The weekend suburb choice was, as is often the case, governed by my stomach - with a Sri Lankan food fair on in Kambah. So off we went to Canberra's largest suburb - the first suburb built in Tuggeranong which has also achieved fame for making the Australia's top ten list of bogan suburbs and lets just say seems to have a rather lets say 'mixed' reputation.
Kambah (or Kam-bar...) is named after the Kambah Homestead that was originally located here. This homestead was named after the local Ngambri people, which some suggest also give us the name for Canberra itself. Apparently Ngambri can also mean 'cleavage' or 'meeting place'....*ponders possible links with local burlesque scene*.
The streets in most parts of Kambah are named after interstate pioneers - though the fancy Gleneagles part of Kambah (think 'kambah grove') has streets named after golfers and golf courses.
Kambah certainly feels different to all the other suburbs that we have visited so far. This is perhaps not suprising given that it was meant to be many suburbs. It is quite literally at least four suburbs in one and hence it doesn't seem to have the same community feel or distinct character of other places we have visited. It is massive and was certainly not designed with the same 'neighbourhood philosophy' that our planned capital is used to. For starters, there are at least four sets of shops. So be prepared for more photos than usual!
But perhaps the best place to start is Kambah Woolshed. This is the oldest surviving building from the Kambah Homestead. Its really sad that the Homestead itself has now gone but it is great to be able to see where the shearing sheds once stood. You can even see 'Kambah' stamped on one of ceiling beams if you look hard enough and don't throw you neck out like my partner.
On to the first set of local shops 'Kambah village'... while certainly not the most beautiful local shops, they still have there own character and a sense of 1970s history about them...
This was also the venue for some small local markets where I picked up a gorgeous Japanese
inspired necklace for $10, and of course the awesome if somewhat wanky Dynomite record store.
The usual Canberra obsession with sheep sculptures is also evident here....
There were lots of other unexpected and interesting things to see in Kambah though. From local schools
And other local wildlife...
I must admit that overall I didn't feel comfortable in some parts of this suburb, but it gets additional plus points for this gate..
A sign that used the word verge...
And absolutely the most fun playground in Canberra so far (except for the Arboretum)...
Although the view from Urambi Hills within the suburbs is quite beautiful...
There also appears to be evidence of visitation from alien beings nearby on Meredith crescent :p
The view from the other side of the suburb was pretty impressive to - and I got to go down a second slide so I won't complain :p
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