canberra meanderings

It's been almost a year since I visited Canberra last, and I'm happy to report not many things changed on this trip. I stayed at the same backpacking place, my destination was the same both times. Only, this time I went there by car and to attend a special spider symposium. It felt good to be in a room full of arachnologists, and hear spider stuff all day.

On the way, to keep myself amused and awake, I wrote down names of roads and creeks and fields that we passed. The rule was simple- I would write down only the names that suggested a back story. Therefore I could not include any of the aboriginal names, because though they might have fascinating backstories, as they usually do, these stories are more or less inaccessible to me. So i hereby present to you, dear reader, a list of place names:

Black Bob's Creek; Hanging Road; Winfarthing Road; Boxer's Creek; Murray's Flat Road; Run-o-Waters Creek; Stillwater Road; Willow Tree Creek; Collector Creek; Brooks Creek; Macs Reef Road; Oldbury Creek; Blacksprings Creek.

Closer to Canberra, we passed Lake George. Unfortunately, the lake is lake in name only, it looks more like a shadow of a lake. Apparently the water disappeared from the lake almost overnight, and I can imagine some vast realignment of the underground water table forcing the lake to give up its up-worldly existence and the lake is now a vast field of golden yellow grass, dotted by sheep.


I saw this painting (Alfred Ducôte’s E-migration, or, A Flight of Fair Game) at the National library of Australia, they had an exhibition called National treasures of Australia.