Can’t keep up with all the new café, restaurant and bar openings happening across Canberra? Here are eight you need to have on your radar.
This month’s menu highlights include pan-Asian cuisine, Colombian-inspired street food and hearty food that suits any occasion!
Cundo Latino (City)
Verity Lane Market has welcomed Colombian-inspired street food kitchen Cundo Latino!
Since its first event a little over a year ago, Cundo Latino has built a following through its food trailer and market stalls, including popping up at the National Multicultural Festival, The Forage, Made in Colombia Fest, events at ANU, and the Little Burley and Haig Park markets.
Now, diners will be able to find Cundo’s made-to-order food in the Market Hall. Signature dishes include Colombian empanadas, crisp savoury filled parcels, and patacones, twice-fried green plantain. The menu will also feature churrasco, grilled meat; a Cuban sandwich; and bandeja paisa, a hearty Colombian platter, with rotating specials exploring more flavours from across Latin America!
Verity Lane Market, 50 Northbourne Avenue, City | @cundo_latino
Mookata n Ramen Bar (Bruce)
This new spot in Bruce offers the best of pan-Asian cuisine. Combining Japanese, Thai and Chinese dishes with the spectacular feast of “mookata” – a communal dining style that brings barbecue and steamboat together in a single vessel – Mookata n Ramen Bar offers a unique dining experience.
Fusing together the comfort food of ramen, the fragrant flavours of Thai food and the smoky heartiness of charcoal-grilled meat, it’s the perfect dining experience for groups where some love meat, some love vegetables and everyone loves a little bit of theatre.
Why make ramen at home when you can make it at Sopung Korean Kimbap & Ramen? The concept is simple: choose your ramen, cook it, add some toppings and pay for some extra sides.
Newly opened at Gungahlin Village, while the space might look small and unassuming, it’s a fun new addition to the K-food wave taking over Canberra.
With kimbap, tteokbokki and more on the menu, what are you waiting for?
In case you didn’t hear the news, summer nights out in the city are set to be elevated to a whole new level with the recent opening of Oh My Papa.
Featuring a modern Asian menu designed for sharing, foodies can expect punchy flavours, comforting favourites and plenty of dishes worth ordering for the table. Think: smoky Chicken Yakitori, crispy Karaage Chicken Bao Buns and Caramelised Pork Belly, balancing rich, sweet and savoury flavours.
As for the drinks? Think an assortment of Asian-inspired cocktails with cheeky names and unexpected flavour combinations, alongside a selection of wines, beers and refreshing favourites.
Canberra Centre, Level 1 (near Kingpin), Civic | ohmypapa.com.au
Fav Bowls (City)
A new chicken joint has entered the chat. Opening on London Circuit in early September, the team behind Fav Cup Café have opened Fav Bowls – a Thai street food spot specialising in chicken dishes.
From Thai chilli basil minced chicken with a fried egg to clear noodle soup with homemade crispy spicy chicken, you’d be clucking mad not to try it.
Back Door, G09/39 London Circuit, City | @favbowls.au
Oculus Café (Parkes)
With seasonal dining and takeaway now available on the ground floor, there’s never been a better excuse to revisit the National Gallery. Brought to life by experienced restaurateur Mike McEnearney, Oculus Café is now open for breakfast and lunch from 8 am daily.
In the mornings, the à la carte menu showcases fresh and seasonal produce with options like sourdough pancakes with lemon curd and avocado and enokido chickpea miso on Mike’s sourdough toast, available for breakfast, while lunch offers a canteen-style selection.
From seasonal salads and roasted meats to fresh sourdough, everything is prepared using locally sourced ingredients from Canberra and the surrounding region. Overlooking the Gallery’s Australian Garden, it’s the perfect combination of art, architecture and good food.
National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Pl East, Parkes | nga.gov.au
The Jerra (Jerrabomberra)
Those who live across the border southeast of the city don’t have to travel far for a pub feed with the opening of a new bistro at The Jerra.
