Suburb #100 Calwell

I was going to do a special suburb to mark reaching no. 100 but I ended up doing Calwell instead :p

Sorry Calwellians....only kidding....I actually had an unexpectedly lovely walk here which is exactly what this project was all about - so it ended up being quite a fitting choice for suburb no. 100.

This suburb is named after Arthur Augustus Calwell, Australia's immigration minister from 1945 to 1949, who led the ALP during the 60s. There was an attempt on his life in 1966, but this failed - with Calwell only the second victim of an attempted political assassination in Australia. He once famously stated that "It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies". Not sure how that fits with our current reality of alternative facts...

The streets here are named after Victorian politicians.

 As has been customary on this journey, I started my adventures at the local shops...which actually still exist and are in fact fairly sizeable in this suburb - go Calwell! :)

 

In the company of some special guest stars who added an additional level of difficulty to trying to take photos while walking...

 

it was then off to explore the local parkland...really quite pretty with autumn colour starting to emerge...

I have it on good authority that young locals got up to no good down here....

No doubt at the very least a good hide out spot from the school across the road... 

 

Or possibly from the church...

As we continued our loop around back to the shops, the bush capital's 100th suburb certainly came to the party with the usual array of birds and gorgeous natural beauty....

 

As well as some of those very Canberran things that I have become so fond of :)

And there were still some of those fabulous Canberra views to come from the highest points in the suburb... where there are also some very large houses (and I can just never go past the questionable use of a palm tree...)

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Suburb #99 Campbell

Suburb no. 99 was my home suburb of Campbell - explored on foot on a beautiful sunny Canberra day in the company of my favourite super hero.

This suburb is named after Robert Campbell - a Scotsman and merchant, who first arrived in Australia in 1798, building Australia's first shipyards in Kirribilli in 1807. In the 1820s, a sheep station was established for him in Pialligo in Canberra as compensation for the loss of one of his ships on a government charter. In 1846, he renamed this property Duntroon - after Duntrune Castle in Scotland, which as an aside is apparently haunted by a handless piper - and built a homestead here which remains part of the Royal Military College. Campbell was a member of the first NSW legislative council.

The streets here are named after defence personnel....apparently the suburb name is also spelt wrong???

So our Campbell adventures began outside my own little part of Australian architectural history - Campbell Group Housing, designed in 1964 for ANU by the remarkable Harry Seidler. Completely impractical to live in but very good for the soul - the sense of space and calm is just remarkable.

 Living in one of the cheapest places in a very expensive suburb, I don't have to walk far to start day-dreaming about winning the lottery and living in one of these little shacks...with some bits of Campbell like a beautiful English village...

Then it was up to top of the suburb - which most people probably don't even known is there - under Fairbairn Avenue....

But it really is quite beautiful...

Then it was back down to the center of the suburb with its multiple parks, schools and a remarkable number of playgrounds....

 

I wish I had a buddy bench at my school :)

Next up were the local Campbell shops...which appeared to be having a Jeffrey Smart moment :p

Then it was time to head down towards Constitution Avenue, past many of the lovely less showy old houses full of character that too many people are knocking down to build their mega mansions :(

 

It makes me sad - the trees around here clearly need to be comforted as well :(

Does anyone know what this memorial was for? The plaque has been removed...

Away, while pondering the possibilities....we decided that it was time for a break with a glass of wine at the new wonderful wine bar in Campbell.. the perfect place to decompress in the sun after a horrid week. They sell amazing wines by the glass and the grilled haloumi is pretty damn good too :)

 

Our adventure also then continued to get slightly waylaid at the Pedlar next door...those onion rings and dumplings are just too damn good! And there is finally a place in my suburb to get an espresso martini! :)

And so began a lovely sunset walk back home...over the hill and through Legacy Park....not a bad view hey? :)

 

So that was really it for our fabulous big day out in Campbell....

I do have to cheat though and add a couple of extra photos of the Blamey Crescent walk I take every time I walk to civic - inherently 'campbell' for me. 

Plus a friend wouldn't forgive me if I didn't include a photo of his impressive hedge :p