In defence of Canberra

I was driving into work this morning listening to 666 ABC, and heard a few comments by one the guests disparaging Canberra.  It's sort of trendy to Canberra-bash.  We moved here from Perth 5 years ago.  When people found out we had just moved, the inevitable question would always be (often accompanied with a look of pity) 'Ohhh.  How are you finding it?'.

You know what? We love it!  We weren't expecting to (my husband particularly) and for a couple of sand gropers the lack of an immediately accessible beach still grates sometimes, but overall I love this city.  For its body and its brain.  Where else would you have the stunningly beautiful sight of hot air balloons over Lake Burley Griffin at dawn coupled with a city that buzzes with so much politics that even the local baristas have their opinion on the latest spill saga?

(picture from the ABC)

The thing I increasingly come to realise about Canberra is it's not really one city - or if it is, it's a split personality.  There's the Canberra that is the national capital, and there's the Canberra that is just a big country town.  The national capital Canberra is centered around the parliamentary triangle, and is populated by a mix of fly in/fly out politicians and their staff, and public service types doing the requisite three years at DFAT before they can score an overseas posting.  It is by its nature impermanent and transient, and I'm not sure the people who live in that Canberra ever really consider it home.

Canberra the big country town is another place all together.  It's a place of the EPIC farmers market and Murrumbateman field days.  (Being a country town, a lot of what is great about this Canberra is actually in its surrounds - though there's a lot within the territory borders as well.)  It's a place where the local radio station has a jam making afternoon and invites listeners to drop in with a jar.  In this Canberra, we don't have just a plumber and an electrician - we have a milkman (yes, he delivers!), a chicken lady and a direct line to at least 3 local producers of alpaca fleece. 

It's not to say Canberra is perfect.  There is a lack of really good dining in the city itself - some good second tier stuff is pretty good (Italian & Sons, Pulp Kitchen, Dieci e Mezzo and the like) but a Flower Drum or a Quay?  No.  The funny thing is the actual produce here is fantastic, and most people I have met have been produce driven like I have never seen in any other city.  Backyard veggie patches are the norm, chickens a common accessory, and the various markets on the weekend (EPIC, Woden, Belconnen and Fyshwick) are always packed.  Perhaps all the really good cooking is just going on inside the homes of Canberrans.  Some of the complaints though always strike me as a little sheltered.  Housing affordability?  We bought our 3 bedroom, renovated, on a big block house in 2007 (well after the fabled boom) for a good deal less than we sold our 2 bedroom, somewhat renovated, on a smaller block house in Perth for.  Now, we're not in a salubrious suburb (*coughCharnwoodcough*) but even that seems overrated.  It's quiet, clean and filled with trees.  And at a 14.5km commute from my front door to my work at the ANU, it would be considered practically inner city in most other capital cities.

Canberra may not have the best nightlife in the world, and frankly I wouldn't know.  But I think it embraces a different rhythm.  A rhythm that includes incredible local fairs, which I'm determined to visit this year.  (They run sheep down the main street of Bowral, for goodness sake!  The Collector Pumpkin festival!  Cherries! Young!).   And the lack of fine dining?  Head over to Grazing at Gundaroo and it all starts to feel a little better. It's a city of stunningly blue skies and bitingly cold winters - all the better to snuggle down in your handknit alpaca scarf (you've got to do something with all that fleece you bought!).   And the national capital side has its perks as well - with the National Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Australia, there's no excuse for feeling culturally deprived.  In need of a political fix?  Head out to Griffith Vietnamese during a sitting week.  Or just hang out near Parliament House at around 6 or so to see all manner of politicians having their morning run.  (This may or may not appeal - a sweaty Tony Abbot is not perhaps the best thing early in the morning.)

I can understand for those who never venture outside of the Parliamentary triangle Canberra may seem a little sterile.  But for those of us who live in both Canberras, the city's pretty great.