Serving up hearty food that suits any occasion – from a family dinner to footy night – the menu includes schnitty (a 1/2kg chicken breast served with chips and salad) pizza, pasta and meat from the butcher’s block. Craving dessert? Don’t worry – with the choice of caramelised vanilla cheesecake or a chocolate brownie served with rum ganache and Chantilly cream, you won’t be leaving here hungry.
There’s a new wine destination in Bungendore, and it sounds like one worth keeping under your hat. Don’t Tell Mel – Cellar Door & Wine Bar is now open, bringing together three wineries and a wine bar with a few secrets up its sleeve.
Described as “Relaxed, approachable and with a sense of humour at its heart”, it’s designed to be somewhere people can discover new wines, meet the personalities behind the brands and enjoy the diversity of the Canberra District and surrounding wine community.
Deliberately a little different from the traditional cellar door, you’ll be able to taste wines, sit and enjoy a glass or two and have a mixed pack shipped to your door. Make sure to grab a meal from Scrumpers Kitchen!
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus will visit Canberra on Friday 13 November to share the story behind her extraordinary swimming career and her decision to walk away at the top, retiring last year at just 25 years of age.
Ariarne will be in conversation with HerCanberra’s Emma Macdonald at Verity Lane Market to discuss her new memoir, Relentless, and the triumphs, sacrifices and choices that shaped her life beyond the pool.
From her childhood in Tasmania to Olympic glory, Titmus became one of Australia’s most celebrated athletes, known for her fierce determination and headline-making rivalry with American swimming great Katie Ledecky.
Now, just over a year after announcing her retirement, she is sharing her story: the family sacrifices, relentless training and health challenges behind the medals, and her decision to pursue a different future at just 25.
The conversation offers Canberra sports fans and readers an opportunity to hear from an Olympic champion about ambition, resilience and finding purpose beyond elite sport.
Fans will get to meet and greet with Ariarne, and she will also do book signings to celebrate the launch of her memoir this week.
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Ariarne Titmus: Relentless, presented by Canberra Writers Festival When: Friday 13 November, 6 pm – 7 pm Where: Verity Lane Market, 50 Northbourne Avenue, City Tickets + more information: events.humanitix.com/ariarne-titmus-relentless
Hey Canberra, here are five art exhibitions you have to see! Whether you’re an art enthusiast or just looking for something fun to do in Canberra, make sure to catch these before they leave.
All of the exhibitions have a unique experience for you; you could be interacting with plasma, walking through a story of belonging told in paint, or seeing the work of local contemporary jewellers.
Delightly
Delightly is an exhibition by Harriet Schwarzrock, showcasing her small-scale, subtly interactive, plasma-illuminated objects in the Canberra Glass Works foyer as part of the 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival. Harriet uses borosilicate glass and traditional laboratory apparatus to sculpt vessels containing plasma, producing pieces that are described as resembling an aurora in a bottle.
During this exhibition, visitors are invited into a dark and suspended installation to experience firsthand the interaction of their presence on the quality of the light, as within these objects the light shifts and pulses in response to those nearby. Delightly is not just an exhibition you view; it’s an experience you join, and it invites creativity, curiosity and experimental thinking, as it’s meant to make you feel a part of the showcase, rather than an observer.
Showing Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 25 November | 11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston | canberraglassworks.com
Funny Peculiar, Not Funny ‘Ha Ha’
Erin Dickson’s exhibition navigates the tension and balance between humour and darker topics such as grief, anger and isolation. She evokes the question of what art can be through her fusion of traditional craft skills with digital technologies; her pieces challenge the expectations of craftsmanship and ask you to question what belongs in a gallery.
It’s a thought-provoking journey, causing you to question how contemporary art blends old and new techniques as well as concepts. Throughout this exhibition, Erin’s art will encourage you to engage with the contrast and will shift your focus to the deeper levels behind the art itself. These pieces have more than just a visual impact; they promote questions and comparisons of light and darkness.
