If Sydney‘s the city you want to hook up with and Melbourne is the city you want to date, then you could say Canberra is that drunken one-night stand that you’d like to forget. Or so I came to believe when I told Sydneysiders that it was the next stop on my road trip. “Why are you going there?” I was asked. There was the practical reason that it was a good stopping point on the way to Melbourne. I also had some friends I wanted to meet up with.
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But the political geek inside of me was curious about the power of the Australian Capital Territory. It’s like how Washington DC was meant to be: a city used for government and little else. But the residents of the ACT have voting privileges their American counterparts do not share.
Canberra is also a planned city, less than 100 years old, designed in a series of circles with spokes, all revolving around Parliament Hill. The city doesn’t look like much, with about 300,000 full-time residents. Many politicians come into town just for work.
Tommy and I arrived in Canberra around 1 p.m., just in time to check into Canberra City YHA, the sole hostel in town. We took what we thought would be a short walk to the other side of town to see Parliament. It was within view, so how far could it be?
After walking for what seemed like years in these Saharan conditions, we decided to jump ship in favor of our air-conditioned hostel. The next day we tried again after seeing the War Memorial but ran into the lake. I swear the place is a mirage.
So maybe we failed at seeing the sights, but at least we spent time with some real Canberrians (Canbears? Canberrasiders?). On Thursday night, Tommy and I met up with fellow BusAbout-ers CJ and Sean, who were some of the few people from Croatia we kept in touch with. We started out at Transit Bar, right under our hostel, but soon moved on to King O’Malley’s.
One thing I can say about the people of Canberra is that they know how to party. I had to put to bed shortly after since we had a long drive to Melbourne the next morning, but I can honestly say I enjoyed Canberra– but just as a friend.
That’s really cool that you stopped into Canberra mate. It’s definitely an often overlooked destination for people making their way across Oz. I’ve spent a fair bit of time up there and can say they definitely know how to party for such an isolated capital city. Did you know it’s the Australian capital of porn and fireworks? :D
Why didn’t I stock up on porn and fireworks while I was there? Such a shame!
Psst. It’s ‘Canberrans’ or just ‘Berrans’ :P
Canberra still loves you and wishes you would call even if you don’t respect it in the morning.
We loved having you here even if you didn’t get to see the magnificent Parliament house and you missed out on the legendary Mooseheads! (You dodged a bullet really, it was crap)
Hahaha love it. Glad Canberra and I can still be friends. I could have stayed out longer if it weren’t for that damn drive to Melbourne. Next time!
You are of course welcome any time :)
I nerded it up in Cberra as well, but for even longer. Yeah, you totally need a car in that town to get from one place to another, as distances can be deceiving. But well worth a stop if you are govt nerd like me.
Like DC, almost all the museums are free and the tours are free or cheap. I didn’t even offer my “student” card at the old capitol, but they asked if I was a student, so who was I to say no? To save a few bucks, of course I was!
If you love DC, you’ll love Cberra! And of all places to meet Americans on WHV! I ran into my first here, who were wrapping up their year abroad.