Staid Canberra accurate symbol of Australia

By Benito Lopulalan

CANBERRA (JP): It was the Tuesday in the third week of July. The time was 11 p.m. The place was Canberra's City Central. The temperature was about zero. No shops were open, and surprisingly, only two bars were open. One-and-a-half hours later, only one bar, "The Avenue Bar", remained open. About a hundred meters from the bar, at the city bus interchange, seven taxis waited in queue. The capital city's silence is an anomaly.

"Yeah, I don't have a clue why Sydney is not the capital of Australia," says Isabel, 19, who bumped into me at the only open bar. She was a newcomer in Canberra.

"I come from Balmain, Sydney."

Isabel barracks for Sydney. However, if you happen to meet any Melbournians, they will question why their fair city isn't the capital.

Canberra is a compromise between the two big cities. Both towns initially wanted to be the capital of Australia, but Canberra was created instead. The new city was designed in 1913.

Many Australians are cynical about the inactivity in their capital. Frankly, it's easy to feel strange when entering an empty capital of a developed country. A travel magazine describes Canberra compromisingly, "It's not a blood-and-guts, rat-racing, arterially congested, thinking, heaving, crime infested metropolis like many other capitals. It is what it should be, an accurate symbol of Australia."

Perhaps that's true. Canberra was built without vandalizing its environment. The atmosphere is relaxed, with many open spaces, and is close to nature. The buildings are big, their gardens are huge. The natural quietness can also be considered as a formality if people realize that even the lake is man-made.

I first entered the city as a backpacker. From Sydney, I chose to go by the Greyhound Pioneer coach. A return ticket from Sydney cost A$54, a single ticket A$35. I bought the return one. The journey is dominated by flat, dry scenery. It was the first time I realized that the beauty of Australia is in its whiteness, its dust and the sunlight reflected on trees and bushes.

When the coach was approaching Canberra, a lake came into view. The Burley Griffin Lake, named after Walter Burley Griffin, an American architect who won the first prize in a world-wide competition to design the capital of Australia. The lake was created in 1963 with the construction of Scrivener Dam to hold back the waters of the Molonglo river. As the city's focal point, the 11-kilometer lake is one of Canberra's main attractions. Its 35-kilometer-long shoreline is dotted with over 400 parks filled with lawns, gardens and trees.

By the store names and the appearance of people in the streets, there is a smattering of Asians, Italians and Greeks in Australia. Multicultural Canberra results from university students from many countries, especially Asian students who are studying or doing research. This is made possible by the presence of a large number of universities, museums and libraries in the capital.

Kim, a Korean student who spent two months in Canberra researching, explained that data on her home country could be found easier in the Australian National Library than in any other place.

Another aspect of multiculturalism is the embassies. In the western part of Capital Hill, where the Parliament House stands, there are many embassies. Brazil, Indonesia, Finland and Singapore share one neighborhood; India, Sweden, Philippines another.

For many Canberranians, the best thing about Canberra is the Australian National Gallery. Prime minister Paul Keating recently launched a major cultural policy, and gave a landmark A$250 million to the arts industry in Australia. The gallery was among the winners.

Culture

"The culture in Australia is under construction," says almost every Australian when speaking about their culture. The blending of multiculturalism will be Australian culture.

The Australian National Gallery has a collection of one million pieces from all over the world; from America and Europe to Asia and, obviously, Australia.

The Australian Heritage Village, seven kilometers north of City Hill, is another attraction. The village recreates 100-year- old colonial village. The historical park also has eating houses, taverns, and arts and craft shops. Two kilometers west of City Hill, there is the Australian Botanic Garden. It houses over 6,000 species of native plants. Special features include the Rainforest Gully, Eucalyptus lawn and the Rockery. Here you can find many bush-tucker plants, edible Australian native plants which are very similar in appearance to the toxic ones. In Mugga Lane Zoo, you can see over 100 species of animals, including native and exotic birds. All are easily viewed in the natural surroundings.

The seven-year-old Parliament House is an obvious -- and weird -- insect of Canberra. A giant stick building whose legs reach out like a web, it may well be a symbol of the webs of power made by those who aspire to serving the people.

Buses, bikes and boats are available for sightseeing. The bus system in Canberra is called "Action". It is named from ACT- transportation. ACT is the abbreviation of Australian Capital Territory. The main coach terminal is the Jolimont Center the city. The fare of most trips is A$2 for adults and 70 cents for students. There are also bulk tickets at reduced prices. Daytime sightseeing tickets of A$5 are valid on all services. To cover all the attractions, you can choose bus numbers 904 and 901. Besides, you can also try the Murray Explorer Pass, which runs every hour, seven days a week.

To rent a bike, Action Ferry terminal is the place to go. Other places are the YHA hostel in Dyandra Street or Victor Lodge in Dawes Street, Kingston. The owner of Victor Lodge -- a non- smoking lodge -- Graham Vickers, highlights that if you buy bus tickets at the YHA Hostel or Victor Lodge you'll get a discount. Victor Lodge is highly recommended for backpackers. The room fee starts at A$15, which includes an abundant breakfast and coffee anytime you want. You can also get information on Canberra's attractions.

"This capital attractions are touristically cultured," asserts Hermann, a backpacker from Belgium.

Study

Some students at the Australian National University describe Canberra as a nice and quiet place to study which has abundant facilities.

Kojiro Suzuki, a student from Japan, says, "In Sydney I was always tempted to spend many hours entertaining myself."

That isn't a problem in Canberra. Students from the Philippines, South Korea, China and Indonesia give similar answers.

"It feels like Malang (in East Java) or Klaten (in Central Java), but the facilities are far better than Jakarta," says Nugrahani, an Indonesian student.

Because it is a university town, Canberra's limited nightlife fits with studying hours. The one bar open on Tuesday closes at 2:30 a.m. Two hours later the capital starts to wake up. Besides taxi drivers, the first people to hit the well-paved streets are milkmen delivering their supplies. Early each morning, after a good night's sleep, the capital is delivered its energy for another day.