Showing Thursday 5 November until Sunday 31 January | 11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston | canberraglassworks.com
Raw and Refined
Presented as part of the 2026 Craft + Design Canberra Festival, Canberra-based contemporary jeweller Phoebe Porter presents Raw and Refined, a thought-provoking exhibition exploring the tensions between raw and worked, natural and cultural, and material and meaning. Responding to the festival’s theme of Dissent, Porter’s work challenges traditional ideas around value, preciousness, and craft. Set in the Canberra Airport Departure Lounge, the display contrasts raw Australian gold, native copper, uncut sapphires, and meteorite fragments with precision-crafted structures, celebrating deliberate craftsmanship as an act of creative dissent.
During this exhibition, artist Aditi walks us through her journey of discovering what home and belonging mean to her. Aditi brings us along as she uses her art to explore whether home is physical, or if home is in your experiences and the people around you.
This exhibition reflects on the feelings the artist faced growing up between cultures, trying to build an identity between two separate worlds, exploring belonging, memories, migration, and the evolving meaning of “home”.
Aditi tells her story in this exhibition through two very distinct yet connected series. The first series is Island Home; this series consists of vivid acrylic and oil paintings of Australian flora and landscapes inspired by encounters on Aditi’s travels through the country. This series reflects the serious and deep connection and respect Aditi has for the country she calls home.
Aditi’s second series is Chitra Qala; this series includes a series of mixed media works which incorporate watercolour, acrylics and inks. In these pieces, you will find Indian folk-art motifs, symbols, colours and mythological and philosophical references layered into Australian landscapes.
Together, the two series tell the story of Aditi’s journey. Kahani: Painted Stories is a celebration of connections and self. While Aditi’s pieces are personal and unique to her experiences, she hopes that the viewers of her work can see some of their own story through her exhibition and can reflect on the people, places and experiences that shaped their sense of belonging.
Showing Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November | Kitchen Garden at Rodney’s Nursery, Pialligo | @st.mariposa
Rosalie Gascoigne
Opening at the National Gallery of Australia, this major exhibition celebrates the career of Rosalie Gascoigne (1917–1999), one of Australia’s most celebrated contemporary artists. Famous for transforming discarded, weathered items (such as retro-reflective road signs, wooden crates, and feathers) into poetic assemblages, her works reflect the light, color, and texture of the surrounding Kamberri/Canberra landscape.
Until Sunday 14 February | National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place East, Parkes | nga.gov.au
Feature image: Raw and Refined Work in Progress. Credit: Pew Pew Studio for Arts ACT
Nobody expects their twenties or thirties to include a serious injury. But unfortunately, it’s the reality for some Canberrans.
According toSafe Work Australia, workers aged 20 to 34 account for a significant proportion of serious workplace injury claims each year. And when they do, the stakes are often higher, because the years ahead of them are longer. Here’s what young Canberrans need to know about seeking compensation and the injuries that most commonly bring them to a law firm.
Workplace injuries
Injuries can happen anywhere: construction sites, hospitality venues, warehouses, and healthcare settings. Canberra’s younger workforce is concentrated in some of the industries with the highest injury rates.
The most common workplace injuries we see in younger clients include back and spinal injuries from heavy lifting or falls, fractures and breaks from machinery or site accidents, and psychological injuries from traumatic workplace incidents or unsafe environments. Many young workers assume that because they’re new to a job, or because they signed something when they started, they don’t have options, but they do.
Road accidents
Canberra’s roads, and particularly its surrounding highways and rural routes, are the scene of more serious accidents than most people expect for a city of this size.
If you were injured in a road accident that wasn’t your fault, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries, your medical expenses, your lost income, and the longer-term impact on your life. Even if the accident was partly your fault, you may still have a claim.
Slips, falls, and unsafe spaces
A wet floor in a shopping centre, an uneven footpath, or a sporting facility that wasn’t maintained properly. Public liability claims arise when someone is injured on another person’s or organisation’s property because of a failure to maintain a safe environment.
These claims are more common among young Canberrans than people realise, particularly among those who are physically active, working in hospitality or retail, or spending time in public spaces.
Medical negligence
When medical care falls short and causes lasting harm, the impact on a young person’s life can be profound. Misdiagnosis, surgical complications, medication errors, and failures in emergency care can affect everything from physical health to mental wellbeing to career trajectory.
