Sydney Travel

Canberra

Canberra, city (1991 pop. 276,162), capital of Australia, in the Australian Capital Territory, SE Australia. The Canberra urban agglomeration includes a small area in New South Wales. The federal government is the largest employer in Canberra; there are also printing and service industries. The site chosen (1908) for the capital city was first settled in 1824. In 1913, Canberra officially became the second capital of the commonwealth (succeeding Melbourne); however, although the Parliament first met there in 1927, the transfer of federal functions was not completed until after World War II and the striking Parliament House, on Capitol Hill, was not opened until 1988. The city was planned by the American architect Walter Burley Griffin. In 2003 parts of Canberra were ravaged by drought-intensified wildfires; the facilities of Mount Stromlo Observatory were among the buildings destroyed. Canberra is the seat of the Duntroon Royal Military College, Australian National Univ., the National Gallery, the Australian War Memorial, the National Library, the National Museum of Australia, the Academy of Science, and other research and scientific institutions.

Canberra is often described by Australians who haven't been there as a boring town, full of politicians, bureaucrats - and not much else. But those who go there find a picturesque spot with beautiful galleries and museums, as well as excellent restaurants, bars and cafes.

One of only two capital cities in the world that have been built to a premeditated design, Canberra is rather eerily symmetrical. Placed about its nice, planned combinations of straight and curving streets are the old and new Parliament Houses, the National Gallery, and the National Museum.

Orientation

The ACT is 80km (50mi) from north to south and is about 30km (19mi) wide. It is landlocked within the mountainous country of southeastern New South Wales, 305km (190mi) from Sydney by road. Canberra and its surrounding suburbs are in the northeast of the territory, while the Namadgi National Park occupies the whole southwestern area. The population grew from 50,000 in 1960 to 100,000 in 1967 and has soared to more than 300,000 today.

Canberra is arranged around the artificial Lake Burley Griffin. In Civic, on the northern side of the lake, are the shops, businesses, university and suburbs such as Reid, Braddon, Turner and Acton. Parliamentary and other administrative buildings are located to the south of the lake, surrounded by suburbs such as Parkes, Barton, Forrest, Deakin and Yarralumla (home to the prime minister and governor-general). Canberra is also surrounded by the satellite towns of Woden, Belconnen and Tuggeranong.

Canberra's airport is about 7km (4mi) east of the city. Interstate buses arrive at the Jolimont Centre, which is in the centre of Civic. The railway station is in Kingston, on the south side of the lake. Most shops and restaurants are in Civic and Manuka, also just south of the lake, with a few cafes sprinkled through the inner suburbs. Each satellite town has its own charming mall. Civic is also the centre of Canberra's nightlife, which is somewhat more lively than its reputation suggests.

When to Go

Autumn (March to May) in Canberra is quite simply gorgeous. The days are sunny and crisp, the trees are changing and everything looks lovely. Winter (June to August) is cold; really, really cold. There are mornings when it feels like breathing in will crack your lungs, but the sky is usually blue and the weather is sunny. Spring (September to November) is much wetter and windier, though the very popular Floriade festival brightens things up. Summer (December to February) can be just a bit too hot.

Events

The Canberra Festival celebrates the city's birthday over 10 days in March with music, food, a mardi gras, displays, a raft race and a parade. March also brings the huge National Folk Festival to Canberra. Spring is celebrated with the Floriade Festival, when Commonwealth Park becomes a riot of floral colour. Canberra is best avoided at New Year when the Street Machine Summer Nats brings hot-rods and wet t-shirt competitions to the nation's capital.

Attractions

Australian National Botanic Gardens: On the lower slopes of Black Mountain, behind the Australian National University, the beautiful 50-hectare (123-acre) botanic gardens are devoted to Australian flora. There are educational walks, including one among plants used by Aborigines. A highlight is the rainforest area, achieved in this dry climate with a misting system, while the eucalypt lawn has 600 species of this ubiquitous Australian tree. Take a guided walk, or take a seat in the pleasant Hudsons in the Gardens Cafe.

