Hearts and flowers in Canberra

Bagging Canberra is second nature to those who prefer the sophistication of cities such as Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne but, each time I visit, I have to say I have a great time! Maybe it is because it feels so different, with a layout that shows someone cared for the city’s position within its surrounding environment.

>> Destination Canberra, Weekends For Two

The ‘someone’ as we all know was Chicago-born Walter Burley Griffin who was maybe in a romantic mood when he entered the competition to design the city as he heard about it on his honeymoon. He didn’t dream of winning as he thought his views far too radical for any government saying: “I have planned a city that is unlike any other in the world. I have planned it not in a way that any government authorities in the world would accept. I have planned an ideal city – a city that meets my ideal of the city of the future.”

Winning must have been an incredible surprise – and a nice wedding present for Burley Griffin and his wife who rendered the plans for him. The rest is history but the legacy is a city with a difference, with a feeling of space and many, many things to see and do as befits a capital city.

Spring and early summer are especially romantic with activities around Lake Burley Griffin and the spectacular Floriade which just gets bigger and better every year with amazing themes and designs from the floral artists. Now I know that flowers aren’t exactly the way to persuade many blokes to travel to Canberra for the weekend but strolling hand in hand through the showcase gardens will be pretty romantic once you get there and this is no local village flower show! This year’s themes are inspired by Aussie icons, myths and legends and have been designed to inspire us to set about environmentally-friendly gardening and landscaping.

Photographer Steve Parish has an ‘Icons of Australia’ exhibition while ‘Passion for Fashion’ is an annual competition to create fashion from flowers and foliage.

Moving right along, literally, Canberra has a great network of off and on road bike trails and paths for biking or roller-blading past some of the city’s national and natural attractions with bikes and roller blades available for hire. Paddle boats, canoes, kayaks and surf skis are also available for hire on Lake Burley Griffin.

Something I always look forward to is eating out in Canberra and the choice is amazing from the busy bars and restaurants of London Circuit to any number of great choices in the various suburbs. Buy a map and check the route before set off as you don’t want to spoil a romantic evening with a fight about directions and map reading. Maybe catch a cab and watch someone else negotiating all those roundabouts!

Understanding Canberra’s layout is a little easier if you have time to drive, cycle or even walk up Mount Ainslie for a bird’s-eye view and you can stop to admire the spring flowers on the way. Or how about ballooning over Lake Burley Griffin at dawn?

One thing I definitely have on my list of things to do next time I’m in Canberra is to join the ‘Weird Canberra Ghost and History Tour’ in a stretch Cadillac hearse. Canberra’s own Tim the Yowie Man hosts one and a half hour tour visiting sites of crimes, hauntings and murder and finding out about the poltergeist in the Australian War Memorial and why some security guards refuse to work at Old Parliament House. A great tour to do when you have someone’s hand to hold!