Canberra calling: A long weekend in Australias happiest city

The view down Anzac Parade in Canberra. Photo / Richard Poulton Photography

“Great day for a sno cone!” It’s an unlikely claim on this drizzly spring morning at the Old Bus Depot Markets in Canberra, but that kind of optimism is contagious, so I head on over for a chat. With his curly white hair and pointy beard, Dave Mitchell looks almost Elizabethan. During the week, he works full-time as a public servant; the Government is still the biggest employer in Australia’s capital city. On weekends, he tours the markets testing out his retirement plan, selling flavoured shave ice with a smile from his orange-topped caravan.

Mitchell admits he was tempted to stay in bed today, but there was a beautiful sunrise at his home in Gungahlin, a half-hour drive north. Now, it’s nearly midday and if I’d bought a sno cone (which I didn’t), I would have been his second customer that morning. “If I sell one before 10,” he says, cheerfully, “I know it’s going to be a good day.”

There’s an air of eccentricity to the people in Canberra, who go about their business without giving much of a stuff about what the rest of Australia thinks — which is largely how the rest of Australia feels about them. Recently ranked as the least-known capital city in the developed world, Canberra is often overlooked and decidedly underrated. On my flight back home to Auckland, I ask the Canberran sitting next to me why Aussies give it such a bad rap. “It’s tradition,” he says, with a shrug. After a fabulous four days there, I can honestly say they don’t know what they’re missing.

Locals blame its reputation on the way “Canberra” is used in news reports as shorthand for the much-maligned Federal Government on Capital Hill, where the 81m flagpole on the top of Parliament House can be seen right across the city. Say what you like about politicians, though, the founding of the young capital in 1913 continues to attract people who believe in the power of policy to bring about positive change.

As the only city in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Canberra has pioneered some of the country’s most progressive social legislation, from abolishing plastic bags and achieving a 100 per cent renewable energy supply to legalising party-pill testing and same-sex civil unions. In August, a university study named it as Australia’s happiest city, thanks to its low unemployment rate, high wages, youthful population and access to a wealth of green space.

Each suburb has its own distinct personality, from the heritage homes, diplomatic embassies and boutique shops in Kingston to the stunning modern architecture of New Acton and the retail mecca of Majura, out by the airport, with its huge IKEA and Costco stores. But it’s not called the “bush capital” for nothing. Kangaroos frequent the slopes of Mt Ainslie, where one of the most popular trails winds up from the Australian War Memorial (book a free ticket for the daily Last Post Ceremony at 4:45pm), and “DO NOT approach the snake” signs are on display at the botanic gardens. Head into the hinterland and more than 40 cellar-door wineries, producing some of Australia’s best rieslings, are right on the doorstep.

For a first-time visitor, Canberra’s wide, tree-lined boulevards and planned layout make it a dream to navigate. The population is barely half a million; no traffic jams here. I stayed in Braddon, a hip neighbourhood on the southern edge of Haig Park and just a 10-minute walk from the central city. Once a grungy strip of car yards, it’s overflowing with cool cafes and cocktail bars, and street art in the alleyways. Wellington has suffragist Kate Sheppard on its pedestrian lights around Parliament; Napier has the silhouette of an Art-Deco woman walking a dog. Braddon installed a glowing “rainbow roundabout” on the main road and a nearby pedestrian crossing shows a same-sex couple holding hands, a love heart flashing between them.

Across the other side of Lake Burley Griffin is the National Triangle, where the suits live — home to most of the cultural and political institutions that are typically seen as Canberra’s main attractions. I’d imagined something like London’s Trafalgar Square, encircled by historic buildings, but it’s more of a miniature suburb spread across expansive parklands (an e-bike or e-scooter would be a great way to get around).

I could easily have spent an entire day at the National Gallery of Australia, which has more than 155,000 works of art from Pollock to Picasso, including a collection of costumes from Ballet Russes. Beautiful and eerily moving is the Aboriginal Memorial, an installation of 200 dupun (hollow log coffins) from Central Arnhem Land, representing a “forest of lost souls” from two centuries of colonisation but it’s a celebration of cultural survival, too.

Across from the National Library and Questacon, an interactive science and technology centre, is Old Parliament House. Reopened to the public as the Museum of Australian Democracy in 2009, this beautifully preserved heritage building is a fascinating place to visit for a behind-the-scenes glimpse of political life. In the Prime Minister’s Office, the original desk still sits where premiers Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke once held court (Hawke was colour-blind and the staff would help choose his ties).

