopes to wear at the big annual social event for many.
We mulled over our options for the afternoon, one option to just stay in and read and do admin chores, but in the end opted to go see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. This had been on our to-do list ever since it premiered here in Australia about six weeks ago, however it was only today that the stars were aligned; rain and a session that did not interfere with our preferred meal times or call for us to venture out in the dark. It was showing at a theatre in the suburb of Manuka, very close to Parliament House. We parked some distance from the centre of the village and walked along the edge of the loveliest park back to the theatre. What a lovely area Manuka is! And what a wonderful movie! Chris came under sufferance but he too had to admit that it was a most enjoyable film. The rain had eased when we emerged minutes before five, and the drive home through peak hour traffic was no drama at all. Canberra is a wonderful place to drive around.
By the time we opened the blinds this morning, the sun was shining and there was little evidence of the wet weather of the previous day. We headed back into the city, across the lake and into the parliamentary precinct, but this time to the National Portrait Gallery. This is the newest building in the area for over twenty years, having only opened in December 2008. Prior to that, the four hundred art works now exhibited here were hanging in the Old Parliament and other galleries around the country. Today they are all brought together to acknowledge the celebrities of this nation, people who have stood out in life including artists, musicians, entertainers, politicians, sports people, royalty, explorers, scientists, epidemiologists, writers and philanthropists. There is also a temporary exhibition of entries to the National Photographic Portrait competition; wonderful photos of ordinary people, all worthy of their place on the walls. We joined a brief tour about the gallery late in the morning, which unlike those offered in the other art gallery, was really just a series of directions to various aspects of the gallery and how to understand the layout. As the only members of the tour, we did utilise the guides’ expertise for answers to some questions however she seemed restricted to a particular time and we were hardly in a position to delay her.
There are excellent biographies or obituaries beside each portrait, and often just enough to whet one’s appetite for more. I have to admit to spending more time reading this information rather than examining and appreciating the art works itself, and so personally, I could easily return to the gallery and view it all again from another perspective; enjoying the visual experience rather than absorbing the volumes of history.
We left the gallery at 4 pm having spent almost five hours there but probably will not return, at least not this trip.
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