Canberra cops a lot of undeserved flack from all corners of the country for its perceived ‘lack’: the lack of a cosmopolitan lifestyle, a lack of roads that aren’t roundabouts, the total lack of temperatures above freezing or below scorching.
Haters of the nation’s capital of symmetry, take this in your mouth and suck on it accordingly: per a breaking report in the arbiter of good taste and even more arbitrary trends The New York Times, Canberra is now officially a chic mecca of “Instagram worthy sunsets”, a hotbed of viticulture and gastronomy; a quirky haven with a “scene” that can lay claim to “a decidedly hipster underbelly” and the prestigious honorific “the Brasilia of Australia.”
On the agenda in the latest addition to The Grey Lady’s characteristically spot-on ’36 Hour’ column: “popping” in to Hipsley Lane for “vintage finds” and “indie design brands and pop-up clothing boutiques” [are there any other kinds?]; 200 rums adorning “elegant glass shelves” and stocked by suave bartenders wearing bow ties called Theo and Graydon who have literally tried everything; fair trade piccolo lattes and riding bikes [“baguettes not required”]; visiting the epicentre of Internet history itself at the site where Julia Gillard delivered her “viral feminist smackdown” of Tony Abbott; hedonistic sundaes, and stylish women in dresses serving dessert for breakfast, followed by more whiskey.
So stop being a dick to Canberra just because you had to wake up at 4am to take a bus to the war memorial when you were in primary school. It’s a different world out there. They have hipsters now.
Photo: Stefan Postles via Getty
