The Australian sun is good for the autumn blues. Climbing Mount Majura is good on Sunday afternoon. And every squawk of the cockatoo is a reliable daily alarm clock.
All of these experiences I owe to Canberra. I have been living here for over one year now and I know that the capital of Australia is also good for many other reasons.
Here are some of them :
Canberra is good for the name of the capital
city.
Canberra is the result of a compromise which
was made between two cities: Sydney and
Melbourne (what a concept!) . The two battled for the noble title of the most
important city in the country. To underline the rules of democracy, they choose
a place in between. It was... a sheep station. This place was Ngunnawal country
which they called Canberra , Canburry , Kembery , Camberry and sometimes even
Gnabra.
The name of the place however remained an
open question. Names like Sydmelperadbrisho or Meladneyperbane - an amalgam of
the name of each of the capitals were some of the propositions put forward in a
national competition. Some others were less demanding to pronounce:
Shakespeare, Emu, Eucalypta and even Opossum (Olord!)
But the decision was made and the name was
officially announced on March 12, 1913 , when the wife of Governor General Lady
Denman pronounce it with an accent on the first syllable Can-bra. And so
it remained. The young capital heard the sound of its name for the first time.
Next step was to find its meaning.
The discussion revolved around two
possibilities: a meeting place or female breasts. The first seemed more
appropriate for the capital. The latter was confirmed by a Ngunnawal Elder as the term used to refer to the two
mountains surrounding Canberra: Black Mountain and Mount Ainslie. I admit that
I like the second option more, despite the fact that anatomically we'd be
living somewhere in the vicinity of the liver. There is also another
etymological idea behind the name, which is quite accurate: Canberra can mean
berries in a can.
Canberra is good for a walk
Canberran guide books state that this it is
the best city in Australia for walking. It literally has hundreds of trails
that change their appearance with the changing seasons. Because the city is
designed as a large garden in the middle of the Australian bush, every district
reminds me of a park, where wildlife flourishes. Australian native birds: the
majestic black swans, crazy cockatoos and the beautiful plumage of the parrots,
kangaroos, possums and wombats inhabit these beautiful spaces. I love going for
a walk in our park in the evening and observing how the setting sun changes the
fur of the eastern grey kangaroo into the colour of fiery red.
A good pair of walking shoes are a
pre-requisite to fulfil the walker's obligations in Canberra. But there is one
more essential item for the aspiring walker here – a car. Distances between the
trails are big and public transport is
expensive and generally inconvenient. One day I wanted to visit my friend who
lives on the other side of town. The bus journey would have taken me two hours
one way or one hour by bike. I could get there in under 20 minutes by car. In
his book " Down Under” Bill Bryson calls Canberra “the blistering
city". Unaware of his surroundings, he wanted to get to the nearest busy
restaurant on foot. When he got to the next roundabout, which looked like
dozens of previous ones , he decided to turn around and eat dinner at his
hotel, alone. His brilliant observations on Australia's reality remain mostly
valid. Though today, from the hotel
where he stayed, a ten minute walk will take you to Lonsdale Street, where
there is lots to eat, drink and be merry.
Canberra is good for those with a cultural
appetite
It is an incredible feeling to live in a
city that constantly defends itself from allegations. Canberra is somewhat
similar apparently to what the rest of Australia was like thirty odd years ago.
Being a little overawed by Britain's cultural influence, the young country
started looking to define its own identity (watch the fascinating ABC
documentary : The Sounds of Aus). Now
Australia is proud of her individuality and uniqueness. Canberra is a young
city (101 years old ) and experiencing growing pains. She wants to please
people, and develop her own unique character. Situated hundreds of kilometres
from the coast with cool winters and the possibility of snowboarding just
around the corner, it is very different from other, arguably more famous,
Australian coastal cities. I first learned that Canberra had a reputation of
being boring and staid from articles in the local newspaper. Local journalists
who call Canberra home would introduce allegations levelled at the city only to
be deny them with vigour just a paragraph later. The writers highlight the
character and diversity of the city. And they're right, there really is lots to
experience here, partly because Canberra has rich parents who do not refuse her.
Her interior was specially designed from scratch in the architectural style of the late 1900s.
Every single book that has been published in
Australia is on the shelves of the National Library
The world's largest collection of Aboriginal
Art at the National Gallery (more than 7500 objects
Stunning museum commemorating the heroism of the ANZAC soldiers on different fronts and the
Tent Embassy – an aboriginal building, whose wars against colonization are not commemorated in the War Memorial.
The parliamentary building with vast spaces for a lunch date or Sunday afternoon picnic Embassies right under her nose, including the Polish one – very hospitable .
Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve (check out myarticle from our trip there and a link to the photo gallery)
Mountains and walking trails
Namadgi National Park (we have just recently
visited it...so the article will be up soon)
Free Festivals (with their current dates)
Sea of flowers during Floriade in
Commonwealth Park (here a link to our photo gallery )) ( and Festival webpage) - September 13 - October 12
2014Seven scenes filled over three days by
amazing performers during the National Multicultural Festival ( link to thegallery here ) ( and here for part of the festival) - 13 - 15 February 2015
Huge balloons , including her favorite pet
the Skywhale during the Festival of Balloons (link to our photo gallery) (and to the festival webpage ) - 7 - 15 March 2015
Canberra is a diverse and extremely
hospitable city. It was a good year here for us and there's still so much more
to see and do! :)
