The Admiral's Barge for the Queen



On their first full day in Canberra Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip climbed aboard the Admiral's Barge, the most prestigious vessel in the Royal Australian Navy's fleet, for a 35-minute tour of Lake Burley Griffin, where thousands of cheering onlookers had lined the shore in the sunshine to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.

The Royal Barge arriving at Regatta Point with Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

The Admiral's Barge brought the Queen and the Duke to the annual Floriade flower festival, which had closed its doors four days ago, but reopened for the Queen of Australia and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Members from VIP Boat Squadron of the Royal Australian Navy salute Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh as they disembark the Royal Barge on their way to visit Floriade.

Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh walk along the jetty at Regatta Point on their way to Floriade.

The southern hemisphere's biggest flower show, which boasts more than one million blooms, closed to the public on Sunday, but the unfortunate timing could not stand in the way of a royal visit.

Her Majesty The Queen receives a bouquet of flowers from Canberra school children on her way to Floriade.

In order to ensure that the beds were still blooming by the time the Queen arrived today, organisers dispatched a team of 17 gardeners to frantically prune, water and weed out any flowers that had seen better days.

Her Majesty's ship crew: 20111020 Leading Seaman Marine Technician Mathew Guy, the technical sailor onboard the Royal Barge, Leading Seaman Boatswains Mate Dave Herra, member of the gangway party.