Suburb #86 Holder

For Suburb #86 I decided to finish off the Weston area...with the South of Canberra getting pretty close to being done now! :)

Holder is named after Sir Frederick William Holder - a former premier of South Australia and the first ever Speaker in the House of Representatives. He died of a brain hemmorhage following an accident with a mule.

The streets are named after Australian surveyors.

I started my adventures at the rather sleepy holder shops...well sleepy apart from the happy 'wildlife' and a possible serious drug problem :p

Then it was off to explore the suburb more broadly - I actually quite liked the feel of this place - some interesting little streets and more variety in terms of housing design than some of the other suburbs. And they even have their own Hilton hotel :p

Further North there is also an archery centre and an impressive community garden... and even a Sukyo Mahikari religious centre...I had never even heard of this new Japanese religion before, but there you go, Canberra has everything :p

But on this hot and unusually humid Canberra day, I really could have just sat and watched the remarkable clouds from alongside Weston creek...It was like a constable painting.

Thank you Holder a lovely end to my Weston adventures :)

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 #77 Rivett

Suburb no. 77 was Rivett in the South. I have to say it wasn't the most riverting suburban experience i have had, but I still had a lovely walk in the sun.

Rivett is named after Sir Albert Cherbury David Rivett - a man with an impressive name. He was a scientist but to be honest I am not really sure why a suburb was named after him unless it was because he was married to Alfred Deakin's daughter. He was Chairman of the CSIRO for a bit though and was one of those folks given the title of the Night Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.

The streets here are named after Australian flora.

As I often do, I started my adventures at the local shops....they look like they are struggling a bit to keep going but they are not giving up without a fight...and a very chipper baker!

Someone has made a valiant effort to create a tile display like the one I saw in Watson recently but I am afraid the outcome is a little sad :(

There is a very cute dog in residence though :)

And the parkland around the shops is quite pretty...

Even if the locals may be trying to make contact with aliens..

There are, however, a lot of Australian flags around here which you know makes me cranky...

But also other things that symbolise Australia more appropriately for me...

I think Rivett could do with a little more love...

Because it certainly has potential....thanks Rivett :)

Suburb #61 Fisher

I decided to spend Friday visiting suburbs starting with F because I had been having that kind of a week. First off was Fisher.

This suburb is named after Andrew Fisher, who founded the federal Labor Party, and was subsequently, Prime Minister of Australia for three terms. Fisher started work at the age of 10 in a coal mine in Scotland, after which we would trek 4km to go to night school - our generation really should quit complaining shouldn't it... Anyway, he came to Australia in 1885, became president of the Gympie branch of the Labor Party in 1891 and then entered federal parliament in 1901. He gets kudos for arguing for more female representation in parliament. His government also established old age and disability pensions and workers compensation...and... oh yeah ....founded Canberra :)

The streets here are named after Australian mines and mining towns.

First stop was the local shops....while they have a very fancy silver sign...unfortunately the Fisher shops appear to have seen better days. Its kind of a bad sign when even the charity bins have been relocated to Coolemon Court! But there is a development sign up so hopefully a renaissance is on the way soon :)

After the somewhat forgotten shops and a series of lonely swings...

I was feeling a bit unsure of Fisher...but then I reached a fork in the road....

And the bush capital beauty eventually shone through :)

There are some amazing trees and flowers in this suburb...

I also climbed up a small hill and found the most unexpected and  beautiful view...although I think 'champion' may have been a bit of an overestimation of the physical effort required. It was a very small hill :p

There are no doubt some interesting architectural choices here...it is suburbia after all...

But in the end I enjoyed my morning walk around the streets of this mining town :p