My picture of the day is of the Tuggeranong Valley, or part of it at least, my domicile since I was five years old.
It is a place which makes me feel content and pleased. I have grown my roots here and although the thought of decamping and setting up elsewhere has crossed my mind from time to time, home is where the heart is and I am happy in my home in the Valley.
The picture was taken from Oxley Hill in the latter part of 2013 and my immediate recollection is that I took it with the camera on my mobile phone but I do remember tramping about on one particular day with my Lumix camera, something I do rarely so it is likely to be a shot from that particular sojourn through the suburbs.
I had not long returned from my trip to Europe and the giddiness and excitement extracted from touring the famous sights of the Continent was beginning to fade and I was feeling nostalgic about my upbringing in my own little hideaway in Canberra’s south.
I had been to London, the home of Parliamentary democracy, Paris, the champion of liberty and freedom, Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and home of a burgeoning attempt to break from the United Kingdom, and a thousand places in between but once I returned to Canberra a wave of contentment swept over me and I realised my place in the world was in this sweet and comfortable landscape. I wanted to photograph it.
Oxley Hill, which has been ravaged by fire since this photo was taken and still wears the scars from the conflagration, is laid out before us in the picture with the suburb of the same name in the forefront. Oxley clings to the circumference of the hill but it is a northerly aspect in the photo and the houses run right to the Tuggeranong Parkway which is not to be seen, hidden away by the trees which nestle along it’s path.
In the middle of the photo, to the left, is Lake Tuggeranong, a man made body of water which was created in the early 1990’s. I myself don’t use the Lake much if at all but it does see a little bit of action from the lovers of watersport and the odd fisherman. It is circled by a bike path which is much in demand and runs along both shores and terminates at the Hyperdome Shopping Centre, just out of picture to the left.
The dual featured Urambi Hills crown the Lake and I have spent many a day in my younger years tramping to the twin summits and admiring the views from the top before plunging down to the river valley on the other side out of shot and taking in the leisurely stroll which the tracks along the Murrumbidgee River allow.
I lived for many years near the base of Urambi Hills in the suburb of Kambah, first in my parents home, then in my own house and the Hills forever loomed large in our lounge room windows, solid and steady despite rain, storm and fire which occasionally lashed these sentinels. They have stood silent and strong for tens of thousands of years before we arrived and will remain long after we are gone. The fleeting existence of a man is of no concern to them.
To the centre right is Mount Neighbour, guarding the gate between Tuggeranong and it’s sister, Weston Creek and is yet another pinprick in my memory which reminds me of days of yore when the hours of the weekend were mine for the taking and I could spend my days away from the fires of work tramping through the environs of Kambah and the wonderful expanse of bushland which clings to her perimeters.
From the summit of Mount Neighbour one can look south and take in the entire length of the Tuggeranong Valley and glimpse into the next, the Lanyon Valley, right down to the little hamlet of Tharwa, nestled in a hollow on the Murrumbidgee. Looking north one can see the homes of Belconnen, once the most northerly of Canberra’s satellite towns, since overtaken for that title by those barbarians of Gunghalin.
The southern slope of Mount Neighbour is a steep climb but if you are prepared to walk a little further the northern approaches are much gentler but either way, the view from the top is worth the effort if one has the mind to try.
Moving further to the right you can start to see the rising slope of Mount Taylor, the most remarkable feature of southern Canberra which is just out of shot. The mountain is hardly notable in the scheme of things when other famous landmarks are discussed but for us who live in these parts the mountain is a beacon, our signal that we are nearly home from wherever life or work has taken us and gives us a sense of security and contentment and a feeling that all is still as it should be and is in place and just how we left it.
I myself now live in the next suburb of Wanniassa, exclusively placed between Kambah and Oxley and to the right of the where the photo is taken. It is still in the Valley but I often joke that the denizens of Wanniassa are merely former residents of Kambah who have moved up the social ladder!
I have lived here for five years and everything I could want or need is close at hand. I am happy and content with life here in my home in the Valley.
Canberra is now stretching herself to the north and the new suburbs of Gunghalin are the places to buy and it seems the centre of gravity of the city is moving that way and we in the south are being forgotten and neglected by our local government. I am sure we will survive.
I have driven through the bleak streetscapes of Gunghalin and there is nothing I have seen there which would make me move to the high end, popular part of the city.
As I drive home to Wanniassa from wherever my travails have taken me, racing quickly past Mawson and the more affluent areas of Swinger Hill and Farrer, cresting the hill past Long Gully Road which will drop me onto Erindale Drive a few kilometres from home, I always draw breath and marvel at the sight which greets me. The Tuggeranong Valley, showing off yet again, is always a welcoming vision, beautiful, beguiling and comfortable. My home.
Have a great day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 