Locating the capital in Canberra — the middle of nowhere, as it was seen at the time, despite being settled by the Ngunnawal people for up to 21,000 years — was a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne. Sydney got the better end of the deal, an easy road trip away 280km to the north. To the south, the skifelds in Kosciuszko National Park are even closer.

It’s the cusp of summer but white fluff from flowering poplar trees is covering the ground like a layer of snow outside the National Museum of Australia on Acton Peninsula, back on the other side of the lake. It’s worth booking a tour to fully appreciate both the scale of the collection and the symbolism of the post-modern architecture (chief architect Howard Raggatt describes the design as a series of puzzle pieces joined together, with buildings flung towards the water’s edge).

“You people in New Zealand have been giving me a lot of problems, asking ‘Where is our horse’s heart?’” says my guide Laster Khumalo, who was a teacher and natural history curatorial assistant in his homeland of Zimbabwe. We round a corner and there it is, Phar Lap’s heart, pickled in a bottle and weighing a massive 6.3kg. Of all the Kiwi treasures in Australia, surely it’s about time we repatriated that one.

WHAT’S ON IN CANBERRA

Who Are You: Australian Portraiture: National Portrait Gallery (until January 29)

This extraordinary collection of 130 artworks— spanning painting, film, photography, screen printing and sculpture — is moving, confrontational, engaging and often stunningly beautiful. Portraits of Cate Blanchett, Queen Elizabeth II, contemporary indigenous artist Albert Namatjira and Jeff the Wiggle are among them. portrait.gov.au

Cressida Campbell: National Gallery of Australia (until February 19)

A lifetime survey of work by the Australian contemporary artist, capturing the “overlooked beauty of the everyday” with more than 140 woodcut paintings, prints and drawings from her childhood in the 1960s to the present. Tickets cost $22 but the rest of the gallery is free and it’s worth setting aside a good chunk of the day for it. There’s a cafe on site and the Art Store is extensive. nga.gov.au

Australians & Hollywood: National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (until October 2023)

Billed as “iconic moments in contemporary Australian film and the people and stories that brought them to life”, the exhibition includes rare behind-the-scenes footage; costumes and props from the movie Elvis; customised steering wheels from Mad Max: Fury Road; art concept books for Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet; and the clapperboard from Dune. nfsa.gov.au

Canberra Balloon Spectacular: Old Parliament House (March 12-20)

Dozens of hot-air balloons launch at dawn each day from the front lawns as part of the Enlighten Festival (previous events have featured a pair of dancing honey bees, a Scottish bagpiper and a giant T-Rex). There’ll be a hot breakfast and live music for early birds who come to watch the mass ascension, plus good vantage points across the city. Balloon Aloft runs sunrise flights year-round. enlightencanberra.com

Floriade: Commonwealth Park (September 16-October 15)

Plan ahead for the largest flower festival in the Southern Hemisphere, a celebration of spring set among more than a million blooms. Music and other live performances, plus a ticketed NightFest long weekend. floriadeaustralia.com

CANBERRA’S TOP FIVE MARKETS

Old Bus Depot Markets, Kingston: Two levels of stalls inside the former transport depot, split loosely into food downstairs and clothing/handicrafts/vintage stalls up top. Sundays 9.30am-2.30pm. (obdm.com.au)

Capital Region Farmers Market, Exhibition Park: More than 100 stallholders selling freshly picked, locally grown and handcrafted produce, from buttermilk doughnuts to microgreens. Saturdays 7am-11.30am. (capitalregionfarmersmarket.com.au)

Haig Park Village Markets, Braddon: A festival vibe with colourful outdoor stalls, live music and a specialist Woof Market once a month. Sundays 8.30am-2pm. (haigparkvillagemarkets.com.au)

The Little Burley Market, Queen Elizabeth Terrace: Opened in September, this boutique market is in an idyllic location on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin. Saturdays 9am-1.30pm — plus Midsummer Night Markets on January 25-28. (thelittleburleymarket.com.au)

Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, Fyshwick: Canberra’s oldest markets, established in 1967, with a huge range of stores selling everything from dumplings to French cheese. Drop by on a Saturday afternoon for in-store tastings at Aussie craft beer specialist Plonk. Thursday to Sunday 7am to 5:30pm. (fyshwickmarkets.com.au)

CHECKLIST: CANBERRA

GETTING THERE

Air New Zealand and Qantas fly from Auckland to Canberra, via connecting flights in Sydney. Or you can catch the train from Sydney, which takes around four hours.

DETAILS

For more things to see and do in the region, go to visitcanberra.com.au

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