One perfect Day One perfect Day

Urban Pantry (9am, both images, left); George Baldesin’s pears guard the National Gallery of (10.30am, below); the National Arboretum (3pm, opposite page) canberraCanberra There is a lot more to the nation’s capital than art and politics. Once you’ve done the cultural circuit, there are many pleasant surprises awaiting in the sprawling suburbs – from the cafes of Braddon and Manuka to the hip NewActon precinct.

Words Paul Daley photography Scott Hawkins Australia’s purpose-built national capital sprawls over what was once a grassy plain, in a natural hill-bound amphitheatre. Well-known for its extensive galleries and museums, imposing government buildings and well-planned streets, it also has a less formal and infinitely hipper side with new restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels springing up in its inner suburbs. Those who take the time to explore are suitably rewarded. 07:00 09:00 An early morning walk or, for the fitter, takes weekend al fresco a gentle run up and along the saddle of breakfast and coffee seriously. Manuka Red Hill is an ideal way to start the day. village in the inner south (of the lake, It is also the best way to get an overview that is) is perhaps the most established of Canberra. From Red Hill lookout, face shopping and entertainment district in north across the plain and note the land century-old Canberra and spoils for axis, nominally connecting Parliament choice when it comes to cafe dining. House and the But it pays to follow the crowds to across at the foot My Cafe (mycafemanuka.com.au) and of Mount Ainslie, that ties this city Caph’s (caphscanberra.com) in Franklin together. The chances are that hot-air Street – or wander through the arcade balloons will be ascending over the and into the small courtyard known as silvery skin of the lake. Saunter along The Lawns, set around a series of plane the ridge amid the kangaroos and the trees that arrived with the city, and look yellow box and red gums – but keep a for a table at Ona Coffee, the best wary eye out for snakes. It’s called the coffee in Manuka (onacoffee.com.au) or Bush Capital for a reason. Urban Pantry (urban-pantry.com.au). 

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well, a city. Hosting some of the best and trees could be grown for new bistros and cafes in town, it offers conservation, research and recreation. more high-quality options for a lazy Spread over 250ha in the Greenhills lunch than anywhere else in Canberra. Forest, the arboretum was designed Try The Elk & Pea (elkandpea.com.au), around a regenerating Himalayan EightySix (eat-86.com), Autolyse cedar forest (much of it burnt in 2003) (autolyse.com.au), Italian & Sons and an 80-year-old cork-oak plantation. (italianandsons.com.au), Debacle (02 It is an almost otherworldly place, of 6247 1314), Pizza Gusto (02 6257 7508) or sculptured natural beauty, meditative the trailblazing Lonsdale Street Roasters calm and tranquillity. (lonsdalestreetroasters.com). Then to the capital’s function as the national wander through the funky boutiques, memory, has kept a copy of every designer op-shops, jewellery stores and 10:30 published Australian work since the galleries springing up in arcades and 17:00 Weather permitting (even Canberra’s Copyright Act 1912. But the collection shopfronts on Lonsdale Street. Many of Canberra’s gems are hidden More at T ravelinsider icy winters are known for their glorious extends beyond books. Visit the small in suburban shopping centres. That blue sky and sunny days), take a culture but eclectic permanent exhibition in the includes some of the best bars for Where To Eat Play & Stay During Floriade crawl along the lake foreshore between library’s Treasures Gallery. It includes cocktail hour. In the south, try Canberra’s fabled festival of all things floral is some of the major cultural institutions, Captain Cook’s Endeavour journal, 15:00 Gryphons At Griffith Shops (16 Barker blooming marvellous. http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/ beginning at the National Gallery of Patrick White’s glasses, a cheque sent by The bushfires of 2003 remain seared Street, Griffith, gryphons.com.au), things_to_do_canberra_canberras_flower_festival.htm Australia (Parkes Place, Parkes, nga.gov. Charles Dickens to his sons in Australia, into the collective consciousness of Manuka’s Public (Flinders Way & Franklin Destination Guide Canberra au). Wander among the Rodins and the original manuscript of Waltzing Canberra residents. The National Street, publicbar.com.au), the small but It’s the nation’s political hub, sure, but this city is also Klippels in the sculpture garden or visit Matilda and William Bligh’s list of Arboretum (Tuggeranong Parkway, perfectly formed bar at Kingston’s new a cultural centre. http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/ the permanent exhibitions inside the Bounty mutineers. nationalarboretum.act.gov.au) stands East Hotel (69 Canberra Avenue, destination-guide-canberra.htm newly renovated gallery. From there, overlooking the city as a symbol of easthotel.com.au) or the outdoor A Century Of Capital Celebration cross the footbridge to the forecourt hope and regeneration after the fires lounge at Hotel Realm (18 National One hundred years old and it’s time to party. Happy of the High Court and drop in on Nick that destroyed about 500 homes and Circuit, Barton, hotelrealm.com.au) – birthday Canberra! http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/ Cave, Nancy Wake, Reg Mombassa, 13:00 killed four people. It also fulfils one of the latter two jump on a Friday evening. canberra_a_century_of_capital_celebration.htm Nellie Melba and “our” Princess Mary Lonsdale Street north of Eloura Street the elements of the original city plan North of the lake, Edgar’s Inn (1 Edgar Designer City (well, their likenesses, at least) in the in inner-north Braddon is widely by American landscape architect Walter Street, edgarsinn.com.au) in Ainslie is A blueprint to the capital city’s architectural triumphs and its National Portrait Gallery (portrait.gov. regarded as the coolest, most- Burley Griffin, so much of whose laid-back while Tilley’s Devine Café inspired but frustrated master planner, Walter Burley Griffin. au). Walk through happening strip in a city that has been elaborate blueprint for Canberra was Gallery at Lyneham (Brigalow & Wattle http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/canberra_designer_city.htm and stop at the National Library of renowned for an absence of the type of ignored or discarded by those who built Sreets, tilleys.com.au) is renowned for Australia (nla.gov.au). The library, critical urban density and liveliness that make, it. Griffin wanted a place where plants its diverse clientele and cosy booths.  qantas.com/travelinsider

