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| Leaving Tasmania and No, I am not flying this one - leaving it to Virgin |
Translations:
* What Tasmanians call Bass Strait
** Means Fly In/Fly Out in Mining Speak
Just paid my annual state visit to the National Capital to
see how the other half lives. It was a
bit different this time. Previous visits to my son and his lovely wife have
usually involved a hectic nightlife –drinks at the Geology Bar followed by the
odd party, then maybe a 2 a.m. visit to Civic to check out the trendier pubs
and clubs. Even if we didn’t go out, we would sit up late to marathon the
latest movies.
Now that there is an adorable new baby in the house – the main
reason for this visit, our most exciting nightime adventure was going late night
grocery shopping. On the one night when we did stay up to watch
a movie, we all fell asleep, which was not necessarily a reflection on the
quality of the film. Not that I didn’t have an excellent time - lots of baby
cuddles with that delicious new baby smell and I didn’t have to do a single
nappy change. It was just a quieter sort of enjoyment which revolved around visiting
the
Etsy Craft Market and partaking of Canberra’s wide array of food
offerings. Three of these I will mention here because they were
a bit different and not
just a way to fill a rumbling stomach.
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| Artist Fiona Hill stands in front of one of her pieces at the Etsy Craft Market |
On the first morning for instance, we had breakfast at
Strathnairn,
a historic property that used to be an artists’ collective in the seventies –
ah nostalgia! Since then it has grown and expanded over time so that it now
provides creative space for emerging artists – kilns, a foundry, many little
studios, a café and a gallery which has a range of ceramics, textiles, works on
paper and in bronze. It is in a rustic bushland setting with lots of birdlife
and art work scattered about. Even the junk looks artistic.
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| Al Fresco Art and Food at Strathnairn |
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| Inside one of the Ceramic Workshops |
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| Outside |
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| The Woolshed retains its rustic roots, but is now a function room |
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| Talking Heads peep out from behind the agapanthus, just one of many artworks scattered around the property |
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| Another.... |
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| Even the sheds display a certain amount of artistic flair |
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| Heck! Even the tree stumps are getting in on the act |
Grill’d was not only a new experience in hamburgers, with
emphasis on locally sourced produce and grass fed beef, but what I really liked
was their commitment to promoting and supporting local charities, community
groups and causes. Each purchase provides you with a number of tokens which you
can choose to put into one of three jars each month e.g. – on this occasion helping a young disabled cyclist
achieve his goal of competing somewhere and the local scouts, but they have also helped the Women’s Legal Service, youth on
the streets, mothers and families battling
cancer, a non – profit food van, and so forth.
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| Down at the Hamlet. This little van serves a variety of milk shakes including a lemon meringue flavoured one |
Another place I particularly enjoyed was the
Hamlet, a
repurposed warehouse which now houses an eclectic mix of food vans,
small design studios, specialty bakeries and even a barber shop. The food is cheap and varied and there
is a great atmosphere. Apparently it’s even better in the evenings when there
is also music and entertainment. In fact, the whole area
around Lonsdale Street in Braddon, which was
formerly devoted to services to the automotive industry (I had my car air conditioning
repaired here last time), is rapidly turning into one of the hippest and
hottest parts of town, where even the op shops are upscale.The car industry
has meanwhile moved to the suburbs which are also burgeoning. Canberra is full of new
subdivisions that seem to have sprung fully formed from the earth since I was here last. Now women are driving the muscle cars which have room for prams and shopping and their men are driving the small sporty ones.
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| The Barber at work. Evidence of the building's former life can be seen above the shop fittings |
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| Apparently it's even more lively at night when music is added to the mix |
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| Spirit of Free Enterprise - just had to include these two young men selling their Shackleton's iced coffee from the boot of their car outside this precinct |
It was a lovely time to be in Canberra. It was still green, warm
to hot during the day, but cool at night and it was a delight to catch up
with my son and his little family, especially the new baby.
Nice work guys!
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