Suburb #101 Belconnen

So just before I went to Japan, I finally managed to explore the uber suburb of Belconnen, or whatever you choose to call it....Belco, Belcompton.....depending on your level of belco pride :)

The name of this suburb comes from the name of the local district that was used by early settlers - with a land grant of 800 hectares in the area, titled 'Belconnen' made to the explorer Charles Sturt in 1837. This land was later sold to Robert Campbell, the owner of nearby Duntroon Estate.

The streets here are named after Lord Mayor and Mayors.

After 16 years in Canberra, I was embarrassed to admit that I had never actually walked around Lake Ginnindera, the artificial lake that is next to the Belconnen Town Centre - so this seemed like a good place to start my Belconnen adventure.

We started our walk near the infamous Lighthouse pub - the scene of things I expect many people would probably like to forget - but none the less still a common place for local public servants to gather for a drink in the sun after work and/or say farewell to colleagues...

From the 'lighty', we started walking around the lake, initially in the shadow of Belco's many new tall apartment buildings...

Past an underwater shopping trolley graveyard...

But within minutes we were surrounded by parkland - filled with bird life and natural beauty - and I was reminded just how beautiful Canberra can be on a wonderful sunny day, even so close to the heart of concrete Belconnen.

As we continued our walk around the lake, the beautiful views just kept on coming...

As well as local street art...

and some cuties from the local dog park...

It was all surprisingly peaceful....

For a moment, I thought the Doctor had, however, come to pay us a visit....

Gorgeous late autumn colour featured everywhere...

And before we knew it, we had reached the wonderful Belconnen Arts Centre and almost completed our lake walk...

Next stop was perhaps Belconnen's most famous landmark - the 'penis owl'. It even has its own facebook page... note: once your perception of this statue has been destroyed there is certainly no going back!

A rather regal avenue of trees strangely sits behind 'the penis'...

And just a hop and jump from here are the Belconnen markets - full of yummy fresh vegies, cheeses and gluten free heaven! Oh and tourist attraction number two - the often overlooked giant mushroom!!!

 

 

While there were so many more places to visit, as the sun had started to set, I decided it was time to wander through the bus interchange - upgraded some years ago...and now filled with calming blue lines and artwork...

I then wandered down past Magaret Timpson park, in the shadow of the rather imposing new apartment blocks...

A Belconnen adventure could not, however, be complete without mentioning Belconnen Mall...hated and loved in equal measure, surrounded by ugly car parks, which ridiculously have the best views of the lake. Its architecture has no doubt changed over the years - with the 80s ferns and colours gone ...arguably still an eyesore, though if you try hard enough perhaps you can appreciate our little Guggenheim shrine to capitalism :p

 

 

But its time for the sun to set on Belconnen - both the old and the new...

Thanks Belco - a suburb of contrasts - that I love and hate in equal measure.

I spend so much time within your boundaries, but I was glad to finally take the time out to look at you more closely through my camera lens :)