North Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

North Canberra Overview

Canberra is a must see destination if you are visiting the east coast of Australia, particularly as its only around 3 hours drive from Sydney now that the Sydney Orbital network is completed.

South Canberra is to the south of Lake Burley Griffin.

Canberra makes the perfect autumn and winter destination. It can get cold but this just adds to the charm and cosiness.

Canberra is a garden city as trees and plants from all over the world were planted in their millions when the city was first conceived.

They produce dazziling displays year round and are enhance from mid Sepetember to mid October when the flower festival, Floriade takes place.

North Canberra is the part of the city to the north of Lake Burley Griffin and is the location for the Canberra CBD with its great shopping and excellent selection of restaurants, cafes and bars.

North Canberra has the Canberra Centre Shopping mall, Civic (which is the Canberra CBD) with its al-fresco cafes and restaurants, and includes the suburbs of Watson, Downer, Dickson, Braddon, Turner, Reid and Lyneham.

Here you will also find The Australian War Memorial, Mount Ainslie, Black Mountain and Telstra Tower, the Botanic Gardens, Canberra Stadium and The Australian National University.

Canberra also has an number of wineries specialising in 'cold climate' wines and many of these are to the north of Canberra.

Canberra is a cosmopolitant City with an eclectic mix of native Canberrians, university students, tourists, sports people (from the Australian Institute of Sport), politicians, public servants and foreign diplomats.

Civic

Civic is the main CBD of Canberra and is situated just to the north of Lake Burley Griffin at the southern end of Northborne Avenue.

Civic is also known as City or Canberra City.

One of Canberra's famed circular "Circuits", London Circuit, runs through Civic and provides intersections to the roads approaching the Civic area.

Although it is very easy to get around Canberra, until you get used to the roads, a map is essential.

The "Circuits"can be very confusing to the un initiated.

The plush Canberra Centre mall is located in Civic and houses 300 stores, a multiplex cinema and parking for 5000 cars.

Civic is one of the main eating and entertainment districts in Canberra and has an excellent selection of restaurants, cafes, bars, coffee shops, pubs and night clubs.

The restaurants are generally of a good standard and you will find a wide variety of cuisines including Chinese, Thai, Indian, Italian, Steak and Crab, and modern Australian.

Canberra Theatre City is also located in Civic and has three main venues: Canberra Theatre, the Playhouse and The Courtyard Studio.

The Canberra Casino is also located adjacent to Civic.

The Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is located a few km east of Civic and overlooks ANZAC Parade.

The memorial is dedicated to the fallen Australian forces personnel involved in military conflicts over the years.

The centre piece of the memorial is the domed roofed Hall of Memory which houses The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier.

Stained glass windows and large mosaics of service men and women adorn the walls of the Chapel and entering the Hall of Memory is a very moving experience.

Outside the Hall of Memory is a memorial pool which houses The Eternal Flame.

The Australian War Memorial complex also houses an extensive collection of exhibits detailing various military conflicts.

There are also evocative dioramas and multi media audio visual presentations of military engagements.

One such is " Striking By Night" which uses dramatic sound, light and film footage on a giant video screen behind the Lancaster Bomber "G For George" to give the audience a sense of the experience of a mission during WW2.

There are also collections of military hardware, and medals including many of the Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians armed forces personnel.

Anzac Parade

ANZAC Parade runs from the Australian War Memorial to Lake Burley Griffin and is dedicated to the ANZACS, The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

This wide boulevard is distinguished by the red couloured surface of the central divide between the outer road lanes.

To either side of ANZAC Parade are various memorials to different military engagements such as Vietnam and Korea which involved Australian and New Zealand Military personnel

At the northern end is a Galopili memorial.

At the southern end is Constitution Avenue and Old and New Parliament Houses can be seen across Lake Burley Griffin.

These are perfectly aligned to both the Australian War memorial and Mount Ainslie.

Mount Ainslie

Mount Ainslie is the 840m peak immediately to the north of The Australian War Memorial.

The summit can be reached by either a well trodden path or by a road way which winds its way to the top viewing area..

From the top viewing area, the ambitious, audacious and sheer scale of the plan for Canberra by American architect Burley Griffin is immediately apparent.

Mount Ainslie lies on an axis intersecting the Australian war Memorial, ANZAC Parade and Parliament House.

This Axis then intersects the Parliamentary Triangle which is formed by Constitution Avenue (which runs to the southern end of ANZAC Parade) and Commonwealth & Kings Avenue (which both run from north Canberra over bridges to the south of the city).

At the Tip of the triangle is Parliament House.

An information board shows the view Griffin had from this point before Canberra was constructed.

On it are sketched the eventual layout of the city, including the yet to be flooded Lake Burley Griffin, which is entirely man made.

Cockington Green

Cockington Green is located about 15minutes drive north of the main Canberra CBD.

These lovingly crafted gardens feature highly detailed miniature houses and buildings from around the world set in immaculately groomed gardens.

A small steam train circulates through the gardens regularly and provides rides for visitors.

You can spot English Villages, canal boats, Stonehenge, Australian Outback houses, South American Aztec Temples, East European Castles and many other intricately detailed miniature buildings..

The gardens are constantly being expanded with er miniature building projects.

This is not a tacky attraction but obviously a labour of love and its not surprising that the gardens regularly win National Tourism Awards.