Road Trip: Canberra

On the 1st of January 1901 the six British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia became states of the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia. The process of Federation had taken some twenty years of debate, argument and much feet dragging. Now the question was, what city would be the capital of the new nation. The two big contenders, Sydney and Melbourne, were fiercely competitive and there was a stalemate in the capital decision. In a very parental move, the decision came down in 1908 that neither of Australia's major cities would get the seat of federal power. Instead, a new capital city would be established somewhere in between.

Jean with Lynn last year

Lynn, a long time friend of Jean's family and de facto aunt who lives in Sydney, asked us a while back if we would be interested in riding down to Canberra with her for the weekend. She was visiting some family in the city and would be happy to have some company on the drive. We took her up on the offer and so early Friday afternoon found us heading southwest out of Sydney.

As we cruised down the highway I was struck by how I recognized many of the place names on the road signs from riding metro (Glenfield, Liverpool, Campelltown) but wasn’t able to recognize them out of context of the rail line. Fortunately, our 2:00 departure gave us enough lead time to beat rush hour traffic and the three of us were soon cruising through the rolling countryside.

Riding in a car was quite novel to Jean and I so we spent much time glued to the window as we caught up with Lynn. We arrived on the outskirts of Canberra just before six. I could already tell there was something very different about the city. The highway we’d been on turned into Northbourne Avenue. A wide strip of wooded area at least 30 meters across separated the north and southbound lanes of Northbourne. The forested median continued in this fashion all the way into the heart of the city.

Northbourne Avenue

A competition for the design for the new capital was held in 1911. The plan presented by an American couple Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin was chosen. Oddly enough, neither had ever been to Australia. Their design followed a wheel and spoke pattern rather than the traditional grid. The garden city movement begun in 1898 that emphasized urban greenbelt areas also heavily influenced Canberra’s design. The growth of the city has continued since the early 20^th century in the fashion planned by the Griffins and Canberra has since gained the title of “bush capital.”

We had dinner Friday evening with Lynn and her niece and nephew, Nicole and Brett. Over Chinese food we discussed Canberra sight seeing options. As the seat of Australian government, there’s the parliament building and other government related edifices and many good museums to visit. Also, there’s an extensive bicycle trail network to explore.

Saturday morning from the terrace of our hostel

Saturday morning we found the weather too beautiful to do anything but the third option. There wasn’t a cloud in sight in any direction. It had been a wet summer and Jean and I felt obligated to take advantage of a sunny weekend.

We rented bikes from the hostel paying an extra five dollars to join the bike tour that afternoon. With wheels, water, helmets, sun cream, and a map the world, as my father-in-law would say, was our oyster.

Jean and I pedaled south toward the lake. Lake Burley Griffin, a manmade lake, forms an east-west axis dividing the city in two. Capital hill and the parliament building are on the south side. Our map showed several trails looping around the lake.

Reaching the waterfront we decided on a westerly course and continued to be amazed by how easy it was to get around Canberra and just how leafy it was. After a few minute on the trail we couldn’t even tell we were in the heart of a city anymore. After about an hour Jean was convinced she wanted to move there.

We meandered around the lake on the gently undulating path occasionally joining the road or catching glimpses of buildings through the foliage. We passed the national museum and signs for the zoo before crossing over the dam at the western extremity of the lake.

The pedal back began in a woody area that eventually melded into athletic parks before reaching Capital hill at the heart of the Canberra. Jean and I searched briefly for Old Parliament building museum but were soon swayed by our stomachs. We crossed back over the lake and found an outdoor café near our hostel.

It was nearing 2 pm when were due back at the hostel for the afternoon bike tour. Jean had been hinting for the past hour that she might not have it in her to take part. That was fair enough, we had covered over 25 kilometers that morning. Taking at seat at the café the powers of inertia set in. Her salad was slow in coming out so she urged me to go ahead without her. I finished my sandwich quickly and hurried back around the corner to the hostel.

