About Canberra

Canberra is the National Capital of Australia located within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It contains over 300,000 residents in a number of satellite cities, which are divided by several greenbelt areas.

Canberra is situated within a series of valleys and is bordered to the west by the Brindabella Ranges, with a number of peaks covered with snow in winter.

Although Canberra can be very hot in summer (up to 42°C/105°F degrees) and very cold in winter (down to –5°C/28°F degrees), Spring and Autumn (or Fall) are usually magnificent. Until recently rainfall has never been an issue, but recently, like most of Australia, global warming and the long dry weather has forced permanent water restrictions upon Canberra residents, and the city is not quite as green and beautiful as it used to be.

In late Winter (August) and early Spring (September), trees in Canberra blossom back to life after losing all their leaves and look fantastic with the pinks, reds and whites of cherry blossoms and the yellow of our native wattles (not a good time for hayfever sufferers though!). That's when we have our Spring Festival, "Floriade", which is open to the public, currently at no cost to enter.

Many, but certainly not all, Canberra residents are public servants who are employed either by the local ACT Government or by the Federal Government. They mostly work in beautiful, air conditioned buildings, some of which are open to the public (ie. Archives, Parliament House - old & new, the Mint, National Library, War Memorial, CSIRO, etc.).

Tuggeranong is one of Canberra’s most southern satellite cities which houses about 100,000 residents; while Canberra is home to the annual, National Folk Festival, which is held each Easter. In 2008, it was on from 20 to 24 March 2008 at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC). A number of other annual, folk festivals also take place around our region (ie. Kangaroo Valley, Cobargo, Majors Creek, Gundagai, Illawarra, etc.).

For more information on Canberra, see the Valley FM website or surf to the ACT Brochure Distribution Services (BDS) website or to the Canberra Tourism website. For statistics, visit the Australian Bureau of Statistics website or for weather details, the Bureau of Meteorology. Anyone thinking about visiting Canberra, from interstate or overseas, should visit this very helpful website.

This is a photo of Tuggeranong Valley, Lake Tuggeranong and the foothills of the Brindabella Mountain Range.