Suburb #82 - Waramanga

So Waramanga seemed to be the suburb that I kept driving past saying - I haven't done that one yet. So I decided I finally better give it a go...ummm....maybe that wasn't the best idea :p

Waramanga is named after an Aboriginal tribe from central Australia. The streets are named after Aboriginal tribunal units.

I have to be honest....maybe I wasn't feeling inspired...but this was not the most exciting suburb I have visited...it is very flat, there are lots of gum trees...it is very suburban...

They do, however, still have a local shops - which even has a cafe...

And an Asian restaurant with awesome palm trees painted on the front...

For a moment I also felt like I was back in Toronto...

But no still very much in Canberra...

Sorry Weston  Creek I will come back when I am in a better mood. Still have Holder to do...then another region done and dusted!

Suburb #81 Forrest

So after Reid...it was time to visit the Reid of the Southside...or Forrest. One of the most expensive Canberra suburbs.

Alas I wish it was  still called Blanfordia (seriously how cool would it be to live in a suburb called this!)....but it was renamed Forrest in 1928, which given the significant tree to everything else ratio seems quite appropriate.

But Forrest is actually named after Sir John Forrest - an Australian explorer, the first premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament. The streets here, which go round in circles and are confusing even for Canberra, are named after explorers and governors.

Like Reid, Forrest has rather a British feeling to it...with gorgeous old trees, well looked after hedges, beautiful roses gardens and quaint (but ridiculously large) houses everywhere...

If I can't live in Reid, I think this house really was meant for me...

I almost expected Mr Tumnus to come and greet me standing here....

As with any suburb...some people do, however, have more money than taste....

I bet this family are looking forward to Ikea opening...

But its not all just mansions around here (ok though there are a lot....).....there is a Jewish memorial centre...

And Canberra's equivalent of the leaning tower of Pisa at the italian cultural centre...or perhaps I was just standing on an angle :p

There is also somewhat surprisingly a memorial here to the poet Robert Burns...which the internet tells me is meant to symbolise the contribution of people of Scottish communities to Australia.

It is not hard to get an insight into the old Canberra around here either...

Or to find god if that is your thing...or at least to listen to some great classical music in a nice building :p

All in all a lovely day out in Forrest.

Suburb #80 Reid

I have been having suburb withdrawals lately after a very busy few weeks and a horrid  flu...so I decided to enjoy a nice sunny day this weekend and do one of my favourite suburb's Reid on foot. One day I will live here - whether I rob a bank or marry a rich widower - but until then I am pretty lucky to live nearby and walk though here often on my way to civic.

Reid is one of Canberra's oldest suburbs and named after Australia's 4th Prime Minister and first High Commission in London, George Reid - known as 'Yes-No-Reid' for his position on federation. He was apparently a complete smart arse and 'perhaps the best platform speaker in the Empire'.

The streets in Reid are named after Aboriginal words.

Reid is just across from Civic and the gorgeous Glebe park. It starts with the not so beautiful Bega flats above and the nearby Argyle apartments with their lamp posts from Narnia..where I spent some of the happiest times of my twenties...

But keep walking and it is as if you have wandered into an English village - think green hedges, large majestic cedar and conifer trees that were planted in the 1920s, roses, gorgeous gardens, cute heritage houses...oh and the smell of great wealth but hey you get that.

Hedges in particular are everywhere due to the no front fence policy when the suburb was built.

I have a brochure published for public servants back in the day to encourage them to come and live in Canberra. It shows them 22 types of houses that the Federal Capital Commission had available for them to choose from . I love that you can walk around Reid and see these drawings come to life with the different styles of houses.

Some Reidians have tried to give their suburb a more modern feel - including by covering their houses with modern art - how awesome is this!

A sense of history, nevertheless, pervades the whole suburb....with Canberra's oldest Church, St John the Baptist, also found here. For non-Canberra-ites, you would have see Kevin Rudd waxing lyrical about his religious beliefs out the front of this church.

Reid also finishes alongside Anzac Parade - that is, the road up to the war memorial, a dramatic avenue filled with memorials to Australia's war dead.

At about this time I realised that perhaps doing a whole suburb on foot was not such a good idea...so I wandered up to the Reid oval and had a nap in the shade for a bit while the Telstra Tower hid behind a pole nearby,

Thank you Reid - you know I love you, alas it was such a sunny day, I don't really think I did you justice in terms of photography, but that is OK, because I don't really want to share you with others :p