Canberra Fanberras'

“I have planned a city not like any other city in the world. I have planned it not in a way that I expected any government authority in the world would accept. I have planned an ideal city - a city that meets my idea of the city of the future” - Walter Burley Griffin.

And yes dear readers we are in Canberra…or were.

Having left Moruya we decided on a diversion from the coast as Canberra was only just up the Kings Highway. Given it is the Australian Capital State we felt we should and also it gave us a great excuse to catch up with the Yamasaki family (Shuji, Alison and Miho) who also, kindly, provided us with a flat driveway. We first met them, and Alison’s brother Andrew, courtesy of Derek and Irene in Kangaroo Valley.

They have been amazingly generous with their hospitality and sharing their homes in Canberra and the Snowy Mountains over the last 10 days.  At the end of the blog, incase anyone was concerned, we have more ‘plaques on rocks’ and ‘statues on rocks’ and ‘plaques on statues’.

First stop on arrival into the Capital city had to be the ‘Houses of Parliament’ building which is pretty awesome as Parliament buildings go. It is not the original one which, apparently, became too small to fit all the MPs in, despite trying to cram them into cupboards for offices! You can still tour the old building, as well as the current one, and we had done both previously so no further requirement other than a quick snap in the van right outside it (and before the armed security could catch us).

Second stop was Reconciliation Park next to Lake Burley Griffin (named after the Canberra designer as above quote). This park was hosting the Night Noodle Markets and it must have been a sign as right next to it was the Canberra based, Bent Spoke Brewery pop-up bar; and in perfect symmetry they produce a particularly good beer called a Barley Griffin.

The Beer

The Lake & The Dog

Third stop was our Yamasaki pop up home where we based ourselves to try and see the most of Canberra ,and despite its’ best efforts to throw all manner of weather at us. There was double the amount of average rainfall for the week and so we were very glad we had museums planned. And even more thankfully Dennis got on very well with Katie,the family dog, which enabled us to leave him occasionally.

The arrival of the rain also meant a definite change in temperature resulting in a trip to that other very cultural establishment….IKEA ! As we are deprived of IKEA in New Zealand it was rude not to, and the fleecy blanket was $25 very well spent as later on in our visit temperatures dropped below 10deg c! Dennis was very appreciative…

It is fair to say that we were extremely impressed with Canberra and what it has to offer. The ease in which we were able to drive around the city never failed to impress, and also the amount of parks and green spaces, as well as numerous cycle and walking paths. As you might imagine our budget welcomes free stuff so outdoor activities and Museums with free entry were winners.

The first morning we had a rather warm walk up Mount Ainslie with Dennis. I had been up to the viewpoint a number of years ago but in a vehicle - this was never going to be an option with Von or to satisfy our goal of at least a 10,000 steps a day. The mountain was named after James Ainslie who came here in 1825 with a flock of sheep he was delivering from Bathurst. It is also the starting section of a 320 kilometre Remembrance Drive from Canberra through to Sydney which has been planted with native trees and plants to specifically commemorate Australian service personnel who’ve served in various wars over the years.This walking section detailed the route of the Kokoda Track (thankfully not as muddy!) and was a very well made path to the top. And just when you thought the wildlife and weather hadn’t killed you there was always the threat of an unexploded device !

The view from the summit, however, is outstanding and really shows the great design of the City. There is a plaque dedicated to Maria Mahony Griffin, architect, and wife of Walter Burley Griffin. It is said that her painting of the vision of Canberra was pivotal in her husbands winning entry #29 in the competition to design the Federal Capital city of the Australian Commonwealth 1911/12.

The walk is a 90 minute return although it was apparent that a number of people were using it as a training run and did it twice (!!) We did not….

We collected a triangle of views of the city; one of which was the Black Mountain which houses the Telstra tower (and will admit to driving to the top).  The tower looks a little similar to the Sky Tower in Auckland and is the main transmitter for the Canberra region. The other view was just behind where we were staying at Red Hill and provided us with a ‘painted thing’ as we were bereft of silos….this was an electricity sub-station which now resembled a Tardis.

In fairness I should also mention the amazing view we had from the National Arboretum too. 

The arboretum is relatively new and I am sure that in 20/30 years time will be even more amazing once all the trees are fully grown. There is an incredible array of Bonsai housed in the visitors centre which we managed a quick look at. We arrived just as they were closing.

A work in progress, but one which satisfied our plaques on rocks, was the National Rock garden. Yep it was a line of 12 rocks with plaques on.  Fantastic.

