In Defense of Canberra - Bill Bryson Was Wrong (funny, but wrong)

First, a few facts on Canberra, courtesy of the plagiarist's dearest friend, Wikipedia:
 
(Click on images below for a larger version)

  

 


Canberra
From Wikipedia:

Canberra (pronounced /ˈkænb(ə)rə, ˈkænbɛrə/^[3]) is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth largest Australian city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory, 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney, and 660 km (410 mi) north-east of Melbourne.  The site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nation's capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city. Following an international contest for the city's design, a design by the Chicago architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and construction commenced in 1913. The city's design was heavily influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title "bush capital". Although the growth and development of Canberra were hindered by the World Wars and the Great Depression, it emerged as a thriving city after World War II.  As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is the site of Parliament House, the High Court of Australia and numerous government departments and agencies. It is also the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance, such as the Australian War Memorial, National Gallery of Australia, National Museum of Australia and the National Library of Australia. The federal government contributes the largest percentage of Gross State Product and is the largest single employer in Canberra.

Demographics

As of 2006, the population of Canberra was 323,056 people.^[141] The 2006 census showed that 1.2% of Canberra's population were of indigenous origin and 21.7% were born overseas.^[142] The largest group of people born overseas came from English-speaking countries, led by the United Kingdom and then New Zealand.^[142] Significant numbers of immigrants have also come from China, India and Vietnam. Recent immigrants have arrived from countries in East and South Asia.^[142] Most locals are native speakers of English (81.1%); some have a second language, the most common being Mandarin, Italian, Vietnamese, Cantonese and Greek. These five languages are spoken by a total of 4.8% of the population.^[142]
Canberrans are relatively young, highly mobile, and well educated. The median age is 34 years, and only 9.8% of the population is aged over 65 years.^[141] Between 1996 and 2001, 61.9% of the population either moved to or from Canberra, which is the second highest mobility rate of any Australian capital city.^[143]
As of May 2004, 30% of people in the ACT aged 15–64 had a level of educational attainment equal to at least a bachelor's degree, significantly higher that the national average of 19%.^[144] Approximately 60% of Canberra residents describe themselves as Christian, the most common denominations being Catholic and Anglican; 6% of the population practice a non-Christian religion and 23% are not religious.^[141]
As of 2002 the most common crimes in Canberra are property related crimes, unlawful entry with intent and motor vehicle theft. They affect 1,961 and 630 of every 100,000 persons respectively. Homicide and related offences—including murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and driving causing death—affect 1.5/100,000 persons, which is below the national average of 4.9/100,000. Rates of assault and sexual assault are also below the national average.[

Newsflash: Canberra is Not Boring (or maybe my standards are just lower)

If you haven't read any of travel writer Bill Bryson's books, you should.  One of his funniest is "In A Sunburned Country" about the continent down under which Australians either love or hate.  He has an iconic chapter on Canberra which describes it as a somewhat boring place in which one gets easily lost among the roundabouts, many parks, government buildings and an amazing array and variety of public sculptures and memorials which I can only describe as resulting from some city planner suffering from cognitive dissonance (he describes Canberra drivers in the suburbs as having an expression which seems to say "Where the **** is my house?").  But that's what the makes the city interesting - you find things juxtaposed in such a way that you HAVE to stop and think about what it was they were/are trying to say.  So it's never boring, as many people (mostly Australians) claim.  I recently sat next to a Sydney-sider of the upper class (or so she kept insinuating to me) on a plane who sniffed "Oh, it's full of all those public servants in their dirty jeans!".  Huh, I thought.  Canberrans have a level of educational attainment "equal to at least a bachelor's degree, significantly higher that the national average of 19%."

