Tag Archives: #australia

Money, Money, Money and Royal Australian Mint, Canberra

Have you ever wondered where Australia makes its unique coin currency? During our recent trip to Canberra, we decided that one of our “things for free” stops would be the Royal Australian Mint.

Before my visit to the Royal Australian Mint, I honestly thought “how interesting can this be?” We are basically going to the place where our coins are produced. Fortunately, I was misplaced in my original thoughts because I learnt the Royal Australian Mint produces more than just our everyday coinage.

Canberra Mint
Australia’s Coat of Arms on the Royal Australian Mint Building

The Royal Australian Mint is a relatively small building compared to other attractions in Canberra. Entry is via the ground floor with a reception desk, cafeteria and gift shop all located at this level. So, after your visit, sit and have a coffee or a quick bite to eat. Browse the merchandise from the gift shop and be amazed by what things they have available for purchase.

Canberra Mint
Customers browsing the Royal Mint shop, deciding what they should buy.

The main viewing area is located on the second level, so climb the stairs filled with money and make your way to the first displays. Their displays show how our coins were designed and the impressive artwork of how the designers envisioned the final product to look. Take a look at the now defunct one and two cent coins or the rare two-hundred-dollar coin.

Canberra Mint
Staircase of 5 cent pieces.

Continue to make your way around the exhibit and enter the medal area. The Royal Australian Mint is tasked with creating numerous awards and medals. From military service medals to the medals you may have seen at the Sydney Olympic Games or the upcoming Commonwealth Games. They also create special edition coins and the Australia Day awards given to our most deserving.

Canberra Mint
The gold and bronze medals from the Sydney Olympic games. The silver medal was resting on this day.

Once through this area you can look at how the coins are made from the viewing platforms into the various workshops. From Royal Australian Mint employees checking each coin for flaws to the sorting and packaging machines. I must admit I was a little mesmerised by the automatic machine doing its little dance as it tipped a barrel of coins into the sorting hopper.

Canberra Mint
Titan bowing down next to the hopper full of golden coins.

The Royal Australian Mint is an interesting place to visit and it is amazing what their coins commemorate. All coins are available for purchase from their shop or online, like this $1695 silver coin celebrating the Year of the Rooster for Chinese New Year.

Canberra Mint
Year of the Rooster commemorative coin. It could be yours for $1695.

As I mentioned earlier it’s not a huge place so young children shouldn’t get bored to quickly. We spent about an hour there and that included sitting down for coffee at the cafeteria. So, head to the Royal Australian Mint buy a souvenir coin and tell them Simon from Ourworldinreview Sent you!

Additional Information for the Royal Australian Mint

Denison Street, Deakin ACT 2600
Ph. (02) 6202 6999
Website: www.ramint.gov.au

Opening Hours
Mon-Fri: 8.30 am to 5 pm
Sat, Sun and Public Holidays: 10 am to 4 pm

The Mint is closed on Christmas Day and Good Friday.

Entry is FREE

Public Tours
Free public tours are run seven days a week.

Mon-Fri: 10 am and 2 pm
Sat, Sun and Public Holidays: 11 am, 1 pm and 2 pm

Accommodation is available in Canberra

www.booking.com

*Post contains affiliate links

Inspired by the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Australia’s capital, Canberra has so much to offer tourists. This well designed city stretches out over the lush landscape providing visitors and residents with a picturesque city. From the top of Mt. Ainslie one can see the major sites of Canberra from the Australian War Memorial down ANZAC Parade to Australia’s Parliament House. Canberra is the home to some great artistic and historical attractions. Personally, I don’t think you should visit Canberra without seeing the National Museum of Australia, the National Gallery of Australia, the old and new Parliament Houses or the Australian War Memorial. Getting to these sites is relatively easy and the best thing of all is many of them are free.

Mt Ainslie from the war memorial to parliament house
Looking down from Mt Ainslie

On this trip Ourworldinreview came to Canberra to experience as many of these free attractions as possible starting with the National Gallery of Australia. The gallery is located in Parkes and houses some of the finest pieces of domestic and international art of our time.

Canberra art gallery
Fabulous art pieces spread out along corridors and rooms inside the National Art Gallery

Upon entry, this large building opens up exposing the main visitor area. To the right is the art galleries souvenir store and to the left is the entrance to their visiting exhibition. In this case their current exhibit is the Versailles collection: Treasures from the Palace running until the 17th April 2017.

The National Art Gallery contains masterpieces from some of history’s most well known artists. From international greats like Cezanne, Monet, Warhol and Pollock, to Australia’s own Sidney Nolan and Arthur Streeton.

Art Gallery Canberra
Sidney Nolan’s Burning at Glenrowan
Canberra Art Gallery
Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles
Canberra art gallery
Claude Monet’s Waterlilies

Take your time walking down the corridors and through the rooms to see these magnificent works of yesteryear. Additionally, make sure to check out the ideas of today’s upcoming artists, because some of their pieces are fascinating.

Depending on how much you like art, you can easily spend a few hours investigating the corridors. Don’t worry if you’re hungry, as the National Gallery of Australia to gallery has two cafes so you can  rest those weary legs. Their Street cafe is located outside the main entrance and the NGA cafe can be found on the lower ground floor.

