Here is the Captain Cook Memorial Waterspout, or is it Jet, we forget, which spews lake water high into the air all the time, for the purpose of aerating the water. It looks sort of impressive and Canberra just wouldn’t be the same without it.

But Australia’s ongoing drought has caused Canberra’s powers that be to turn off a whole lot of water, which makes some things look a little strange.

For instance, the forecourt of Parliament House features a circular pond with an island in the middle, and normally it looks like this (when you crouch down and look at it from about knee-high):

But the pond has been drained and fenced off to prevent people falling in it, which makes it something of an eyesore:

Likewise, the fascinating waterfall down the steps in front of the High Court, the metallic fountain in the city centre, the ponds in the garden of Old Parliament House, and many other others, are dry and dismal.

This is how the High Court steps looked last year. This year we didn’t take a picture because it looked so depressing.

Fortunately, the main lawn of Parliament House, which is on the roof, is being watered and mown regularly, and still looks green and lush.

Other grassy areas aren’t so lucky. Here’s the view from a pedestrian overpass over the highway. It made Tony thirsty just looking at it.

This is one edge of Commonwealth Park, just outside the Floriade venue, where we waited under a thirsty tree for a bus.

And many of the animals at the zoo are surrounded by parched earth.

It was a surprise to see Canberra looking even dryer (or is it drier) than our place.

For more info on Australia’s drought, click here: > http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article2465960.ece