Hello Dear Readers,
You might have been wondering where I have been, well it has been a little touch and go over the past few weeks, relocating and setting up shop in a new line of work- of which I cannot speak much of- yeah I know...nice.
However I can tell you about the city that Oz refers to as its capital, and some of the stuff you can get up to here.
Ok for those who need to know, Canberra is roughly half way between the Capital of NSW (Sydney) and the Capital of VIC (Melbourne, but manages to combine the feeling of a city, with the sites and views of the country.
For those who end up moving here be warned since it is the Capital it is not necessarily cheap, but if you are smart and plan ahead, it is not necessarily expensive- this is all in relation to those other capitals of course.
One thing that people need to know is that many Canberra locals do not or have not seen many of the sites that those outside of the state are encouraged to see, they have become used to having sites such as the War Memorial, Parliament House and various Muesuems and theatres (including groups, but more on that later), and some even are annoyed of the amount of traffic certain sites cause.
Now if you were to ask a Canberra local about suburbs, like which are good to live in, most will refer to their suburb, the sourounds or a few others, this doesn't sound that different to you or me, however Canberra has a load of suburbs- some only lasting a few blocks. This has caused the Canberra system to develop the Town Centres method. Canberra Town Centres are focal points that a group of suburbs are clustered around, and are linked to the major shopping centres, bus stops and residental preceints.
Gunghalin is the most Northern Town Centre, and probably the fastest growing. It is an easy drive in to off of the Barton Highway from Albury, and is a quick freeway drive straight into the city. A lot of new residental properties are being built up in this area, the most high marketed are Crace and Forde. Since it is close to the major freeway, it has a relatively easy drive into the city, Belconnen or other centres. It has recently launched it own campus for the Canberra Institute of Technology.
Beloconnen is the next Town Centre down, it is a little older, but has a similar easy connection onto the freeway for easy access to the City. Near the centre it takes advantage of Lake Ginninderra, with surrounding dining, and entertaining options. It is the town centre that has its own campus for Canberra Institute of Technology and the University of Canberra. This town centre has a lot of buses comming through on the ACTION (https://www.action.act.gov.au/)Rapid service, with buses going straight into the city. It also has its own Westfield and markets on the weekends.
The Inner North includes the City, and is debateably the most expensive spot to rent/purchase in the city- however this is because a large proportion of population work here. It has all of the major bank centres, two bus stops, another CIT campus, ANU, the Canberra Centre (a large multiblock/building shopping centre- be sure to get a Canberra Centre card for discounts at some stores. Although it is the city centre, there is very easy access to a natural park.
The Inner South includes Parliament Circle, and what locals call the Parliamentary Triangle, and has a little bit of a rivalry with the North, and this means that instead of expensive city living, you have expensive harbour property or historical property- some of them million plus dollars. The roads are more spaced out than the North, and takes on the style of the Garden Capital most effectively. Quite a few landmarks are in this portion, however make sure you like roundabouts.
The next town centre is Wodon, with its own Westfield shopping centre. It is a little easier here, with a more relaxed atmosphere with various clubs and RSLs offering fine dining and entertainment for the population. It is popular with both families and the elderly. It has a large bus station connected to the shopping centre, and has buses going North and South, quite regularly. However it does get a little creepy at night, I think it is the lighting.
Weston Creek is like Wodon jr. It has the same sort of feel, but is tucked away to the side and has less traffic. This town centre however will have the joy of taking on some of the land that was devastated by the Canberra bushfires of yester year. It has easy access to the north, south, anywhere you want to go, while still having local shopping and dining.
Tuggeranong is the southern most town centre and like Gungahlin is open for expansion, in fact houses are being sold at Banks the most southern suburb of the ACT.It also has its own shopping centre, bus station and has taken on a cosmopolitan feel for its centre, whereas its suburbs have easy access to country like views.
One thing I have found in all town centres, besides North and South is the access to riding or running tracks or paths, thus giving people like me the option to engage in traditional exercise. However you quickly find that gyms and coffee stores make a killing, and nearly everyone has a connection to one or the other, if not both.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
If you are going to use public transport take a look at ACTION for bus timetables. Also if you will be catching a bus quite often I would definitely point you towards taking up the smart card travel option for Canberra- MYWay (http://www.transport.act.gov.au/myway/fares.html). If you register you card or pick up a $20 preloaded card from quite a few places in the city centre or various other stations, you will pay a roughly $2.52 for a single trip with a free 90min transfer, whereas if you paid in coin, it would cost you $4 each way. So you can potentially save more, also if you are a student of gain concession you will gain cheaper prices as well. They are also trying to push for online loading of your myway card- but you need to register it first and it takes a few days for it to go through, but you will gain a further 5% discount on trips.
PARKING
Compared to Sydney it is a lot cheaper. You should aim for parking in any of the shopping centres because they offer the best parking, location and are of a decent price. The Narllen Street park of The Canberra Centre has at various levels and you can park for $10 a day. You press at the barriers to receive a ticket, feed it into others, and feed it into the machine for it to be rendered paid (sorry you need to add money) and then you can get back out.
On the weekend various shopping centres will have either free or $2 a day. It depends to which one you end up going. Check the signage- don't get fined.
THEATRE
There are multiple groups in the ACT. Nearly each town centre has its own theatre or playhouse and there is a multitude of styles and levels of professional ability.
I would like to make note of the Canberra Opera Workshop, a really new group who are working to bring a unique opera group back into the Canberra region and they have a bit riding on the success of their show in December, but with the talent involved, we might see them for years to come, we can hope.
I hope this gives you a little taste of Canberra, or at least what I can tell you for now.
Check the link below to find the town centres.
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=canberra&aq=&sll=-25.244696,135.703125&sspn=36.482237,78.837891&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Canberra+Australian+Capital+Territory&ll=-35.290469,149.124298&spn=0.521233,1.231842&z=10&iwloc=A