If something went wrong during medical treatment you received in the ACT, it’s worth understanding whether the care you received met an appropriate standard.
Psychological injuries
Psychological injuries are increasingly recognised in Australian compensation law, and for good reason. Anxiety, PTSD and depression can follow a traumatic incident, a hostile work environment or a serious accident, with significant consequences for a person’s life and wellbeing.
Depending on the circumstances and the type of claim, compensation may be available for a psychological injury that meets the relevant legal requirements. The impact on your ability to work, daily life and overall wellbeing may all be relevant when assessing your claim.
What to do if you think you have a claim
The most common thing that stops young Canberrans from seeking legal advice is the belief that what happened to them isn’t serious enough, or that the process will be too hard or too expensive.
Neither of those things has to be true.
Maliganis Edwards Johnson has been helping Canberrans navigate personal injury claims for over 40 years. They offer free, confidential consultations, and can talk you through your options in plain language, without the confusing legal jargon. Just call 1800 570 778 orreach out to their team online.
Klara and the Sun – based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel of the same name – has already received mixed reviews from theatregoers. Here, Michele E. Hawkins shares why, for her, it was a five-star offering.
Directed by New Zealand actor–writer–director Taika Waititi, Klara and the Sun was made from a screenplay by Taika Waititi and Dahvi Waller, adapted from the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro.
The film is evidently set in the near future, though with a retro aesthetic devoid of mobile phones, social media, and electric vehicles. Its protagonist, Klara (Jenna Ortega), from whose viewpoint we chiefly see this world, is an “artificial friend” (A.F.), a robotic artificial intelligence who sees the sun as a deity of sorts. Klara, along with other outdated A.F. models, is desperate to be adopted rather than melted down for parts.
Fortunately for Klara, Josie (Mia Tharia), a lonely teenager promised an A.F., insists on choosing Karla in spite of her mother Chrissy’s (Amy Adams) objections.
Upon arrival at Josie’s house, Klara faces coolness from Chrissy and outright distain from the housekeeper, Melania (Rachel House), but blossoms under Josie’s immediately appreciative friendship and in turn becomes Josie’s best friend. Josie introduces Klara to her boyfriend, Rick (Aran Murphy); the three friends explore the world together; and Klara finds fulfilment in being a true friend to Josie.
Klara’s rosy view of the world takes a dark turn when she learns that Josie’s own future is not assured. But she knows to whom to turn: her source of nourishment, the sun.
Klara and the Sun is not what you might expect from Taika Waititi, in that it doesn’t feature his usual quirkiness, but it is a remarkable film that gently leads the viewer on a journey of enquiry into what we humans are choosing to do with artificial intelligence and what might be some of the moral consequences.
The film’s equivalent intelligence, Klara, though utterly unversed in the ways of the world, is sentient; she recognises and experiences compassion for the suffering of another; and she determines to act for the good of another. In this way, the fable gives rise to such questions as how much we will sacrifice in order to save another; what our responsibilities are to a being of our creation whose emergent properties include altruistic empathy; and how to treat such entities with moral integrity once they have served our purposes.
With stellar performances all round, cinematography to draw the viewer into a subtle otherness, and beautiful scripting, Klara and the Sun’s gentle whimsy offers enchantment and thoughtful reflection about the world we are on the brink of choosing.
Those living with gluten intolerances or coeliac disease have long struggled to find a sweet treat that tasted more than…subpar.
But no more. Canberra’s food scene has come a long way in the last few years, bringing a whole new selection of baked goods and delicious desserts that don’t rely on wheat, rye and barley to create something delicious.
Our Online Editor and resident gluten-free foodie Erin Cross shares some of the best gluten-free treats she’s put in her mouth.
This combination of coconut ganache, puffed glutinous rice, and coffee caramel gel brings together traditional Vietnamese flavours in an unexpected way. Moreish and well worth leaving room for, I won’t judge if you lick the plate clean.
