Suburb #10 - Pialligo - the reboot edition

Life has been a bit crazy recently, but before the end of last year I did manage to sneak in suburb #10 which was Pialligo - and then embarrassingly completely forgot about it!

Or perhaps I blocked it out - as I must admit I was bit sad about the significant chances to this suburb in over the last decade, which is now home to 138 people. 

Pialligo is essentially one street...so I parked my car down one end on a lovely spring afternoon and walked all the way down one side and back the other.

Once upon a time the charm of Pialligo was that it felt like you had left Canberra and entered a big country farm...it is not quite the same now with actual pavements and roads without holes (ironically probably due to infrastructure upgrades that were probably partly my fault....).

But there are still lots of the old trees and the ivy that I remembered...

And the lovely country style driveways...

And views...

And orchards...

And old homesteads...

And of course lots of fabulous plants...

There are not as many animals as I remember...but there are definitely still some animal friends...

And it is still a great place for a colourful weekend adventure...

Suburb #9 - Bonner - the reboot edition

On a freezing cold, Canberra winter afternoon recently I visited the original suburb #9 Bonner.

This suburb has grown remarkably since I visited 10 years ago, with more than 7,000 people now calling it home, but it still seems very quiet at the same time.

From the expanded local shops, I wandered along Mabo Boulevard - with the neighbourhood kitties safely locked away :)

While Bonner is pretty suburban, I love that there are explosions of colour everywhere...

As well as stunning, quiet places of reflection and natural beauty..

On occasion, I did wonder what had been going on...

But there was always another hill to climb...and the views are bloody incredible!!!

It was time to call it a day as the winds grew even colder....and it became clear that the snow was coming!!!! Thanks Bonner - I could eventually feel my fingers again!

Suburb #8 - Franklin - the reboot edition

Suburb number 8 of the reboot was Franklin. I had been procrastinating about doing this one...but I finally made it out one cold Canberra winter afternoon recently and it was certainly worth it.

Franklin was established in 2007 and more than 7,000 people now live there. It still has colourful buildings, crazy curbs and unfortunate housing designs, but it has certainly changed a lot in 10 years and is now quite beautiful in parts. Fortunately, it definitely wasn't 36 degrees this time around either!

I started my wanderings behind the local shops around the many ponds...and caught the last of some local autumn beauty,

Then it was off towards the top of the suburb....

Past the buildings with colourful legoland panels that I remembered...

Past a sad-eyed friend :(

Through little parks that are now leafy and green...

With mossy rocks...

And houses that I felt were not impressed by my views of Franklin housing design...

Reaching the top of the hill, I had a wander around the Gubur Dhaura Heritage Site, which provides amazing 360 degrees views of the suburb, as well as many markers of the history that was.  

As the sun sank low in the sky, it was time to head back down to the Franklin plains...but at this hour they were just as stunning...

Unexpectedly I found some hidden moments of peace in Franklin...

And enjoyed watching the locals at play...

And watching this lovely poser....

While experiencing this amazing sunset....

Yeah perhaps...

But there is still lots of beauty in the world - even where you least expect it :)