Suburb # 23 Acton

Well what can I say Acton? you let me down. I love you but you are the only suburb so far to not have a street sign. Are you too cool to conform? Bad form....

But yeah so we visited Acton on a very lovely Sunday afternoon last week. For non-Canberrites, this is basically a suburb right next to civic on the lake. It is perhaps less of a suburb and more the campus of the ANU - but the National Film and Sound Archive, the CSIRO, the National Museum and some beautiful parks are located here. Oddly though New Action is not here...

The suburb is named after one of the original homesteads in Canberra which was called 'Acton' and located near the current National Museum. It was in this area that people working to develop the capital lived - with some of these areas now actually under Lake Burley Griffin. Anyway, as there was no Acton sign...this was the best we could do....[If anyone sees one please let me know!]

I could really fill a whole blog with photos just of this suburb as there are some quite beautiful spots particularly at the bottom of the ANU closer to the lake, but I will try and restrain myself.

There are certainly a number of historical buildings in the area...including Old Canberra House, Constable's cottage and University House - though I am afraid University House does not remind me of disneyland as an architecture critic apparently remarked when it was built.

But also lots of new architecture and sculpture...

Personally I think the ANU campus is just gorgeous - leafy and peaceful - I wish I had studied here for my undergraduate degree (mind you they are such word count nazis that I may never have passed....).

There were still some expected, very Canberra features of this suburb....

But also some more unusual and unexpected sights.