I still remember the first time I tried this dessert. Previously a long-standing crème brûlée hater, the moment I tasted the mix of the sweetness of the crunchy toffee and the nuttiness of the pistachios I was instantly converted. Since that first time, I’ve been back to Andre’s multiple times and, without fail (and no matter how full I am) I always order it to end my meal.
When asked about my favourite desserts in Canberra, this combination of miso caramel, chocolate soil, and caramel ice cream always comes to the front of my mind. Gooey, chocolatey and very indulgent, it’s another favourite that has been ordered multiple times, and always hits the spot.
One of my lovely interns brought in a box of gluten-free treats from Sweet Bones as a thank you (which was a very delightful surprise) and every single item inside was scrumptious.
I can’t tell you the exact flavours, but one was a lamington and tiramisu fusion, another was a banana tart, there was a coconut brownie and even a cupcake! I wish I could tell you that I savoured them slowly, but I think all four were gone in less than 24 hours. I now have a very good reason to stop in Scullin.
I’m a sucker for a cinnamon scroll and this is probably the sweet treat I miss the most.
Made with layers of buttery, laminated dough, real cinnamon sugar and filled with a smooth vanilla custard, the cinnamon scrolls from Freed.Me Gluten Free are as close to the real thing as I can remember.
They’re soft and swirled with cinnamon goodness – it’s no surprise that the scrolls sell out fast.
Is it weird that I still fantasise about the scones from The Marion three years after trying them? Served with raspberry jam and fresh cream, they were the perfect accompaniment to the endless tea options on offer.
I haven’t had an excuse to go back, but the moment an occasion arises, I’ll be there with bells on.
Just a note: the kitchen requires 24 hours’ notice in advance to accommodate gluten-free and other dietary requirements, so make sure to contact them when you book!
Salted truffle caramel popcorn almond sponge from Beltana Farm
I need to apologise in advice to anyone hoping to try this – it was a one-off seasonal special. And yes, it was that good.
Served as part of the winter truffle menu at Beltana Farm, the multi-layered French-style mousse cake combined the sweetness of white chocolate and caramel with the lightness of almond and the earthiness of truffle.
It was the perfect mix of savoury-sweet, and we were served two to enjoy between four. I ate one and a half by myself. Did I feel sick afterwards? Yes. But when a dessert is that good you can have no regrets.
Meet the clubs in Canberra that are making socialising so much easier.
Whether you’ve just moved to Canberra or are looking to expand your social circle, there’s no other way to say it: making friends as an adult is hard. How do you meet people? What do you talk about? How can you find that spark of friendship in a city where it already feels like everyone knows everyone?
From running clubs to craft clubs to book clubs and everything in between, these 20 social clubs are doing the hard work for you. Read on to find your tribe.
Active social events
Running For Resilience
This much-loved local movement draws hundreds of Canberrans to weekly sessions across the city to pound the pavement, share a laugh and check in on each other.
Running for Resilience aims for 20 to 30 minutes of self-paced exercise before meeting back at the starting point for a drink and chat. They also hold special monthly events – including Yoga for Resilience and Tennis for Resilience. Find out more here.
Project Pickleball
Beginning as a passion project to create the best possible Pickleball experience for the greater community, Project Pickleball holds social 60-minute open play sessions every Thursday.
It’s a chance to broaden your pickleball skills in a fun and casual environment while meeting other people.
A community created for women looking to connect, move and make friends (without the pressure of awkward small talk), the Girls Club CBR is helping to build friendships, one stroll at a time.
Free monthly walks are held in various locations across Canberra. They’re designed to be as introvert-friendly as possible, so there’s no pressure to stay for the whole thing.
Girls Club CBR also partners with local sporting clubs to host free taster sessions. It’s all about trying something new with the bonus of meeting a few friendly faces along the way.
This social run club sets off from Blundells Cottage on Friday mornings from 5.30 am and is open to all paces and abilities. You can choose to run 5km or walk 3km, with a coffee catch-up at Curio Press at the end.
Focusing on movement and connection, DK Run Club also holds various community events, like the first indoor 5km time trial event at the Canberra Outlet.
This social walking and running club is designed for mothers looking for connection.