Additional Information for the National Gallery of Australia

Parkes Place, Parkes ACT 2600
Ph. (02) 6240 6411
Website: www.nga.gov.au

Trading Hours

Daily 10:00am – 05:00pm (except Christmas Day)

Entry Fee

Free to main gallery

Visiting Exhibit – Versailles: Treasures from the Palace

Accommodation is available in Canberra

www.booking.com

*Post contains affiliate links

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Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary – A Gold Coast Must-See

I have travelled to the Gold Coast in Queensland many times. Most of the trips have been for my kids to participate in competitions for their various sports, but we have always stayed on or had time for some tourist activities. In November during our visit, we went to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary for the first time. Here are my thoughts.

The Gold Coast is synonymous with a few things in Australia – sun, surf, theme parks! After spending some time on the beach, most people that come here immediately fill their days with the thrills of the theme parks. Sure, we have done that too in the past, but really themes parks are not our thing, so we were looking for something else to do for a day.

We had got as far as the carpark a few years ago. There was a short time between other commitments that we wanted to fill in and we had membership at the Adelaide Zoo. The membership gave us reciprocal entry rights at other zoos around Australia. Unfortunately Currumbin isn’t one of them, and for such a short visit the admission price was just not worth it.

Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary houses Australian native animals. Pretty much any you can think of will be here. The sanctuary is huge, with lots of shady trees. This is perfect to keep the hot Queensland sun off while visiting.

Walkways
Shady walkways to protect from the heat

The first thing we noticed about Currumbin was that it was BIG! No small cages here. There are also some big spaces between the displays. Luckily there is also a little tram to jump on to get from area to area if you prefer. We initially chose to walk rather than get on the tram. The gates had just opened when we arrived. The walk was  peaceful and felt like it was just us and the trees.

Birds
Birds in the aviary

After passing through an aviary, we came to a kids playground area. There were many things to climb on and play with. All had an educational twist to them, with games and challenges. There was a huge spiders web and a gecko wall for climbing on and dinosaur bones buried in the sandpit. As I sat down on the crocodile below a motion-sensored speaker started telling me about the huge reptiles! I was not expecting it and it made me jump so much I nearly fell off the crocodile!

Playground
Entrance to the playground – big kids allowed too!
Crocodile
Luckily that crocodile is not real

Currumbin has an extensive list of wildlife shows and displays that occur throughout the day. There are various animal displays, shearing displays, and cultural displays. We happened to wander past as the Free Flight Bird Show was on and we watched for about 15 minutes as birds flew over our heads. At least, they were mostly just over our heads. They were so close we could feel the wind as they went past, and occasionally got a wing in the head as well. I think we picked the cheap seats 🙂

bird show
Free flight bird show
Pelican
The pelican got lunch too

After the bird show we got swept along with the crowd to the reptile show. Here we got up and cosy with some lizards and snakes. Or at least as close as I like to get. Yes, they let them loose, including a couple a big venomous snakes! I was too busy paying attention to them staying on their own side of the barrier though to remember exactly what sort of snakes they were.

Snake
A snake – no further info matters!

After each of the shows there were opportunities to have photos taken with the animals involved. There was another dedicated area we saw that also had various animals during the day for visitors to get up and close with and have photos too.

One of the most interesting parts of Currumbin for me was the animal hospital. I loved how they had glass walls so you could stay and watch actual procedures taking place. There was nothing happening as I was there. The vets had just woken up a koala. Next there was a turtle about to go in to get his shell mended. I was too busy watching, and didn’t even think about taking a photo!

Tasmanian devil
Tasmanian devil hiding in the undergrowth
Echidna
Echidna
Galah
Galah and friend
Crocodile
That crocodile is nearly as big as the fake one I’m sitting on!
Koala
Nap time

We meandered through to bush visiting some more animals along the way, and soon came to a huge open area where kangaroos roamed freely. We bought a small cup of food and then hand fed a kangaroo or two. They weren’t all that interested though – I think many others before us had also fed them. The kangaroos happily played in the shade while we patted them.

Kangaroo feeding area
Kangaroo feeding area
Kangaroo
Patting the kangaroo

While we were enjoying walking around, we couldn’t leave without a tram ride, so we hopped on the tram thinking we would do a whole loop and then again walk back from where we were. Unfortunately the tram didn’t do a full loop, so in the end we got off back near the entrance/exit.

Tram
The tram. Each one had a different engine.

We had been looking forward to this moment all day! Now was when we were going to hold a koala! Until now, I had never done this, but there was no lineup, and the others I was with REALLY wanted to do it. I thought the koalas would be quite solid and heavy, but really they weren’t. The one we held was soft, but those claws gripping on to me meant business. I would not like to be on their receiving end if the koala got angry.

Holding koala
I got to hold a koala!
Koala
Bailey did too!

Overall this was a really enjoyable few hours. Being Australian, I have seen all of these animals many times over and interacted with some of them at nearly every zoo. It is quite common to be able to feed kangaroos almost everywhere! Still, it was fun. Our visit was entertaining throughout and I did not feel bored or tired of walking. The highlight was holding the koala.

Additional Information

28 Tomewin Street, Currumbin QLD 4223
Ph: +61-7-5534-1266
Website: www.cws.org.au

Book your stay on the Gold Coast

Budget Tip: Do a Google search for vouchers or discounts. I was able to buy a 4 person ticket at about 35% off the regular prices.

*This post contains an affiliate link

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