Where do we live?"There are no strangers in the world - only friends we haven't met yet".
Most of the time we enjoy living here. Many of our friends and relatives overseas mistakenly believe Australia is a hot country. Certainly many parts of the country are hot. Canberra can be hot in the summer too. Our temperatures in summer range from about 18 degrees Celsius at night to 35 degrees on the hottest days. Most summer days range from the high twenties to the low thirties, which to us is quite pleasant. While winter temperatures range from minus 7 degrees at night to 12 during the day, most winter days are clear with blue skies and little rain or cloud. Canberra has the most hours of sunlight of any of Australia's capital cities. But it's those cold winter nights that we hate!
Canberra is a beautiful, well planned city most of which was built in the middle of the twentieth century. It is a showplace for the nation so it is kept clean and tidy. The many national buildings are mainly built around the centrepiece, Lake Burley-Griffin, named after Walter Burley-Griffin, the American architect who won the international competition to design the city. The lake is an attraction for residents and tourists alike, especially in summer when it is covered in sailboats and surrounded by picnicers and party groups.
Below
- Canberra's National War Memorial (click thumbnail for larger image)
The city and it's
residents are quite modern, cosmopolitan and forward thinking in outlook.
Canberra is known as something of a social laboratory where many radical
(at least for Australia) policies are often put into practice before they
happen in the rest of Australia. For example, smoking has long been
banned in offices and has recently also been banned in any building to
which the public has access, including shopping centres, restaurants, pubs
and clubs. The standard of social services is high. Educational
opportunities are good and we host many overseas students studying in our
tertiary institutions. It is a great city in which to raise children.
The air is comparatively clean and unpolluted and, except for the cold
winter nights, the climate is not too bad.
Most Australians are proud of their national capital, Canberra, as they should be. We just wish that our Prime Minister, John Howard, was one of them. Unfortunately he has chosen to live in Sydney rather than Canberra. But then he is the loser, not us. Many of us would prefer Canberra to be a little closer to the coast and ocean beaches.