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Cold Light Frank Moorhouse (Vintage Australia) Third book in the “Edith” trilogy. Edith Campbell Berry arrives in the post-WWII Canberra. Moorhouse evokes vividly the wonders of the developing capital, its social and bureaucratic mores. 19:30 Testimony, again, to the hidden-gem principle is Sage Dining Rooms (02 6249 6050, sagerestaurant.net.au). Nestled in Braddon’s Gorman House Arts Centre, this thoroughly ambitious venture of brothers Peter and Michael Harrington The Memory Room has redefined attention to detail, Christopher Koch (Vintage Australia) provenance and quality of produce and A tale of spooks and spying service in top-end Canberra dining. Sage that weaves through Canberra’s currently sources some of its herbs and shadowy world of intelligence. vegetables from a farm in the nearby Majura Valley (it will become much more of a paddock-to-plate proposition Clockwise from Library at the Diamant Hotel. If a slice as the farm develops) and either of the top left: Public of genuine Canberra history is to your (5pm); Sage brothers Harrington can tell you on Dining Rooms fancy, go back towards Parliament Hill what day, by whom and precisely where (7.30pm); Public and try the Hyatt on Commonwealth the fish on your plate was hand-caught. Avenue (canberra.park.hyatt.com). Canberra foodies regard the Formerly – the first degustation as the best in town. in the city – it evokes 1920s style in its Grand Obsessions: The Life wonderful old bar. Alternatively, stay at And Work Of Walter Gorman House for a post-prandial at Burley Griffin And Marion Mint Garden Bar – fairy lights and stick Mahony Griffin 21:30 heaters in the heritage gardens. Alasdair McGregor (Lantern) If you want volume and movement, McGregor tells the tale of head to Kingston and either B Bar Paul Daley is the author of how Australia turned its back on or Lot 33, both in Kennedy Street. Canberra (New South Books). the Griffins and how Canberra However, if something more relaxed is profoundly defined and your preference, try NewActon Pavillion For airfares and holiday packages disappointed them. (15 Edinburgh Avenue, newacton.com. to Canberra call Qantas Holidays on au/eat/drink) and either the basement 1300 735 542 or visit qantas.com/ bar A Baker, or the stylish Lounge Bar & holidaysaustralianway

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