Suburb #105 Isabella Plains

So it was time to explore the one and only remaining suburb in Tuggeranong.....suburb no. 105 Isabella Plains.

This is the first suburb I have explored that is described as being 'indirectly' named after someone, and someone who doesn't appear to be famous for anything and doesn't even have their own Wikipedia page :p It is named after Isabella Maria Brisbane, the daughter of Sir Thomas Brisbane, a colonial Governor of NSW. In the early 1820s, It appears that the local white settlers in fact called the whole Tuggeranong area "Isabella's Plain" in the then baby Isabella's honour. I wonder what became of this lady?

So it was a lovely Canberra day as we headed down to the 'deep South' for the last time....and you know I always try to find something positive about every suburb I visit, but I must admit I struggled a little bit at first with this one - apologies Plainsians.

I blame my school uniform which has caused me to have an enduring hatred of anything brown...and there is a lot of brown here...a mission brown theme even. The houses are brown....the fences brown and I was flabbergasted to find that all the houses almost still have the same brown awnings that the original houses were obviously originally built with.

The local shops also seem to be a little depressing to be honest...apparently the IGA is regularly broken into...perhaps they should make their liquor sign a little smaller?

But even here there are some of my standard Canberra favourites...

And of course some great open spaces and amazing gardens...

I think the local art work could use some  further consideration...

And perhaps the vineyard :p

But I did eventually find a house that was not brown....

And clearly everyone here is happy - so that is the main thing :)

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 #97 Chisholm

Suburb no. 97 was Chisholm, one of only three suburbs in Tuggeranong that I have not yet visited on this project.

Chisholm is named after Caroline Chisholm. Caroline arrived in Australia in 1838, setting up an immigrant home that helped more than 40,000 people over a 38 year period - with Caroline famous for her humanitarian work, particularly with migrants, throughout her life.

The streets in Chisholm are named after other notable women (and the street sign is on stilts for some reason).

I started my adventures at the local shops...again a place of great history :p but also one full of life, new cafes and colour.

As I had some special guests on this adventure....

next on the agenda was a wander around the park and cricket ground...

 

It was thirsty work given the recent weather in Canberra....

After recovering in the shade for a bit, it was onwards towards the local high school which won an architectural prize. I am not surprised as I think its quite impressive - particularly with the mountain views in the background....

They even have their own mini Greek amphitheatre...

And buildings that look like a weird mix between a temple and a gas chamber...

It was a long hot walk back up to the shops and Chisholm's version of the golden gate bridge...

Before it was time to drive around and experience the refreshingly non identical housing of Chisholm...albeit not all too my taste...

But certainly the most impressive views in the suburb were from up on Chisholm hill...

All in all a great place to wander around, particularly with some four legged friends and an off duty superhero :)