Winter in Canberra

We moved into a town house in Kingston. It’s a suburb of Canberra that reminds me of Kensington (the one in Calgary) – it’s a popular spot centered on a block of stores about half of which are restaurants (shown below), located fairly close to the Parliament Buildings. I tell people there are 20 restaurants in the block, 24 of which are Italian - there really are 4 Italian restaurants in a row…  …and you have to book well in advance to get a table. We’re gradually working our way through them all.

Kingston Restaurants

The house has walled-in patios at the front and rear; I’ve put my mandatory barbeque on the rear one. Barbeques are a little different here – mostly bigger – and they all have a hot plate as well as grills; really good for doing sliced capsicums (bell peppers) and onions.

The first day of winter was the first of June. Driving to work, the guy on the radio said: “It’s a bitterly cold 5° this morning so ‘rug-up’!” Actually, it is cold. Houses here are designed for a warm climate: without insulation, double glazing, or door seals - our house has several large skylights, one of which is the whole width of the house. So, when it’s cold outside, it’s cold inside. We’ve had frost for a few mornings – I miss my Canadian Tire scraper – using a credit card is hard work – and I didn’t bring gloves!

Our Sunny Patio

But Australians look forward to winter; it holds the promise of rain. The crisis here is the ‘big dry’; several years of drought have turned farmland brown and rivers into streams: Lake George, just north of Canberra has turned into pasture. Most communities have water restrictions, banning lawn sprinklers, the washing of cars etc.

 I bought a compass today. I realized over the last couple of weeks that I’ve lost my sense of direction; something I’ve always prided myself on. Our house has some cold bits but the patio at the front is a real suntrap – you can see it through the patio doors here. It’s north facing of course, and I knew that, but I just couldn’t get my head round it. Hopefully, I’ll re-orientate soon, but I’ll probably be lost when I get home.

Drive-Thru Liquor Store

I’ve noticed that the Australians have a more relaxed attitude toward alcohol. Kingston has a drive-thru liquor store where you can pull up right alongside the bar and order 2 bottles of Cab Sav (Cabernet Sauvignon), 6 VBs (Victoria Bitter, beer) and a bottle of Bundy (70° proof rum).  In many companies, employees have a glass of wine or a beer at the end of the day on Friday, before taking off home. And, as many Aussies will tell you, Foster’s is only for export – I’ve yet to see it for sale here.

I took several pictures before I took the one below. The guy came out from behind the counter and called out: ‘You got a problem mate?’

‘No, I’m just a passing Canadian – I’ve never seen a Drive Thru.’

‘Oh. No worries. We have ‘em everywhere here – I guess it’s too cold in Canada!’

The 11 June was a holiday to mark the Queen’s Birthday. It’s the one weekend of the year when there are ‘Cracker (fireworks) Parties’ all over Canberra. Like Guy Fawkes Day in the UK, they count the number of burn victims the following day, with the radio announcing that hordes of quivering pets were hiding out all over town – hopefully not in my back yard.

Canberra is the only major city in Australia that’s not on the coast. So, we often pop to Batemans Bay, the closest coastal community to Canberra, just two hours away.

Sunset at Bateman Bay

*Note: This piece was originally written in June 2007