Page 1501 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
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about our city. The setting for the festival is a humble car park in the midst of commercial buildings in Barton. It may not sound like much, but the creative minds of Belinda, Tim and their team completely transform this car park.
The scene was set by twinkling lights and colourful flags fluttering in the breeze. Beneath this festive halo, vans abounded selling some of Canberra’s finest food and beverages. Gourmet kitchens, local breweries, vineyards and distilleries were all represented alongside beautiful crafts and other local wares.
The spirit of Canberra at The Forage is always palpable as people explore the area, sampling the offerings and sharing delicious food. The atmosphere is relaxed and fun, accented by laughter and children playing. Local musicians created a sound track to the festivities gracing The Forage stage throughout the afternoon and into the night.
The crowd gathered around to listen and kids brought out their best moves on the dance floor. As the evening wrapped up, people left with full bellies and big smiles. I assume that they, like me, were utterly content after a night of friends, good food and live music.
This event is symbolic of the Canberra that I have come to know and love, the Canberra that offers world-class food and entertainment in an unassuming, relaxed environment; the Canberra that is festive and friendly; and the Canberra that is home to a burgeoning crowd of entrepreneurs who are taking the plunge to start their own businesses, whether it is a local distillery or a tea company, and bringing their products to an excited audience of locals. I can wholeheartedly say that The Forage was and is a fantastic event. I highly recommend that we all make attending the next event on 1 July a priority.
Namadgi National Park
MS LEE (Kurrajong) (5.41): As anyone who has seen any of my social media posts will know, I have been taking full advantage of my role as shadow minister for the environment to get up close and personal with what Canberra has to offer as our bush capital. Last month I had the pleasure of going on a hike with members of the National Parks Association to Yankee Hat in Namadgi National Park. It was a great opportunity to see both the natural beauty of Namadgi and the Indigenous rock art located at Yankee Hat, all of which is just over an hour from the centre of Canberra right here in the ACT.
Yankee Hat is one of only three sites of Aboriginal rock art in the ACT. There is evidence to suggest that the camp site and art at Yankee Hat is at least 800 years old, but could be as much as 3,700 years old. This is but a short time when we consider that our Indigenous Australians have been living in the Canberra region for as long as 21,000 years.
The paintings are on the side of a large granite boulder which has been weathered by the elements and rounded off by repeated heating and cooling. The paintings depict Australian animals and human figures, together with some figures that are open to
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