canberra Archives

When slow travel goes way too fast

With mountain ranges, rural vistas, capital cities and the coast, it’s all aboard for an epic few days on the Great Southern train.

Wildlife

Urban birdwatching guide to Canberra

The woodlands, grasslands and backyards of Canberra are teeming with birdlife.

On This Day

On this day: Canberra’s prohibition begins

In the end it was thirsty pollies that forced the end of 17 years of prohibition in Canberra.

Wallpaper

Canberra aerial

Canberra shrouded in fog, photographed from a hot-air balloon during the Canberra Balloon Spectacular.

Science & Environment

GALLERY: Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

Six antennas huddle on the grassy 147ha site at Paddys River in the Tidbinbilla Valley, just under an hour’s drive from Canberra. One is a landscape-dwarfing dish as wide as a 22-story building is tall. Dotted around are three working 34m dishes and one under construction. The CDSCC is owned by NASA, but it is run through the innovation centre at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as well as by the CSIRO. It is one of three deep-space tracking stations in NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) – the others are in Goldstone, California, and Madrid, Spain. The tracking stations are strategically placed around the globe, so that, as the Earth rotates, they can stay in touch with interplanetary spacecraft 24 hours a day. The DSN provides the vital link to the spacecraft of many nations travelling between the planets and beyond.

Wallpaper

Canberra Balloon Spectacular

Hot air balloons drift serenely through the skies above Canberra at the 2015 Canberra Balloon Spectacular, one of the top hot-air ballooning events in the world.

History & Culture

Canberra Balloon Spectacular

Last year, AG went to the 29th annual Canberra Balloon Spectacular, listed as one of the top hot-air ballooning events in the world. Since its inception in 1986, the nine-day event has seen balloons of all shapes and sizes rise from the lawns of Old Parliament House and glide over the cityscape, carrying passengers above iconic landmarks. The next Canberra Balloon Spectacular will be held between 12–20 March 2016.