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Information about Canberra

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Canberra is the national centre of government and was founded in 1913. The name comes, appropriately, from a local Aboriginal word for 'meeting place'. Surrounded on all sides by a wide expanse of beautiful bushland, the city's design features sweeping vistas and wide boulevards.

The Australian National University campus is set in extensive parkland (Parks and Wildlife) and hosts a number of Australian and exotic trees, attractive gardens, open space and soft green lawns. Visitors and Students alike can enjoy all the conveniences that come from being within close proximity to the city centre - just a few minutes' walk away.

Canberra is a safe, clean city with friendly people. The stunning south coast beaches and the Snowy Mountain ski slopes are only a two hour drive away and if the big city lights are an attraction, then flights to Sydney take about 40 minutes. ANU students also have great access to public institutions such as the National Library, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Parliament. A wide range of student accommodation is available on, or close to, the campus and within walking distance to public transport and city centre.

For more information please check these sites:
Canberra Tourism or Canberra ACT

Around Canberra

Maps

The Yellow Pages have maps of the city of Canberra in the front, in the blue section. In addition, whereis.com.au can help you locate a street or suburb online, and the Australian Yellow Pages and White Pages both link to this service if you want to locate a person or business.

The Canberra Cycling and Walking Map

Canberra has an excellent network of shared paths, footpaths and on-road cycling lanes; offering cyclists and pedestrians enjoyable, safe and efficient routes for travelling in and between suburbs and around our parks and lakes.

Restaurants

On campus

• Cellar Café & Bar, University House
• Boffins Bar & Restaurant, University House
• Vivaldi Restaurant, University Ave (opposite ANU Union Building)
• Street Theatre Café, cnr Childers St and University Ave
• Numerous cafés and takeaways in the ANU Union Building (Mon - Fri)

In Civic

There are many cafés and restaurants in Civic, especially along City Walk and in Garema Place. Here are a few of them:

• Mekong Delta Asian Kitchen: Laotian food. The Laksa for lunch is excellent and inexpensive. Corner of Alinga St and Marcus Clark.
• Cedars Lebanese Restaurant: Lebanese food. A little expensive, but the kebobs are good. Melbourne Building, 24 West Row.
• Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant: Thai food. Melbourne Building, 65 London Circuit.
• Mezzalira: Italian food. Expensive, but very good. Melbourne Building, corner London Circuit and West Row.
• Chairman and Yip: French-style cooking with an Asian twist. Expensive, but has an earlybird dinner special if you are out by 7:45pm. The special costs $23, and offers a banquet. Minimum 4 people. 108 Bunda Street.
• Sammy's: Chinese food. Very cheap, and extremely speedy. Garema Place.

Where to find kangaroos

The bush around Canberra has many wild kangaroos. There are two species. The grey kangaroo is bigger, lighter-coloured and very common. The Swamp Wallaby is smaller, darker and much less common. Kangaroos are most active early in the morning or late in the evening. You are most likely to see one around sunrise or sunset.

The nearest places with large kangaroo populations are Black Mountain (the mountain just to the west of campus, with the spire on top) and Mount Ainslie. Maps 48 and 58 in the Yellow Pages show the trails on Black Mountain. For Mount Ainslie, go to the War Memorial (P2 on Map 59), and then just start climbing up the mountain behind the memorial. There is a paved trail to the top, with many people and not many kangaroos. If you veer off the main trail you are quite likely to see kangaroos. On cold winter's nights they tend to come down the mountain and roam the nearby streets - they particularly like to chew up our webmaster's lawns.

Tourist sights

The following are a few of the more popular attractions in Canberra:

• Parliament House: Impressive building, built into a hill. Worth seeing.
• Australian War Memorial: Focuses mostly on the two world wars. The WWI exhibit prominently features Gallipoli, the WWII exhibit is especially about the war with Japan, in southeast Asia.
• National Gallery of Australia: Small by international standards. Has interesting exhibits of aboriginal art and of Australian paintings.
• National Museum of Australia: About the history of Australia.
• National Library of Australia: Australia’s largest reference library
  Old Parliament House: This much-loved heritage building offers the visitor a unique glimpse into Australia's fascinating past.
  Questacon: Questacon is Australia's leading interactive science and technology Centre.
  National Portrait Gallery: Houses a permanent display of Australian portraits in all media, ranging from paintings and formal busts, to photographs
  and sketches.
  

  To find out more about these attractions and more, visit the Canberra Tourism website.

Shopping

• Acton Supermarket, ANU Union Building (groceries)
  Mon - Thu: 8:30am - 6pm, Fri: 8:30am - 5pm, Sat: 10am - 3pm
• Union Shop, ANU Union Building (newsagent and post office)
  Mon - Fri: 8:30am - 6pm
• Supermarket, University House (groceries)
  Mon - Fri: 8:30am - 7:30pm, Sat - Sun: 8:30am - 12:30pm
• Canberra Centre, Bunda St, City (variety and specialty stores)
  Mon - Thu: 9am - 5pm, Fri: 9am - 9pm, Sat: 9am - 5pm, Sun: 10am - 4pm
• Supabarn, Bunda St, City (groceries)
  Mon - Fri: 7am - 10pm, Sat - Sun: 8am - 9pm