Tuesday’s walk found us striding around the mid section of Lake Burley Griffin. There are a series of walks, three smaller ones or a combination of them all. The whole walk around the entire lake is 7 hours. 
We opted for the bridge to bridge bit. It’s a shared cycle/walking path so you do have to keep your wits about you and Dennis was kept on a short lead as he has a tendency to dart from one side of the footpath to the other. Great walk though and we had deliberately got up early and so breakfasted on completion in our house on wheels!

One thing Canberra has confirmed for us is the ease in which we can ‘up and go’ with the van and, due to its size, it is relatively simple to park. Although slightly longer than an average car park, with some nifty manoeuvring we usually manage. 

Cilla proved her worth the following day when the weather took a decidedly wet turn. We still decided on a walk along Anzac Parade with Dennis, but had the knowledge of heating in the van, which doubles as a drying room in the shower, and an ability to instantly brew up a hot cuppa for good measure.

The Anzac Parade walk is impressive, rainy or not, and is the home of some amazing sculptures to commemorate the Armed and Civil Services. Almost too many to show on here but most definitely fulfilled the remit of ‘people on horseback on statues’.

By far the most impressive was the Australian Navy Memorial which combined use of water within the sculpture to quite dramatic effect. The larger than life-size montage of the Army Light Brigade which appeared to be riding down the bank at us was nearly as good.

We were both struck by the beautiful New Zealand gifted memorial to their relationship with Australia at the opening of the parade, which resembled a basket with a handle on either side of the road.
Despite becoming exceedingly soaked to the skin, we enjoyed the walk and were happy to dry off and change in the van before visiting the War Memorial. This is also a stunning piece of architecture and quite moving.

Canberra has certainly left us wanting more and so I am sure we will have to factor a return trip...

The weekend just gone had been Canberra’s Long Weekend so public holiday on the Monday. We were very fortunate to be invited to Andrew’s country cottage (although he would be absent) with our host family. 

The cottage lies about 40 kilometres outside a town called Cooma on the fringes of the Monaro Region in the Snowy Mountains. Andrew was very lucky not to lose it in the recent bushfires and the fire preparations along the dirt road approach were very evident. 
Thankfully with all the rain it is very green however, the dirt track to his property has some severe corrugations. Corrugations, as my Mum will remember from her trip in the outback, are rutted sections of dirt road that have been caused by large, heavy wheeled vehicles. The ruts can vary in depth dependent on the vehicles that use it and you can only pray that your suspension and shock absorbers are fit for purpose.The corrugations do periodically get ‘graded’ i.e shaved off by a vehicle that resembles a snow plough . Given the ruts were made by the voluntary fire service and the like, in order to reach some of these areas to protect them from fire, we can’t complain too much. There is constant debate on the optimum speed in which you should drive them; some suggest speed to give the effect of riding over them. I’m not convinced ,and so the last 17km to the property gave our #securedforsea some serious testing. I’m pleased to say that Cilla fared pretty well - nothing fell off, and the strengthened suspension, as part of the ‘remote’ package on the van, held up. As to Dennis and ourselves, spinal boards on arrival and a large glass of red helped. 

I should say that it was most definitely worth the discomfort. A real experience off grid which did mean no wifi, no TV, no phone signal (did have a landline)  - idyllic. We shared the weekend with just Alison and Shuji and it mainly consisted of walking the land, eating, reading by the woodburner and eating, playing board games and eating, and generally relaxing and eating!

Shuji is Japanese and one of our highlights has been the amazing Japanese cuisine that he and Alison have conjured up. We were very lucky to have a Gyoza making tutorial. Not bad for ‘Poms’…I’ll take that as a compliment! Shuji then produced Gyoza two ways using some of our efforts. First in a broth, and then steamed/fried. Amazing.

  

Walking the land meant Gold panning too;

...this area was full of gold at one time and we gave it our full attention. Alas we had no joy with the gold but the scenery and plenty of kangaroos hopping around the place was stunning. We also spotted numerous wombats enjoying the new green grass much to Dennis’ excitement. I preferred to imagine that Dennis was looking for gold in the holes not wombats!

Alison and Shuji had to depart on the Sunday leaving us to have a couple of idyllic days to ourselves (and to build up courage for the revisit of the corrugations) (and because we loved it so much!)

I do need to publicly THANK the Yamasakis and Andrew for their wonderful hospitality and for giving us some great memories. (warning.  this does mean we might have to come back as you made it so enjoyable!).

Meanwhile here are some plaques & statues & rocks to finish………

 

 Nearest small town to Canberra and importantly had a 'dump station' but also the Hollywood Walk equivalent revealed surprising information....who knew ?

The Father of Canberra apparently

One of the Prime Ministers of Australia , Mr Menzies.

Longest serving apparently and gets a walk named after him around Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra.

And Dennis' particular favourite was the memorial statue for explosive detection dogs in Afghanistan.