Explore Coastal New South Wales and the ACT
In 1912 Walter Burley Griffin, an American landscape architect from Chicago, won the international competition for the design of the future Australian capital, CANBERRA. His plan envisaged a garden city for about 25,000 people based in five main centres, each with separate city functions, located on three axes: land, water and municipal. Roads were to be in concentric circles, with arcs linking the radiating design. Construction started in 1913, but political squabbling and the effects of World War I, the Depression and World War II prevented any real progress being made until 1958, when growth began in earnest. In 1963 the Molonglo River was dammed to form long, artificial Lake Burley Griffin; the city centre, Civic, coalesced along the north shore to face parliamentary buildings to the south; while a host of outlying satellite suburbs, each connected to Civic by a main road cutting through the intervening bushland, took shape. The population grew rapidly, from fifteen thousand in 1947 to over three hundred thousand today, completely outstripping Burley Griffin’s original estimates – though Canberra’s decentralized design means that the city never feels crowded.
Being such an overtly planned place populated by civil servants and politicians, Canberra is in many ways a city in search of a soul: while there are all the galleries, museums and attractions that there should be, many seem to exist simply because it would be ridiculous to have omitted them from a national capital. Still, several key sights definitely justify staying a couple of nights, particularly the War Memorial, the extraordinary, partly subterranean Parliament House, the National Gallery and the National Botanic Gardens. With so much of the city being dotted with trees, visiting the bush might seem a bit pointless, but the Brindabella Ranges and the Namadgi National Park on the outskirts definitely warrant a short visit.
Canberra’s nightlife – in term time at least – is alive and kicking. The two universities here (and the Duntroon Military Academy) mean there’s a large and lively student population (good news for those who have student cards, as most attractions offer hefty discounts), and the city is also said to have more restaurants per capita than any other in Australia, which is saying something. Canberra also holds the dubious title of Australia’s porn capital, due to its liberal licensing laws, which legalize and regulate the sex industry.
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Old Parliament House
Old Parliament House
At the foot of Capital Hill is the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, a grand, white Neoclassical wedding cake of a building, in use between 1927 and 1988. Hourly tours show just how crowded and inconvenient the building actually was, all imposingly gloomy, Victorian-style wood panelling and moulded plaster, though the leather seats in the old senate are pretty comfortable.
Outside, you can wander in the adjacent Senate Rose Garden, or take a look at the so-called Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawn in front, which has been here, on and off, since 1972 and serves as a focus for the million-odd representatives of Australia’s oldest culture – you’ll be welcomed for a cup of tea and a (political) chat.
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New Parliament House
New Parliament House
Behind Old Parliament House, (New) Parliament House is an extraordinary construction that appears to be built into Capital Hill. All you see from a distance are grassy slopes leading up to the landmark, four-legged flagpole, though closer inspection reveals a modern white colonnaded entry. Designed by the American-Italian architect (and now Canberra resident) Romaldo Giurgola, it opened in May 1988 to much derision. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who commissioned the building, described it later as “an unmitigated disaster” and “my one very serious political mistake”. Twenty years on, it is ageing well and most now concede that, while not an iconic building, it is still a good one – impressive in scale and concept, with over 4500 rooms tucked away from prying eyes.
Simply wandering around the public areas isn’t very instructive, so catch one of the 45-minute guided tours, which visit both chambers of parliament when they’re not sitting. When Parliament is in session – usually from sixty to eighty days a year – you can sit in the public galleries and watch the proceedings in the House of Representatives (the lower chamber of Parliament) or the Senate (the upper chamber of the legislature).
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Australian War Memorial
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial does an admirable job of positively commemorating Australia’s war dead whilst avoiding any glorification of war itself – a notable achievement for a country that sees participation in world wars as key to its identity.
The centrepiece is the Byzantine-style, domed Hall of Memory, approached past an eternal flame rising from a rectangular pond. Look up at the ceiling to see mosaics depicting veterans of World War II, while the lovely blue stained-glass windows commemorate those who fought in World War I. In the centre is the tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier, while over 102,000 names of the fallen are etched onto the walls outside. This is where you should be just before closing time when a bugler or piper plays the Last Post in moving testament to the war dead.
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Creating a capital
Creating a capital
When the Australian colonies united in the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, a capital city had to be chosen, with Melbourne and Sydney the two obvious and eager rivals. After much wrangling, and partly in order to avoid having to decide on one of the two, it was agreed to establish a brand-new capital instead. In 1909, Limestone Plains, south of Yass, was chosen out of several possible sites as the future seat of the Australian government. An area of 2368 square kilometres was excised from the state of New South Wales and named the Australian Capital Territory, or ACT. The name for the future capital was supposedly taken from the language of local Aborigines: Canberra – the meeting place.
