From the air

Another guest image today, this time from Tracey Best, who took this photo of Parliament House (the 'new' one) from a hot air balloon on Saturday morning. The House of Representatives chamber is under the closer red roof, and the Senate is on the other side of the flagpole. The Ministers' and Prime Minister's offices are in the central area on the left.

The building is 300 metres wide by 300 metres long, cost approximately $1.1 billion, and took nearly eight years to complete. It is designed to last at least 200 years. Like Canberra itself, the design came from an international competition, which attracted 329 entries.

When Parliament is in session, about 3000 people work in this building, which is one of the largest in the Southern hemisphere.