Held every Wednesday at 10.30 am – often meeting near the Captain Cook Memorial Jet or Lake Burley Griffin – the walk is designed for all fitness levels, whether you’re returning to exercise, newly postpartum or looking to move your body. Sessions usually end with a stop at Curio Press for a well-deserved coffee.
The Good Energy Club is all about helping local mums take a moment for themselves through mindful movement.
Hosting Pilates events, walk clubs, yoga and other events, the concept is to provide a space where mums and everyday women can be supported, empowered, and celebrated through feel-good activities.
This active group is for 20- and 30-year-olds looking for social connection. Meeting regularly for hikes all around Canberra, they have over 1,000 members, making them the perfect club to meet someone new.
Whether you’re a seasoned sketcher or just curious to try something new, this relaxed, social life drawing session is the perfect place to sip, sketch, and connect.
Hosting Slow Sketch Sundays as well as other events throughout the month, this isn’t a formal art class – it’s a fun chance to drink wine and get creative in a friendly space.
Beginning as a way for young Canberrans to connect and make friends, Scrap Society’s mindful practice of scrapbooking offers so much more than a chance to be creative.
Launched at the end of 2024 by Brooke Corkhill, the society invites participants to get crafty for three hours via scrapbooking, junk journalling or collaging. Each session offers tactile mindfulness as well as a tangible creative outlet away from digital screens – it’s no surprise that the sessions often quickly sell out.
Love a movie? The ANU Film Club is Australia’s largest (and perhaps longest-running?) film society. It’s been run by a dedicated committee of volunteers in Canberra since 1966.
Screenings are held weekly at the ANU and you can expect everything from the latest Hollywood hits to foreign, independent and classic films you won’t find on the big screen elsewhere.
This social group is all about slowing down and being creative. Free to attend and open to everyone, the concept is simple: you bring overdue craft projects, use shared supplies, and enjoy crafting with cool people.
It’s the perfect excuse to go outside, see people and create.
Hosted fortnightly at Café Stepping Stone in Strathnairn and Dickson, at the Silent Book Club there’s no assigned reading or discussion – just the chance to curl up in a peaceful space with a good book.
Sessions run for two hours, and attendees are welcome to bring their current books and order a beverage for some uninterrupted reading time with optional socialising.
The Book Club is open to everyone – with no age limits or fees – and you can socialise as much or as little as you would like.
Founded by economist and lifestyle/wellbeing coach Dr Alicia Mollaun, the Slow Pages Society is a monthly reading group that offers a screen-free space for people to read independently, chat optionally, and support a charitable cause.
Alicia – who also authors Well, Well., a Substack newsletter and community for people who take their inner lives seriously – created the event to help people slow down and settle in with a good book, a drink in hand, and connect with a table full of fellow readers.
Unlike other book clubs, the Slow Pages Society only has a ‘loose’ monthly theme, and attendees are encouraged to read whatever they would like. Tickets are also donation-based, with 30 per cent of proceeds supporting the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
Gatherie is a place for food, connection and community.
Hosting workshops, cookbook club and events that bring people together around the table, each session brings something new. With only 12 spots available, it’s intimate and wholesome.
Canberra is home to an abundance of book clubs for every kind of reader, so you’re sure to find your community somewhere!
Ranging from the Canberra Romance and Fantasy Book Club to the Canberra Women’s Book Club, browse our guide to Canberra book clubs here.
Other social events
The Canberra Gals Network
An interactive community created to empower women in the Canberra area, the CBR Gals Network is constantly hosting events designed to connect women of all ages, ranging from a podcast club to trivia nights, a book club and even ‘Gal Dinner’ sessions.
Once a month, this free, not-for-profit initiative brings together strangers in a public space, encouraging them to have real and structured conversations. It’s not networking and there’s no agenda –it’s simply a chance to connect with others.
With one in three Australians feeling lonely at any given time and roughly one in six experiencing severe or persistent loneliness, Awâre was founded in 2024 and consistently attracts a wide mix of Canberrans – from newcomers to long-term residents, people going through transitions, and people craving something more than surface-level interaction.
