Suburb #85 Dickson

So when I started doing this project my partner at the time advised me not to do all the inner north suburbs - which he had thought would be the most interesting - all at once....this turned out not to be the case, but also ironically with only about 30 suburbs left to go I still have most of the inner north to do. So it seemed fitting to explore Dickson as the epic suburb number 85 of this project!

Dickson is named after Sir James Dickson, a Queensland politician and businessman, one of the founders of the Australian Constitution. He was appointed first Australia's Minister for Defence on 1 January 1901 - but died nine days later. The first federal Minister to die in office.

There is no theme for the the street names in this suburb! How rude! but at least they have a sign :)

I started my Dickson adventure outside the ABC studios on Northbourne avenue a couple of minutes walk from my old house...I love this building. It just reminds me of a bad 70s tv show.

And just around the corner is the similarly stylish Pavillion hotel :p Eating dinner in this hotel used to feel like you had literally got lost in the 70s....amongst the ferns, palms, orange plastic and 'sails'. I am glad they have kept the mosaic out the front :p

 
I then started walking north towards the shops down one of my favourite leafy streets....

Past my favourite mystery apartments....this place so intrigues me...I need to find someone who lives behind these walls...

Then it was off to the shops for what Dickson does best - yummy Asian food and Asian grocery shopping - afterall for Canberra this is as close as you get to China town!

I treated myself to lunch at the wonderful vegetarian restaurant Au Lac - I don't know why I don't come here more often. Fresh, yummy, vegie food. This time around I had fried tofu, an asparagus soup and a yummy spicy watermelon juice.

I wonder if the butcher's shop next door is trying to make eating meat seem more attractive...but their animal pictures always make me sad :(

After lunch it was time to wander around the local Asian grocery shops buying weird candy, soft drinks, tofu and herbs...

I then walked over to the other side of Dickson where the main shopping centre is. At first I think its like a bit of a time warp - looks exactly the same as when I first moved to Canberra...

But I was pleased to see that there is some new life being breathed into this part of the suburb...with new eateries, colour and much more of a community feeling. I didn't know that Bean and Grain was located here now. I can't wait to come back here for brunch soon! There is also a new vegetarian cafe which has GF haloumi burgers - definitely coming back here for lunch!!!

The local dogs seem impressed :p

Though maybe they are just hoping they will get to have a pie from the local pie shop which sounds pretty popular....

The old Dickson is definitely still there....

Including the very 'Dickson' two story brick houses...

But there seem to be new splashes of colour everywhere....

But there was one more surprise to come.....did you know there were bird wetlands in Dickson? I certainly didn't. A couple of minutes away from the shops, past the playing fields where the original Canberra airport was, and you are in a completely different world. Sitting here near Sullivan's creek was a perfect way to finish my Dickson adventure :)