Here's a couple of Bryson's quotes on Canberra:

"In 1996 the prime minister, John Howard, caused a stir after his election by declining to live in Canberra. He would, he announced, continue to reside in Sydney and commute to Canberra as duties required. As you can imagine, this caused an uproar among Canberra's citizens, presumably because they hadn't thought of that themselves. What made this particularly interesting is that John Howard is by far the dullest man in Australia. Imagine a very committed funeral home director - someone whose burning ambition from the age of eleven was to be a funeral home director, whose proudest achievement in adulthood was to be elected president of the Queanbeyan and District Funeral Home Directors Association - then halve his personality and halve it again, and you have pretty well got John Howard. When a man as outstandingly colorless as John Howard turns his nose up at a place, you know it must be worth a look."

"I glanced at my watch, appalled to realize it was only ten minutes after ten, and ordered another beer, then picked up the notebook and pen and, after a minute's thought, wrote, "Canberra awfully boring place. Beer cold, though." Then I thought for a bit more and wrote, "Buy socks." . . . Then I decided to come up with a new slogan for Canberra. First I wrote, "Canberra -- There's Nothing to It!" and then "Canberra -- Why Wait for Death?""

The hotel that Bryson stayed at, The Rex, is still there, but they spiffed it up (maybe after he wrote about what a boring place it was) and the Canberra Visitor's Centre - where he encountered the same lame boostering video you encounter at EVERY city visitor center - is still just down the street.  Unfortunately if Bryson, who likes to walk everywhere (and Canberra is not really a walking city - too spread out) had bothered to walk another 5-6 blocks down the street he would have been in the city center, and would have found much more interesting fare.

There is a LOT to do here - it seems like they have a festival or street fair or national holiday every weekend - you just need to look for it.  And a lot of it is free or for minimal cost.  The city is beautiful - filled with parks and wildlife, fantastic museums, libraries, and art galleries.  You can ride your bike anywhere.  There is wildlife - especially beautiful parrots and flocks of white, yellow-crested cockatoos - everywhere.  Every neighborhood has its own set of shops and restaurants - and most are good.  The Asian food is first-rate and authentic.  The Australian National University is here and they have a wonderful National Film Archive - in fact I just went to a film festival yesterday specializing in films on indigenous subjects made by indigenous directors.  The archive is in a wonderful old Art Deco building that was originally where anatomy was studied.

I think Canberra gets a bum rap because people only come in for a weekend.  You have to be here for a while to discover all of the hidden places and events.  To be frank, we have discovered that Australians aren't very good about letting you  know the details about an event.  For example, the Queen's birthday is always a holiday.  The Royal Military College at Duntroon - think West Point and the Naval Academy combined - always has a parade in honor of the Queen.  We had a guest in town and wanted to go to it.  So we scanned the Canberra Times - both print and electronic - and could find no mention of it.  I searched the "What's On" site for Canberra - nothing.  I did multiple Google searches utilizing various keywords - nada.  I went to the RMC web page - no mention of a parade.  I finally just called the cadet duty officer, who said:

" Oh yes, there's a parade tomorrow, but nobody knows what time it is.  I think there were a couple of TV ads, though.  Here's another number to call."

It was the cell number to a Captain, who I think was at home.  He said pretty much the same thing the cadet said but after a few minutes, he came up with the time of 1030 and then added "I think  there will be plenty of seat availability." You think?

In any event, Canberra is NOT boring.  Frankly, I find Sydney (haven't been to Melbourne yet, so I reserve judgement) crowded, expensive, at times dangerous, and sometimes a little full of itself.  Beautiful city though.

After having started this post I discovered a website called "Insider Canberra" which echoes my opinion - it's written by a local women and has several good pages with information about Canberra.  What it boils down to is if you are a 20-something and into clubbing - then Canberra probably isn't for you.  If you are established, with a car, and are interested in more than hanging out in crowded, loud bar, then there is a lot to do.  Museums, the National Library, the lake (especially if you have a kayak, like we do), bikepaths, the zoo, the botanical garden, a nearby nature reserve, the old and new Parliaments (great tours and exhibits), great restaurants, a theater, it's all available.