Designed for local makers, bakers, growers, and crafters, the Canberra Homemaker Swap is bringing together like-minded women to connect, slow down, and share items made with intention.
Held once a month in Yarraluma’s English Garden, the concept is simple: attendees bring five of the same items and swap them with one another. There’s time for coffee and cake, and towards the end of the event, each person will come up and choose an item until everyone leaves with five things made with love and intention.
The only rule? The item must be homemade or grown – think vegetables, preserves, baked goods, flowers, candles, and crafts.
The Cause Club is unique in its offering – it hosts events that are designed not only to help you meet people, but to do good at the same time.
An initiative of youth-led mental health organisation ALLKND, the Cause Club was founded by Milly Bannister in 2024 before launching nationally in 2025. It’s a free social volunteering club that brings people together to do small hands-on projects and supports a different cause each month.
Hosting events for women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, this social networking club coming to Canberra aims to make socialising more fun and less scary.
Designed specifically for people to attend alone, Actually Social Gals host events like group dinners, coffee catch-ups, craft nights, run clubs and more. What makes this social club different? You don’t pay for one-off events – instead, you join as a member for full access to everything that’s happening.
Find out more here.
Know of other ways to make friends in Canberra? Drop us a line at hello@hercanberra.com.au
When Valtteri Bottas recently made headlines for riding his gravel bike some 400 kilometres from Malaysia to Singapore, I felt a mix of admiration and inadequacy.
The lean and chiselled 37-year-old Finnish Formula One driver completed his journey over four days, including two 161-kilometre stints. Meanwhile, in south-eastern Australia, I’d just put my relatively unremarkable 52-year-old frame through its paces, riding 130 kilometres in a single stint. This was my longest distance ever and only my second “century ride”; it left me – at least at the time – feeling rather proud of myself. Then bloody Bottas came along and made my achievement look like a school run on training wheels.
But perhaps the problem isn’t that Bottas makes my achievement look insignificant. Perhaps it’s that we’ve become so accustomed to measuring ourselves against exceptional people that we’ve forgotten how to value ordinary achievement. In sport, and especially in the age of social media, we are encouraged to chase bigger numbers, faster times and more impressive milestones. Yet if you’re a middle-aged bloke who once thought he’d never ride a bike again, 130 kilometres is no small thing. It might even be more meaningful than 400 kilometres through Malaysia and Singapore.
I was 10 years old in 1984 when I was showing off my BMX skills to Mum, riding along at speed with no hands on the handlebars. I veered off the footpath, my front tyre slipped on some loose she-oak needles, and the handlebar swung around and caught me square in the groin. I felt an agonising pain in my right side and, when I inspected my white underpants in some nearby bushes, saw a dark trail of fresh blood from a split testicle. My panicked parents rushed me to Emergency in the back of Dad’s brown Cortina ambulance, uncertain of the damage I’d done – to both my balls and, potentially, the family bloodline. I somehow avoided surgery and any further complications, but the accident was every bit as traumatic as it sounds.
Fertility wasn’t exactly something that any 10-year-old thought about, but the possibility of one day having my own children was suddenly entangled with doubt and fear. Would everything still work as it was supposed to? Not even the grave-faced doctors or my anxious parents could give me a definitive answer. It was an altogether peculiar thing to contemplate at an age when my chief concerns should have been mastering BMX jumps, smashing my top score at backyard cricket, and getting through primary school.
As it turned out, I was lucky. I’ve since fathered three sons, so whatever damage I did that fateful Saturday in 1984, it wasn’t enough to curtail that particular adventure. I sometimes wonder what the 10-year-old version of me would make of that: the young boy who thought he’d damaged himself beyond repair, confronted decades later by the frazzled middle-aged father who had somehow chalked up 130 kilometres.