Australian War Memorial: The massive war memorial is more than the usual pointy concrete thing in the middle of town, it's actually a museum of Australia's war history. It was conceived in 1925 and finally opened in 1941. It houses an amazing collection of pictures, dioramas, relics and exhibitions, including a fine collection of old aircraft. For anyone with an interest in toy soldiers, the miniature battle scenes are absorbing.

The Hall of Memory is the focus of the memorial. It features a beautiful interior, some superb stained-glass windows and a dome made of six million Italian mosaic pieces. The Unknown Australian Soldier was brought here from a WWI battlefield in 1993. Leading to the hall is the reflecting pool, its surrounding walls inscribed with the names of Australia's war dead.

National Gallery of Australia: The National Gallery, on the south shore of the lake, has probably the best collection of Australian art in the country. The collection ranges from traditional Aboriginal art through to 20th-century works by Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan and Albert Tucker.

The collection of Aboriginal art includes bark paintings from Arnhem Land, printed fabrics from central Australia, and pukumani burial poles made by the Tiwi people. There's also plenty of European and Asian art, and most international exhibitions stop by Canberra on their way around the world.

The collection is not only of paintings: sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, furniture, ceramics, fashion, textiles and silverware are all on display. You can attend free lectures on the art, which are held from time to time, and then rest in one of the gallery's nice restaurants.

Old Parliament House: Old Parliament House, further down the hill towards the lake, was the seat of government from 1927 until 1988. Far more modest than its succesor, the old house resembles a slightly sprawling wedding cake. You can take a tour of the building or wander its pleasant grounds. The house is also home to the National Portrait Gallery.

Parliament House: Parliament House is compulsory viewing; it is, after all, the main reason why Canberra exists. Opened in 1988, new Parliament House (as it's usually known, to distinguish it from the old Parliament House) is very big, mostly made from marble, and built inside a hill with grass on top.

There are many ironies in the fact that the grass which covers Australia's supreme law-making body is imported lawn mix, which requires large quantities of water and weed killer to keep it alive.

The interior of the house is rather impressive - each of its major sections is lined with Australian timbers, and its walls are nicely decorated with over 3000 art works bought or commissioned from Australian artists.

Visitors can wander around the public areas of the house, including the House of Representatives and the Senate, though you may have to make a booking if something particularly important or ridiculous is being debated. There are free guided tours of the building on non-sitting days.

Questacon: This is a 'hands-on' science museum that lives in a purpose-built, snappy white building near the National Gallery. There are over 200 devices in the centre's five galleries, including the earthquake experience, the thongaphone, and the 'can you bowl faster than Alan Donald' display. It's designed for kids, but unselfconscious adults won't have any trouble entertaining themselves for an hour or two. It may be educational, but it's also great fun.

Off the Beaten Track

Ginninderra Village: If you're hankering after tourist tackiness, Ginninderra Village is the place to go. About 11km (7mi) northwest of the city, the Ginninderra Village is the area's centrepiece - a collection of colonial-era buildings quaintified into Devonshire tea spots, Australiana galleries, wood-turning workshops and shops selling nothing but cat knick-knacks. Next door, Cockington Green is a sprawling miniature (if such a thing is possible) English village, complete with cricket streakers and a working steam train - it's horribly overpriced, but the kiddies will love it.

Just outside the village, the National Dinosaur Museum is a private collection with replica skeletons of 10 dinosaurs, as well as a bunch of real bones and fossils. It's pricey, but fun. An ACTION bus runs from Belconnen past Ginninderra Village on its way to Gunghalin.

Lanyon: The beautifully restored Lanyon Homestead, beside the river near Tharwa, is about 30km (19mi) south of the city. The early stone cottage on the site was built by convicts, and the grand homestead, which dates from Canberra's grazier days, was completed in 1859. More than a collection of pretty old buildings, this National Trust homestead documents the life of the region before Canberra existed. The Nolan Gallery in the homestead collects some of Australian painter Sydney Nolan's most famous Ned Kelly works. As you'd expect, you can get a pretty nice Devonshire tea at Lanyon.