So if anyone tells you it's boring here, then they need to do a little gut check as to what exactly it is they're looking for and why.  They're probably the same people who left the Jack Daniels and Coke cans I had to pick up in the parking lot at the top of Mount Ainslie this morning.


So here are a few photos of places in Canberra we've been.

The Old Parliament

By universal acclaim, Debbie achieves her dream
of world domination...

Once a year the War Memorial puts on "Big Things In Store" -
where they open up their storage facility to the public.   Very cool.

This is what happens when Debbie gets an idea.

Actually, this us in our kayak on the lake by the Commonwealth Bridge
when a local radio station puts on "Skyfire" - a fireworks show on the bridge.
The lake banks and the waters in front of the bridge are very crowded with people and boats.

Debbie attempts an intervention with troubled teenage
kangaroos at Weston Park.

This is a memorial to a large group of asylum seekers
who drowned when their boat sank off Indonesia.
Telstra Tower and Black Mountain behind.  Very controversial.

I like to call this one "Which Indian were you talking about?"
This is outside a very cool antique store in Bungendore,
a little town southeast of Canberra.

How we park at the Direct Factory Outlet out by the airport.

The National Folk Festival 2010 at Canberra. A jam session by just regular folks.
Debbie volunteered (see below)

Debbie spots a sleeping koala (see blob at top of tree) at
Tidbinbilla Wildlife Reserve, about 30 minutes west of Canberra.

NASA Deep Space Communication Station, Tidbinbilla.

The National Carillon - concerts every day!

The National Library and a strange bronze sculpture out front called "Reconciliation."
I should have an entire page on Canberra public sculpture - there are some strange ones.
This one has little holes all over it and makes sounds.  Really.
My first impression was that there was a large animal loose in Canberra.
The Library has an excellent cafe, a great bookstore, and even a small museum exhibit space.  Always crowded at lunchtime.

Fyshwick Market, Canberra.  Great produce, meat, baked goods.

The Battle of the Coral Sea Memorial.  U.S. Ambassador laying a wreath
May 2010.

The Memorial.
Behind it are the Russell Buildings, essentially the Australian Pentagon.
This memorial, paid for by individual donations by the Australian people,
was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth.  It remembers how during May 4-8 1942 the United States -
with the Australians - stopped a Japanese battlefleet coming south towards
Papua New Guinea to seize Port Moresby as a base threatening northern Australia.
It cost over 600 lives on our side. The Australians hold a service here every
May to remember what we did together.

The structure is affectionately known as "Bunny Ears" and "Chicken On A Stick."

The National Museum - incredible collection of Aboriginal artifacts -
also the site of numerous film festivals.

Telstra Tower on Black Mountain - very good restaurant in it
which defies the dictum that revolving restaurants serve crappy food.

Lake Burley Griffin and Commonwealth Bridge - from a balloon.
You can see the mountains which ring Canberra.

Commonwealth Bridge and beyond Civic, where all the hot nightclubs are.

Well, a few, anyway.

The Old Parliament and the New Parliament behind.
Both have great tours and great artwork and architecture.

Canberra at sundown from Telstra Tower's viewing deck.

The Roll of Honour, at the War Memorial.  Those are poppies
people have placed by their ancestors' names.

The War Memorial.  Great museum.  Must-see.

Having a beer post-ANZAC Day Parade at the Manuka RSL.
The guy on left is former British SAS; the guy on the right is a
former Marine Vietnam vet with two tours as a helicopter door-gunner.

At the Canberra Cultural Festival.  I mean really, who knew?

This guy was also wearing red Converse sneakers.

Some of the interesting street sculpture in the
pedestrian mall in Civic.

Our neighborhood shops (partial view).
Every neighborhood has its own set of shops.

And then we have great neighbors - this is Kim, of Cliff and Kim, next door.
A major discussion of potential colors
for all the garage doors

in the neighborhood is underway.

ANZAC Parade, bordered on both sides by memorials.
War Memorial at the end.


So, there'a a LOT to do in and around Canberra!  More on this later.