Portrait of Deborah Mailman by Evert Ploeg and Alex Dimitriades by Michael Zavros on display at the National Portrait Gallery,Canberra.Credit:Barb Uil
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY
The number of familiar faces in both painting,photography and sculpture here make this the most entertaining and accessible of Australia's art galleries. Among the 1400 movers,shakers and celebrities shown at any one time,you'll find everyone from captains Arthur Phillip and William Bligh to Deborah Mailman and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark,who looks serene and fetching in blue. Current temporary exhibits take a look at the processes and preliminary sketches behind making a portrait,and at rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s,including some brilliant photographs of live gigs in pubs and clubs. Seeportrait.gov.au
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL
Australian War Memorial.Credit:Visit Canberra
Beyond the memorial side to this monument,you'll find exhibition galleries that add context for your visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They house a Lancaster bomber and various other classic aircraft,midget submarine and Gallipoli landing boat. The Gallipoli campaign and its role in defining Australia's sense of nationhood is well explained,as is the importance of air power in the Pacific during World War II and the Korean War. The regular sound-and-light shows are impressive,so too the dioramas of key Australian battle sites such as Lone Pine,Pozières and Ypres. Seeawm.gov.au
NATIONAL DINOSAUR MUSEUM
You can touch a genuine 150 million-year-old dinosaur bone at National Dinosaur Museum.Credit:Visit Canberra
What child – or adult for that matter – doesn't love a good dinosaur? You'll find 23 complete dinosaur skeletons at this museum in northern Canberra,and hundreds of related fossils,some unique. You're even allowed to touch some of the gigantic bones,skulls and authentic fossilised dinosaur dung. Beware the sensor-activated animatronic beasts that spring to life as you walk past. Afterwards the kids can run wild in the recently revamped outdoor space,which has a dinosaur-themed playground and is dotted with replica dinosaurs including a triceratops,tyrannosaurus and other less-known (but delightfully spectacular) species. Seenationaldinosaurmuseum.com.au
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