There was a bearded guy along with woman who we’d rented the bikes from at reception. I told them that Jean wasn’t going to be able to make it. The guy introduced himself as Jake and said that he’d be leading the tour. I asked him when we’d be taking off.

“You were only guests signed up for the tour so I guess we can get started.”

“Just the two of us eh.”

“That will be romantic,” the woman added.

Jake rolled his bike out into the lobby and we conferred over our route. I told him that we’d done the western basin loop that morning.

“That’s where I usually take people on the tour. Is there anywhere else you want to go?”

There were a couple of peaks on my bicycle map that interested me, Black mountain and Mount Ainslie. Riding up Black Mountain was strictly forbidden in the bicycle rental rules. I had briefly tried to talk Jean into Mount Ainslie this morning but she inherently knew better.

“How about Mount Ainslie?”

He looked a little bemused. “I’ve been up there at night once. It has a really good view of the city. I’ve never taken a group up there though.”

“Want to give it a shot?”

Jake was more easily swayed then Jean. We set out going east through the city and soon came to the Australian War Memorial.  Mt. Ainslie loomed behind the austere domed structure like a huge tree covered shadow.

Australian War Memorial in front of Mt. Ainslie

We pedaled on and turned off on a narrow two-lane road. The beginning was easy enough but the slope soon turned into a steep grade. After a couple switchbacks of downshifting I was down to the lowest gear. The climb became a slow motion slog. Good thing I had that morning warm up.

More and more sky became visible as we approached the crest. I pulled over in a clearing with a shady spot for a water break. Jake soon joined me. He admitted that the one time he had been up here, it had been in a car. In the course of our chatting I him asked why Black Mountain was off limits.

“It’s because there’s no shoulder on the road going up to Black Mountain.” He looked thoughtfully over narrow stretch of tarmac we had just climbed up. “We probably shouldn’t be up here either.”

“I won’t tell. Maybe you can get it added to the “no go” list before the next jerk comes along and suggests this ride.”

After a quarter of an hour we reluctantly continued on our climb. It was a little difficult getting started again but the proximity to the summit helped push me on. I was a little disappointed by the elevation sign at the top. A measly 846 meters. After converting that into feet I felt a lot better.

Doing my best Lance Armstrong

The view was fantastic. The summit was perfectly aligned with the city “spoke” running from the war memorial to the parliament building. Jake recommended I check out the cityscape at night. I spoke briefly with a hiker who had come up a trail beginning from behind the war memorial. He claimed the trek only took him half an hour. An evening scramble up a mountain would be pushing it I decided. Another time.

We walked around the top for a while taking in the scenery. I can’t say the ride down was worth the climb up but it was a lot of fun. It was half past three and I figured the tour would be over at this point. Jake said the tour usually runs to five and was ready and willing to continue on so we proceeded at a more leisurely pace getting as far as the parliament building before returning to the hostel.

Parliament

After cleaning up, Jean and I had pizza at the pub downstairs and walked over to the lakeshore to watch the sun set. Back at the hostel we squeezed in a game of Carcassone before collapsing.

Some modern art in the plaza near our hostel

The most defaced statue in all of Austalia according to Nicole. Four legs good, two legs better! Bahhhhh!

Mummy Dogs

During the night it began to rain and continued into Sunday morning. We had tough time getting moving but eventually packed our bags and headed down to the café for breakfast. Watching the drizzle, Jean admitted that she was less keen to move to Canberra. We met back up with Lynn and then joined Brett, Nicole and Nicole’s parents for coffee at an arts and crafts market in town. The artisans had some interesting pieces but house wares have still not grown on me.

Lynne took a more circuitous route back to Sydney passing through several idyllic little towns and beautiful countryside. Jean and I thanked her profusely for including us on her road trip. With a mischievous little wink Lynn said, "Just stick with me and it will be alright."