Happy to say that I visited Canberra, at last! Thanks all to a business trip on one hand, on another hand – it’s not much you can see when you are busy the whole day. Anyway, the first impression was very… unexpected Have a read:

• Canberra, the Very First Impression – Part 1 – Surprise-Surprise! and Canberra Airport
• Canberra, the Very First Impression – Part 2 – Driving on Canberra Roads. A Capital of Australia
• Canberra, the Very First Impression – Part 3 – Weather. University of Canberra. What’s Next

Some facts about Canberra:

• Canberra – the capital of Australia. Locates in ACT – Australian Capital Territory.

(source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canberra)

• The word “Canberra” is popularly claimed to derive from the word Kambera or Canberry and mean “meeting place” in the old Ngunnawal language of the local Ngabri people. The Ngunnawal name was apparently used as a reference to corroborees held during the seasonal migration of the Ngunnawal people to feast on the Bogong moths that pass through the region each spring.

• Alternatively, the name was reported by Queanbeyan newspaper owner John Gale in the 1860s to be an anglicisation of the indigenous name ‘nganbra‘ or ‘nganbira’, meaning “hollow between a woman’s breasts“, and referring to the Sullivans Creek floodplain between Mount Ainslie and Black Mountain.

• Before European settlement, the area in which Canberra would eventually be constructed was seasonally inhabited by Indigenous Australians.
• Immediately after the end of the war, Canberra was criticised for resembling a village,  and its disorganised collection of buildings was deemed ugly.Canberra was often derisively described as “several suburbs in search of a city”. Prime Minister Robert Menzies  regarded the state of the national capital as an embarrassment. Over time his attitude changed from one of contempt to that of championing its development. He fired two ministers charged with the development of the city for poor performance.

Canberra on Google Maps:

Author: Natalie

Discussion: http://goforfun.com.au/groups/travels-places-activities/forum/topic/canberra-the-very-first-impression-links-to-all-stories/