Woman's Breasts

Parliament House

Andrew was going to Canberra to look at a site, so I thought I would tag along. It took just over 4 hours to get there, and in common with most major routes here, once we got out of Sydney, there was virtually no one on the road, which made for an easy drive. The scenery was interesting - initially flat pastureland giving way to tree covered cliffs with rivers tumbling over boulders in the bottom of gorges. We passed fields of sheep, some unexpected alpacas, olive groves and vineyards. Eventually we skirted around Lake George - not really a lake, but a vast flood plain creating a sort of prehistoric vista.

We hadn't heard much good stuff about Canberra. An entirely 'created' city (as opposed to one that has evolved), it has a reputation for being a bit boring and full of public servants (the latter not necessarily being the result of the former!). It is the largest inland city in Australia - although at 300,000 population it's not really much more than a big town - and was designed to be the capital in order to avoid the rivalry between the country's two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney.

I tried to have an open mind, but the place is very odd. Generally I wouldn't agree with the Duke of Edinburgh about much, but he famously described Canberra as being 'a city without a soul' - and he certainly had a point. It's difficult to know when you have found the centre, as there is no one about, and the urban design has not really facilitated its ability to be a vibrant city or community. It reminded me of wandering about in the city of London on a Saturday, when no one is there. Except that it was a Thursday, in the middle of the day. There are many beautiful and iconic buildings - Parliament House, the National War Memorial, the National Gallery - but you are left wondering why these places are not in Sydney or Melbourne. And it is a city completely devoid of public toilets - which anyone who knows me will know is a bit of a problem....

It turned out that the site Andrew wanted to look at was a carpark in the very centre of the city. It was clearly a very popular carpark, as it was full, but as far as I could see it was pretty much what you would expect - a concrete slab with a lot of cars in. It was therefore difficult to see why it had just been sold for $92m. Must be a pretty good carpark.I pretended I didn't know him while he took photos.....

So - I expect you are wondering why I have called this post 'Woman's breasts'. Well, I was amused to read that the city was officially given its name by a Lady Denman in 1913, the Aboriginal word 'Canberra' having been chosen. It was only afterwards that they discovered that this meant 'woman's breasts'. Classic....



Lake George - no, really...