Namadgi National Park: Namadgi takes up all the bits of the ACT that Canberra doesn't; that is, most of the southwest. Part of the park borders the mountainous Kosciuszko National Park in NSW's Snowy Mountains. There are seven peaks over 1600m (5248ft) in the park, and some of the bushwalking is downright challenging. Booroomba Rocks is one of the most popular spots in the park, with some great climbing and scrambling over its huge granite boulders. Sometimes there's enough snow in Namadgi for cross-country skiing.

The park has a visitor information centre, or you can pick up brochures from the Canberra visitor information centre. There are several picnic sites and two campsites - you're not permitted to camp outside these. You can either get to the park in your own car on the road south from Tharwa to Adaminaby, or take a tour with one of a couple of operators in Canberra.

Tidbinbilla: The Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, 45km (28mi) southwest of the city, is criss-crossed with walking tracks. But the reason most visitors come here is to feed the semi-tame kangaroos, be terrorised by the sandwich-snatching emus or scan the trees for the possibly non-existent koalas. The visitors centre here has some great displays on native fauna and flora. Tidbinbilla is a great spot to take the kids for a picnic, or to do a couple of short walks.

North of the nature reserve, the Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, otherwise known as the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, is a joint US-Australian eye on the sky. The visitor centre here has displays of spacecraft and tracking technology, and it's free to get in. South of the reserve, Corin Forest is an adventure playground on steroids, with its 1km (0.6mi) metal bobsled run, snow-making machine and flying fox. It's a gas. You'll need your own car to get to Tidbinbilla.

Canberra: Activities

Canberra is a wonderful place for cycling and it has a great series of bicycle tracks. Inline skating is also popular. There are watersports on Lake Burley Griffin with canoes, catamarans, paddle boats and surf skis for hire. Canoeing and white-water rafting on the Murrumbidgee are other water-based activities. Swimming in the lake, however, is not recommended. There are several fine swimming spots along the Murrumbidgee and Cotter rivers such as Uriarra Crossing, Casuarina Sands, Kambah Pool, the Cotter Dam, Pine Island, Point Hut Crossing and Gibraltar Falls.

Bushwalking is one of Canberra's most popular activities and there are particularly good walking tracks along the Murrumbidgee from Kambah Pool to Pine Island (7km/4mi) or to Casuarina Sands (about 21km/13mi). The Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve has marked trails. Cruises and balloon and aeroplane flights are another way to get an angle on the city. There is sometimes enough snow for cross-country skiing in Namadgi National Park, or you can enjoy the fake stuff at Corin Forest, and the NSW snowfields are within four hours' drive.

Getting There & Away

Canberra does not have an international airport, but there are flights from all Australian State capital cities, and from some of the bigger towns within NSW. If you are travelling to Canberra from one of the smaller State capitals you may have to make a stopover in Sydney or Melbourne on the way.

The airport is 7km (4mi) southeast of the city centre. You can get a shutttle minibus to the Jolimont Centre in town and to various hotels for about 5.00, or catch a cab to the city for about 7.00.

Buses run to Canberra from Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, with connections to the other capitals. You can also catch buses to Canberra from the south coast, the snowfields, the rest of NSW and the South Coast. Trains run from Sydney, or you can do a combined bus-train trip from Melbourne.

The Hume Highway, which runs between Melbourne and Sydney, passes about 50km (30mi) north of Canberra - you can drive to Goulburn or to Yass to join up with it, depending whether you're heading north or south. The Monaro highway to the south will take you to Cooma, the snowfields and the coast.

Getting Around

Public transport in Canberra means the 'Action' bus – that's the Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network! Despite the extraordinary promise of its name, 'Action' is not much good; there are too few services on weekdays and almost none after 10pm or on Sundays. You're much better off on a bicycle if you're fit ( Canberra has an excellent network of bike paths) or, if you're not fit, in a car

Canberra Tourist Destination Guide:

Canberra Major Attractions

Canberra National Parks
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