CANBERRA

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 22, 27 January 1938, Page 14

CANBERRA

(By Charles Thomas.)

In the wide open spaces of Australia,' they have made a wide open city. The'man who is used to narrow streets, hurrying crowds, and cramped shops may find himself a little bewildered by the wide-openness of Australia's capital city. .He'- may even find it, annoying to be compelled to walk a mile between the places where he buys his postage stamp and his leg of merino. But the city has its compensrTHons.

In . the next few, months, many strangers will" be journeying towards the centre of Australian Administration: Canberra can be reached from Sydney by train—though it is not on the main 'Melbourne to Sydney line— by air, or byroad. The most popular approach is by road by way of Goulburn, and a very good road it is .all the way, except for a few miles north of Goulburn where construction work is at present taking place.

' From Goulburn, the road runs for some miles, along the" banks of Lake George. Twenty years ago, this shallow lake supported a thriving fishing, industry: Today, it is a sheep station.' For some reason not definitely established the waters of the lake suddenly dried up, and nothing now remains but a grassy plain across which runlong parallel lines of fencing.

The road turns south from the v middle of Lake George, and winding slowly "uphill suddenly gives you a picture of^Canberra lying beneath you in a basin. The untidiness of trie bush and the dull green of the gum trees give place to ordered avenues and the brighter - foliage of willows and poplars. That is the beauty of Canberra, its trees'and ordered gardens.

Most of the trees are not yet lull grown, but many of the poplars and willows are very old. Canberra is not a new place. It is nearly a hundred and twenty years, since the surgeon, Throsby, and the bushman, Wild, first gazed.down into the site of Australia's future, capital. Then came Robert Campbell, and then J. Moore, and other settlers followed.. There was never a large population. It was too far from Sydney to attract many people. But there were enough there ninety-seven years ago to justify the building of the little church of St. John the Baptist. With its old grey stone and air of peace, St. John's now lies in the centre of the city, not far from the fine modern Wesleyan church which is not yet completed. SEDATE AND AUSTERE. But it seems a mistake to talk about Canberra as a city. It has none of, the attributes of a modern city. There i are plenty of motor-cars, a sufficiency of buses; thousands of bicycles, but no rush and bustle. In Canberra, people move sedately—that, at any rate, is the impression made on. the visitor from Sydney. Perhaps it would be too much to expect haste in the home of Government. But one does not feel the need of it; It would be out pf place among-these austere buildings gleaming white through the trees. The foundation stone of the Federal capital was laid in 1913. Parliament House was officially opened by our present.King in 1927. The design for the lay-out of the.city was the result of- a world-wide competition, which was won by a Chicago architect. The idea upon which Mr.'Griffin based his design was that of two circles from which roads radiated out towards other-circles, some of which have not yet-come' into being. The two main circles, London Circuit and Capitol Hill, arc joined by the Commonwealth Avenue, a long straight road crossing the Molonglo River. Parliament House partly- screened by trees, lies just off C&rnmpriwealth Avenue, which has been- planted down the middle with delightful shrubs and trees.

/■This system of circles, although it may v prove convenient in years to corned is apt to be a little confusing to %c stranger. I; found myself driving round • and round a circle searching vainly for the particular road which lecl to my destination. Thelroads are almost too .well signposted. It is diffi-

AUSTRALIA'S SPACIOUS CAPITAL

I am glad to have seen Canberra. I should like to see it in a hundred years' time. When I left it, I headed for the coast and camped in a quiet bay called Molly Mook. The only other ■ occupant was a man from Sydney, who was spending the closing years of his life ambling round the country in. a motor caravan. He thought Canberra was altogether too wide open, and when I said that, after all, there ■■' were not yet many people there, he replied,. "No, and there never will be!" . . ■: .v, -

I do not think he was altogether just to the place. It is isolated, but that is not altogether an evil for the seat of .Government. Distance has become so short that communication has,almost ceased to be a problem. It seems as though in a few short years solitude will be one of the most searched after and least attainable treasures of mankind. - '■ ■.

cult to pick out your own destination when there are ten or so other names on the post.

One of the iessons I learned while I was there was that if you are going to live in Canberra a car is essential. Not only are the private houses for the '■ most part a long way from the shops, but even the public buildings are at considerable distances from each other. I could not understand the reasons for not grouping the public buildings together, if only for the sake of convenience.

THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS. i The public buildings are plain, severe, and pleasant to look at. They fit in well with' the general design. They are unpretentious and have a certain dignity, but I do not think anyone ■ would stand: in . front of the best of them and:say, "Now, that is a fine building!" Parliament House is, like the rest of them, white, and lies among its beautiful gardens with a kind of chaste aloofness which engenders a proper frame of»- mind in ■ the impertinent visitor. From the shallow entrance hall a short flight of steps leads into the State ballroom, a fine room on the opposite side of which stands a huge gilt statue of King George V, the worst I have ever seen. Beneath this room is a basement, in

which interesting Australian curiosities ' are mingled with copies of pictures of old European masters. The two rooms of the Legislature are well designed, and the leather seats, empty when }' saw' them, look—to an elector—almost too comfortable.

The Commonwealth Library, which' contains already over 100,000 volumes, is a delightful little ''building which i has yet to be finished. It was in the i private houses that I found most cause ' for disappointment. Perhaps I expected too much They are well built, and' each" lies in a very generous section of ground, which the occupiers have without exception turned into beautiful gardens. But the design of all alike is the same bungalow style which one sees.with variations throughout Australia. It is possible that this style is the most suited to local conditions, but I saw no traces of the modern trends in architecture, nor much use of glass. • A note of gaiety was given by different colourings on the roofs. Some would be blue, some red, some green. I noticed the same thing on entering Wellington' Harbour, and it is a.welcome relief after the drab red tiles or uripainted iron of most Australian cities. BEAUTIFIED BY TREES AND FLOWERS. But it is in its trees and flowers that Canberra delights you. An immense amount of care has been expended on these, and the result justifies the care. Down by the edge of the Molonglo River lies the camping ground. Here you can run your car beneath ;an ancient willow and watch the water winding away as you cat your supper.' Tall poplars fringe the bank, while the'crumbling foundations of a stone house; call back your thoughts to the sleeping people who planted the trees'beneath which you are lying.