Moving to Canberra: experiences you need to try to truly become a Canberran
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“The first three months taught me how to survive. But the next steps are about how to live here. So, I’ve curated a list of the unofficial essentials that you need to try to truly become a Canberran.”
If you’ve reached the point where the last moving box is either unpacked or strategically hidden in the spare room, and you now understand that a ‘two-season day’ is simply a typical Canberra forecast, take a bow. You’ve navigated your first quarter in the bush capital.
After 13 weeks of buzzing through pastry tours and obligatory landmark visits, my initial frenzy is gently giving way to the actual rhythm of local Canberra life. My mental sat-nav is slowly booting up, trading turn-by-turn directions for a quiet confidence in which roundabouts lead home.
And while some see this as the end of the ‘honeymoon phase’, I strongly disagree. The beginning of the moving process is less a romance and more a logistical triage. My nervous system was too busy just trying to find a GP, a decent grocer, and the correct bin day to actually digest the city unfolding around me.
The real fun begins when you have a base, a routine, and a furnished bedroom (even if ‘furnished’ means a mattress defiantly still on the floor). The first three months taught me how to survive. But the next steps are about how to live here.
So, I’ve curated a list of the unofficial essentials that you need to try to truly become a Canberran.
Your ‘must-do’ Canberra checklist
See a kangaroo
At the top of this list is perhaps the most essential initiation of all. If you’re anything like me – where the biggest pest back in the UK was a determined mouse – then the first time you see a kangaroo nonchalantly hopping around is a genuinely surreal moment.
Now, if you’re a born-and-bred Aussie, you might be rolling your eyes. You’ve shared a continent with these furry friends your whole life, so the magic might feel a little worn in. But Canberra is arguably one of the best cities on Earth for this.
For the full effect, you have to head to the Federal Golf Club around dusk, find a spot on the hill as the light turns gold and watch. You’ll see mobs of them spread across the fairways, a powerful reminder that you’re living in a city where the wild is never far from your doorstep.
And if you need an excuse to make a regular habit of it, I highly recommend finding a partner who loves golf. My evenings spent as a spectator on that hill have become one of my favourite Canberra rituals.
Discover the true bush capital
Once you’ve appreciated how the wilderness weaves through the city, it’s time to experience the real magic of the bush capital: a 20-minute drive that completely transforms your world. My own proper introduction was a spontaneous overnight in Namadgi National Park, where the roundabouts of Tuggeranong gave way to non-existent phone service and breathtaking nothingness.
Find your favourite coffee
After embracing the profound silence of Namadji, the natural next step is to dive back into the city’s social heartbeat.
This is where you get to expand your horizons beyond your own postcode, one flat white at a time. While anyone can perfect their coffee order three minutes from home, the real mark of a budding Canberran is becoming a familiar face at a cafe in a completely different suburb – perhaps at a cafe near your work, or that bakery you find excuses to drive across town for (shout out to Three Mills Bakery).
Discover your local
And since you’re already making the trip, you may as well make an afternoon of it: your next stop should be a true local landmark like Walt & Burley. It has that rare, settled-in quality that only comes from being the heart of a neighbourhood for years. On the rare, glorious occasion when the sun makes a consistent appearance, there’s no better place to be than its garden with an Aperol Spritz in hand.
Visit the cultural icons
While you’re seeking out iconic spots, don’t forget Tilley’s Devine Café Gallery, a cultural institution that has been marking its territory on Canberra soil since 1984. Every Saturday night at 6 pm, their jazz night kicks off, making it the perfect, cosy precursor to an evening date.
But for a truly iconic (and equally weather-proof) Canberra experience, they say you haven’t lived until you’ve spent an afternoon at Questacon. Or so my partner reliably insists, describing it as a mandatory pilgrimage of flying down slides and competing to build the best earthquake-proof tower. He promises you’ll leave feeling smarter, or at the very least, delightfully bewildered. It remains firmly on our to-do list, so I guess I’ll see you there!
If Questacon kickstarts your sense of discovery, you’re perfectly primed for the next step. Spend an hour getting lost in the stories of the National Portrait Gallery or walk the hallowed halls of the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House for the best kind of history lesson.
Choose your own art adventure
Once you’ve started discovering the city’s hidden interiors, you’ll naturally begin to see its public exterior in a new light. And in Canberra, that means forming a strong opinion about one of its many pieces of public art. Pick a self-guided walking trail, get your steps in, and decide for yourself what that giant silver shard really represents.
How many have you ticked off?
Consider this your three-month progress report. Ticking off these rituals is how you discover that becoming a Canberran isn’t about mastering the roundabouts (though it helps) but about embracing the bush capital’s wonderful contradictions.
Each one moves you from being a Google Maps newbie to someone who can confidently call this city home. And this is only the start!
Image: Andrew Ly, Nineteen Creative