For decades, my accident left me wary of biking. Eventually, around 2006, I hoiked my leg over the top tube and climbed back in the saddle, determined to regain my confidence. Living next to a steep nature reserve, I took up mountain biking, starting on wide fire trails before graduating to tight, winding single track: blue square (moderate), black diamond (difficult), and finally the most challenging double black (extreme) runs. My chariots grew more capable, too: hydraulic disc brakes, 29-inch wheels, tubeless tyres, dual suspension, dropper posts, clipless pedals, carbon fibre frames. With better components, my bikes got lighter, but my wallet got lighter still. Entering some mountain bike races in 2019 made me realise I wasn’t a racer. Breaking my finger in 2020 after a calamitous crash on a double black downhill trail made me realise I wasn’t much of a mountain biker, either.
It turns out that buying the equipment and adopting the vocabulary of serious cyclists doesn’t necessarily make you one. I could spend a small fortune shaving grams off my rig, but no component could compensate for my lack of racing talent or keep me upright when careering down a double black trail. There was a limit to how far I could buy my way into the sport, and perhaps a limit to how seriously I needed to take myself.
More recently, I bought my own gravel bike, which has encouraged me to venture further and rack up the kilometres across both tarmac and trail, drive and dirt. Lighter and faster than my mountain bike but not as featherweight or pacy as a roadie, it offers the best of both worlds in terms of speed and capability. As a result, my distances and elevation have grown, but so have my composure and comfort. With little kids still at home, my rides are largely local, but one day I’d like to take a cycling holiday through somewhere like Switzerland or Japan. Until then, almost without noticing, I’ve left behind the injured little boy who thought he’d never ride a bike again. And I managed to do all that without ever needing to don a superhero cape made of Lycra.
My 130-kilometre ride was satisfying partly because of the distance, of course. But it also represented something harder to quantify: the distance between what I’d once feared and what I could now do. No personal best leaderboard could capture that. Nor could it tell the story of the years in between, the false starts, the crashes, or the simple pleasure of discovering that something you’d once avoided had become part of your life again.
On my recent long ride, I didn’t have to dodge pythons, outrun dogs or leap over lizards like Valtteri Bottas. But I did have to brake hard to avoid a brown snake basking in the spring sunshine, dodge aggressive swooping magpies and bounding mobs of kangaroos, and pass a rather sad-looking turtle. The colours at sunset were spectacular. It took me just six hours and I needed a break to refuel my tank with calories. My total riding distance for the week was a personal best 303 kilometres; for the fortnight, 521 kilometres. I went through an entire kilo of Epsom salts in the bath for recovery.
Of course, I still enjoy a personal best. Who doesn’t? My wife rode with me and managed 70 kilometres, which was her own PB. Numbers are satisfying, they give us something concrete to aim for and a reason to get out of bed, or onto the bike, when the weather is bad or the legs feel heavy. There’s nothing wrong with ambition or with admiring people who can do things the rest of us can’t. The problem comes when their achievements become the yardstick for our own, leaving us feeling inadequate about something that should bring us pleasure.
There are certain childhood experiences that lodge themselves deep inside your memory – not necessarily because they define you, but because, for a while, they seem to define what’s possible. For me, the bike came to be something to fear and avoid rather than to love and embrace.
I’m never going to be able to ride like Bottas. I’m not an ultra-fit F1 driver, a professional athlete, or even a particularly remarkable cyclist. I don’t have a crack team of trainers, physios, nutritionists, and other specialists keeping me in peak condition, nor any sponsors, and never will. For the price of his gravel bike, you could buy five of mine. But I still regularly ride with my family, with mates, and on my own. It’s for both fitness and fun. And, at this stage of life, I’m beginning to appreciate something: the distance between who you thought you were and who you turn out to be can be considerable. Sometimes, you only discover that distance one pedal stroke at a time.
And perhaps that’s the trouble with comparing ourselves to elite athletes: we end up measuring our achievements against someone else’s extraordinary circumstances instead of our own meagre starting point. Not every ride needs to be epic, not every jogger needs to run a marathon. Just getting out there is the achievement.
So Bottas can keep his cobras and his 418 kilometres across dense jungles and international borders. I’m happy with my own efforts, even knowing there are blokes my age who regularly clock century rides. The 10-year-old boy checking his underpants in the bushes would never have believed how far I’d come.
