A National Treasure for the Future

My cousin recommended that we go to the National Arboretum and we thought - Nah.

But we are so glad we took his advice as it was wonderful!

Such a beautiful public space for the people of Canberra - for the people of Australia too!

The National Arboretum Canberra is a 250-hectare (618 acre) arboretum in Canberra, 

the national capital of Australia, created after the area was burned out as a 

result of the Christmas 2001 and 2003 Canberra bushfires

 The Himalayan Cedar forest lost about one third of its trees, and the commercial Radiata Pine plantation was burned out, allowing the arboretum to be created. 

In 2004, the Government of the Australian Capital Territory held a nationwide competition for an arboretum, which was to be part of the recovery from the 2003 bushfires.

The winning design proposed 100 forests and 100 gardens 

focussing on threatened, rare, and symbolic trees from around the world. 

Wikipedia

It will be amazing in 50 years time when all these little trees become a forrest,
we won't be around to see that!
A bit like some of the folk that started these Bonsai's below.

And I can't resist a photo of a pretty gum blossom.

The sculptures were great as well.
Below is the eagles nest

 The nest is made of found objects.

 And there were lots of references to the Dorothea Mackellar poem - My Country.

My Country
 I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me! 

Dorothea Mackellar, 1908

 Above is the wide brown land sculpture.