Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Weekend down south
In his book, "Cities", John Reader argues that what makes a certain city vibrant and prosperous is its ability to reinvent itself and regenerate after transformative economic and cultural changes. Above all, it is the commercial sector which drives this ability. Where this commercial energy overlaps with government/administrative institutions the result is metropolises able to change, adapt and generate wealth from the stability afforded by being the cultural and national centre.

Conversely, he argued, purpose built national capitals, such as Washington, Madrid, Bonn and Canberra - which from the beginning lacked the commercial impetus - remain staid, soulless places, often unable to generate wealth making capacity to suit changing times and economies.

This is why these cities are overshadowed by New York, Barcelona, Frankfurt and Sydney.

Any longevity is supported by the political objective of maintaining a cultural and bureaucratic centre of a nation, often a drain on public finances. John Reader suggests that the choice of Madrid as a national capital of Spain cost the Spanish monarchy the entire bounty of gold plundered from the new world. Spent otherwise, west European history could have been very different.

Whether Canberra has been a just a costly exercise in politics is unclear, for much like every other city in Australia it is has a rapidly expanding suburban fringe of McMansions. Originally designed to accommodate some 25,000 people, it is now home to 330,000 and growing. What they do in their spare time is another question altogether.

A good history of Canberra can be found here.

I will reserve final judgement on the place until I see it in the warm sunshine. In the grey, windy, raw and cold, few cities look their best. In the interim, suffice to say it is soulless, it lacks energy and is far too spread out. Hence, everyone gets around in (small) cars on wide sweeping boulevards. Had we not hired a car we would have managed the walk between Parliament House and the War Memorial before running out of time (and enthusiasm).

Our itinerary was perfunctory and involved driving, stopping, snapping and running for cover in the warm of the car again:

Friday - very cold

1. Australian War Memorial was austere and grey. Perhaps fitting, but its central position, along the main spine of the city is a worrying reminder of the centrality of fighting wars in building up the mythology of a nation. Canberra's centre is based on an equalateral triangle, with Parliament House (PH), the commercial centre and the Ministry of Defence at each corner. Running along a central spine from PH is another axis ending at the War Memorial. PH is perched on a hill in the middle of concentric circles. In the middle of it all is a lake, Burley Griffin, named after the American who designed it.
2. Mount Ainsley (dedicated to the Britain's favourite TV chef) for a great view over the city, highlighted by finding remnants of snow and a dead wallaby at the top! (More about dead wallabies later.)
3. Black Mountain and Telstra Tower for another view over the city and light lunch, highlighted that the Telstra Tower (surely the focus of telecommunications technology in Australia) could not electronically process credit card payments.
4. Scrivener Dam, which holds back the waters of Lake Burley-Griffin: somewhat dull.
5. (New) Parliament House, perhaps the highlight of the city; a fantastic building with a great tour, taking in both the Senate and the House of Reps. So very different from the inaccessible Palace of Westminster, where visitors are traditionally known as 'Strangers'. Parliament House is a very open and welcoming public space, exactly as the democratic focus of a nation should be. Even the debating chambers have specialist rooms for catering for visiting students.
6. National Capital Exhibition was an interesting romp through the history of Canberra, why it was chosen, who designed it, why it was built as it was. The exhibition is backed by the Captain Cook Memorial Water Jet.
7. National Museum of Australia was far too eclectic. I think their exhibition philosophy is "find some old stuff and put it in a glass cabinet."
8. Canberra's commercial centre: briefly visited the city centre for an early tea and couple of pints. City centre reminded me of downtown Aldershot. A low rise, windswept, energy-free pedestrian precinct.
9. Canberra Planetarium; we originally wanted to watch the real stars, but it was too cloudy. Eventually settled for a mildly interesting planetarium projection show instead.
10. Dinner was in the restaurant district of Dickson. A lively-ish corner of town, labelled "Chinatown", but really nothing more than a mixture of eating places, backed by a shopping mall a la Farnborough.

Saturday

Skiing - see below

Sunday - freezing cold

11. The National Carillon is a bell tower on an island in the middle of the lake. Interestingly it was given to Australia by the British, but was accepted on behalf of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II. So she gave it to herself, effectively. Of course, having a head of state that is hereditary and from another country is not silly at all.
12. Commonwealth Place lies along the main spine running between Parliament House and the War Memorial. Not sure my it was called Commonwealth Place as it featured flags from all over. Still, interesting enough.
13. Red Hill sits behind Parliament House and is the southern apex of the main triangle. This was our last stop before heading back to the airport and the sub-tropics.

I guess when it is warmer and you have more time, Canberra could be quite pleasant. It is on the doorstep of mountainous National Parks and the public spaces are generous and accessible. But while Brisbane remains green and lush (though this is an illusion) all year round, in Canberra the leaves fall from many of the trees and the city becomes barren and sparse.

In addition, as the city is so spread out (a legacy of idealistic design and maturation in the age of the motor vehicle) it remains devoid of people. Though I am sure the weather is a factor here, when entire place is zoned and divided by such generous separating public spaces and huge boulevards, you must take to the car for the simplest of tasks. As a result, the streets are more devoid of people than Brisbane's.

Saturday skiing at Perisher Blue was excellent. There is still plenty of snow around and they should see out the last few weeks of the official season OK. The drive was a little tedious, through featureless, undulating pastureland, devoid of trees. Only in the last 20 minutes do you climb up into the mountains.

The final push to the slopes is via a train, which takes you from the ski-centre up through a tunnel in the mountain to come out in another valley high above.

There were stacks of lifts and plenty of snow to chose from and though the slopes weren't especially steep and/or challenging, they offered a number of different routes down, through trees and powder or over jumps and rocks. The highest lift took you right to the to of Perisher Mountain (2054m) where you could see (on clear day) Mt. Kosciusko, the continent's highest point.

What is most bizarre is skiing though gum-trees, instead of the usual pine and everyone speaks English (I have never skied in an English speaking place before).

Bus left at 4.30pm to take us back to Canberra; arriving just in time to watch the Wallabies get beaten (again) by the Springboks (again). Presumably now, Jones will drop Gregan for Whittaker.

I'll post some pictures soon.

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