Ye Olde (Miniature) England At Cockington Green Gardens

Think a big miniature golf course without the golf. An elaborate model train set without the trains. OK, one train. Cockington Green Gardens in Canberra is a cute, throwback type of attraction, just lovingly detailed model after model of examples of iconic English architecture.

Here's Lavenham, known for its leaning buildings.

Quaint. Cockington village, the namesake for the gardens. Modern village example, a row of council houses, a style quickly built after WWII.

There's that train, doing the commute around the lake.

A little gentleman's cricket match on the village pitch. Country church wedding.

Ole! Attending a CG (Cockington Green) FC game.

Cute details. Commerce on an early canal. Getting rough in a golf game.

No miniature of England is complete without a little Stonehenge. With picnicking friars.

Building With Lego Bricks At Questacon

Questacon is a science, children's museum in Canberra and it frequently hosts cool shows for kids of all ages. Lego is always cool.

Solar system with nifty cutaways.

Adorable dog in space. Laika, is that you? Adorable human in space. Yuri Gagarin, is that you?

Great moments in bridge engineering.

Mission control in Houston with giant, red phones. There was a great section of women pioneers in various scientific fields. Who knew that famed actress Hedy Lamarr was crucial to the development of radio signals and modern Wi-Fi? Look it up!

Getting arty, trippy. Some animal illustrations and 3D illusions.

Going To Canberra Comic-Con

Get your cosplay on! Is that the right term? Sarah and James are old and out of touch. Time to get hip, get geeked, get freaked, time to go to a Comic-Con show.

If you meet a woman with bright blue hair and a giant pistol thingie, you're in the right place.

Artwork and stickers are everywhere. And with a wink. Big butt capybaras and weapons of choice for a riot. Super Mario Brothers, (over) indulging an evening beverage. 

No bones about it, if you have to ask...

Comic-Con is the perfect place for a rampaging knight to pick up a spare iron maiden, just need to find the right booth. Make sure your hair matches your cosmic shirt.

Of course, a Back to the Future movie DeLorean makes an appearance.

Seeing Green At The Australian National Botanic Gardens

One of the advantages of living in a capital city is the primo attractions, especially if the said city only has about 500k population. Always things to do, the city punching above its peeps' weight.

Canberra is a bit of a dry climate, kind of perfect for a botanic garden. Just add the right amount of water and one can create all the biodiversity of the country.

Stay to the path, bring your camera and enjoy the blooming flora.

Rocking and bursting with color. What the..? Life size sculpture of a cassowary. Kind of an ostrich dressed for a party. With a claw like a dino. Best to view at a distance or in metal form.

Add a lot of water and, presto!, a rain forest section, full of lush ferns.

Ahh, the iconic banksia flower, all cone shaped and colorful. So lovely, banksia as rusted panels by a fire pit look great.

Getting out there, to the outback. Visitors braving Mars, otherwise labeled the Red Center garden.

Open House With The Governor General

The Governor General of Australia opens their grand house once a year to the general public, the hoi polloi, maybe a few bogans. Anyone can wander the grounds, walk through the house, imagine what it's like to be hosted by the closest thing Australia has to royalty.

The big, lush, green lawn leads to the big house.

Before heading inside, the grounds are a good place to wander, lots of paths and sculptures. "Everybody into the pool!" One day a year means a bit of a land rush to go through the house. "Stay away from the stubbies in the liquor cabinet!"

Big dining room. Sarah, looking at the name tags and thinking to herself, "They forgot the H in my first name and butchered my last name. Again."

Domestic details. Guest book, signed by some UK bigwigs, Chuck and Cami. Art with a nod to Aussie heritage, wool.

Back outside, a lovely day for rubbing elbows and downing snags.

The National Arboretum In Canberra

Apologies to the great Joni Mitchell, Canberra does have a tree museum. And they didn't have to pave paradise to build their arboretum. Quite the opposite, the arboretum sits on land heavily burned in bush fires and in need of natural help. Plant 10,000 trees and start a museum.

Grand entrance to the visitor center. Fun for families.

The center includes a nice cafe and a stunning view of the arboretum and all of Canberra. Cool playground, big acorn seeds around which to climb.

Big lawn, big fun. Good for wearing out children.

Oh, you want to see some of the trees, OK. Wattle season brings out lots of yellow blooms. Bonsai season brings out tiny trees. Wait, that's not right.

Instagram stop, a giant sculpture of squiggly script, titled, "Wide Brown Land." It's inspired by a famous Australian poem by Dorthea Mackellar, "My Country."

Details Of Canberra

Suburban cities can look a little like David Lynch's film, Blue Velvet. Bucolic beauty with an undercurrent of menace. How menacing is Canberra?

Skate park and dam, divergent uses of concrete in similar forms.

Dumped KFC meal. Highway underpass, dark.

Lost shopping cart.

Discarded sunglasses. Hard trim.

Lawn girl.