Suburb #47 Charnwood

Suburb #47 was Charnwood and thus time to challenge some real prejudices. I still remember when moving to Canberra I asked 'where should I live?', the common response was 'anywhere but Charnwood is fine'. But others sing its praises.

This suburb is named after a former homestead in the Belconnen district, which was given the name Charnwood in 1833 - after the Forest of Charnwood in England. The name of this forest is believed to originate from the Celtic word carn meaning cairn and the Old English word wudu meaning wood.
A. F. Cross wrote lots of poems about this forest:

Beloved Charnwood! could I hymn thy praise

In song ecstatic, or in strains sublime,

The trembling murmurs of my harp should raise

Peans of joy to wing through every clime:

How strange that man, unmindful of thy charms,

Should fly the welcome of thine outstretched arms

And seek on alien shore and distant wild

The very Beauty which he scorns at home!

The streets here are named after NSW pioneers.

So did we find 'beloved Charnwood' on our adventure or did the more local folklore prove correct?

Well to be honest I think it was a bit of both...certainly a suburb of contrasts :p

Charnwood was designed based on something called the Radburn principle, whereby houses face common parkland - with their garages at the rear of the house facing the streets. In Curtin, I saw some beautiful examples of this. Unfortunately, in Charnwood, many owners have built fences on the park side of their houses - leading to rather odd grassed areas that are surrounded by back fences.

Despite this, particularly at the moment, there are some very pretty parts to Charnwood especially thanks to the gorgeous spring flowers everywhere...

The Charnwood shops are also more diverse than you would expect and full of life. It was here I thankfully found the amazing Charnie's Noodles and Dumplings where we had a fabulous lunch. Fried chilli tofu heaven :)

This suburb nevertheless seemed to keep trying to tell me something...

And at times I almost gave in to the stereotypes...

But in the end Charnwood and I certainly bonded :)

Suburb #46 Deakin

For suburb number 46, I decided to try and reclaim Deakin, a suburb that for me generally means I need to visit a specialist or to have some part of my body x-rayed or otherwise poked and prodded so that the medical profession can tell me that my body is weird but they don't know what is actually wrong.

Deakin is named after Alfred Deakin, the second prime minister of Australia, who was also known as 'Affable Alfred'. He played a major role in the establishment of the High Court, but alas was a major supporter of the White Australia Policy and other objectionable things.

The streets here are named after Governors, Governor Generals and diplomats.

Despite the hospital and many medical facilities, Deakin is actually a gorgeous suburb with lots to see. It feels a lot like walking around an English village in some parts or a natural Floriade. I can't believe there are just beautiful flowers everywhere - even purple irises just growing by the roadside (can't believe I forgot to take a photo of these I think I was too stunned - only in Canberra would these not have been chopped off and stolen by someone!).

But like elsewhere in Canberra you can also just walk around the corner and feel like you are in the middle of the bush...

Or around another corner....back in Gunghalin again :p

I was really pleased to see the local shops in Deakin were still full of life! I love the sculpture and .had an awesome lunch at the cute Doubleshot cafe.

For those interested in art, between the medical clinics, there are also rather oddly not one but two galleries in Deakin (both free to visit).

The gorgeous Beaver Galleries (I must check out the cafe here sometime.) which I was aware of....

But also the Margaret Dimoff gallery which I was unaware of and I understand unfortunately might not be there for much longer. I need a rich benefactor to buy me her 'winter journey' painting.

There are a limited numbers of embassies here just down from the shops - or soon will be :p

How cool is the roof of the Timorese embassy!

Our fearless leader is also supposed to live here (note: I risked incarceration taking this not very exciting photo)...with the lodge built in the 1920s at a cost of £28,319.

The Mint, where all the coins in your pockets will have been made, is also in Deakin....

I must admit I had never been here before but dropped in and went on one of the free tours, and it was actually really interesting (though I recommend potentially not going during school holidays and floriade!). One of the robots doing all the work was called 'Robbie' :p

You can also make your own coin here if you want (well press a button and have a machine do it for you...). If you are weird like me, you may also be excited that you can currently see the key to the door of Parliament House here :)

Suburb #45 Phillip - meet you at the cemetery gates...

Suburb #45 was Phillip - aka Woden 'town centre'  - on the South Side of Canberra. Things called Phillip generally repel me so I decided to challenge my prejudices and see what secret beauty I could find here. I did end up with a headache but still enjoyed my adventure here, took LOTS of photos and definitely found some hidden treasures.

Phillip is named after Arthur Phillip the first Governor of NSW who was responsible for getting the first ships full of convicts to Australia from Britain. Rather logically, the streets in Phillip thus use names related to the First, Second and Third Fleets, except in Swinger Hill where they are named after architects.

I started off my wanderings at the Woden cemetery. I used to spend a lot of time having picnics in cemeteries in Sydney (bloody goths). While this wouldn't feel right here, this place is actually really beautiful - but not the place to visit when you are already feeling down, particularly the part which is dedicated to graves of children and has children toys place all around *sobs*.

You can also find the grave of Doc Evatt here if you look hard enough. Doc, also known as Herbert Vere Evatt, wasn't really very important to this country at all.. besides being Chief Justice of NSW, Leader of the ALP, third president of the UN General Assembly, Chairman of the UN Atomic Energy Commission, Attorney General and a Justice of the High Court. He clearly wasn't trying hard enough - oh and yeah he helped draft the UN Declaration of Human Rights and wrote a number of books on history and politics. Geez some folk are lazy! If only there were more of you Doc.

Just outside the cemetery is Eddison park which is gorgeous at this time of year with all the spring blossoms out - there is also a skate park for those that way inclined.

Next stop was Swinger Hill, a housing estate within Phillip that was built in the 1970s and was designed to 'challenge the Australian suburbs' with a mix of terrace and courtyard units. The name of this estate is just brilliant - and has thankfully so far avoided campaigns by conservatives to have the name changed to Howard Hill due to complaints that the name promotes infidelity and 'relationships of a sordid nature'. But this place is also just sooooooooooo cute..... I am amazed I haven't been here before. In fact, I am amazed I don't live here. My Harry Seidler flat belongs here I am sure of of it, Some of the buildings here also have a heritage listing, and I just love all the little walkways that run through the middle of the apartment blocks. Even despite all the mission brown, this place is awesome.

Next stop was the commercial area within Phillip - OK so its not overly photogenic (like me) but it too has its hidden positives. Amongst the car yards and mechanics, you can find amazing Indian food at Indian Affair - a Canberra institution, plus it is an op-shoppers paradise. To my surprise there is even a Japanese kimono/fabric shop there as well. It felt incredibly weird to step off the sidewalk in industrial Phillip in to mini Japan!

Finally it was over to Woden Town Centre, which hosts the tallest actual building in Canberra, Lovett Tower, but also the shorter, yet in my opinion the ugliest building in Canberra...not sure what it is called.

I must admit Westfield Woden really does depress me a bit, it seems lost in time somehow - especially compared to Belco. But walking around the town centre I found that there were certainly some more interesting and beautiful parts, including some interesting sculptures.

I also found an awesome bookshop...

And while I wouldn't say Woden architecture is beautiful it is certainly memorable...made me feel all nostalgic for the old Belconnen bus station with its classical music being boomed out of the loud speakers to try and repel the cool kids from hanging around.

I realise that this is a long post, but just lastly I must say, Westfield Woden are you really sure that this advertising campaign is appropriate....particularly when this is currently sitting above a childcare/children's play area! Creepy enough for you?