Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has more than 100 mastheads across Australia. Today's is written by The Canberra Times producer Lucinda Garbutt-Young.
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I haven't heard back from a dear friend in several days. She has left me on read.
We have pristine texting routine. This behaviour is unusual.
Our friendship has not been one built on convenience; we have lived hours from each other for most of the time I've known her. My music taste is, I'm told, terrible and she is shockingly behind on current affairs.
We have had many hard conversations about more serious matters and yet no conflict has been left unresolved for long.
Until now. We are in a stalemate.
It all started a year ago when I told her about my new job. It sounded good, she thought. I'd learn a lot and it would be fun. Then came the kicker: it was in Newcastle. A "hole". She wouldn't be visiting.
The second blow came a year later. This one stung even more than the last.
I was moving to Canberra.
"I always knew you'd end up there. You're that kind of person," she told me.
I understood from her tone what she meant. Though she loves me, she reckons I'm chaotic, political and "often just a bit angry". Whatever, I didn't care if she thought of me that way.
Though why was that description akin to her perception of Canberrans? Surely, I thought just after signing a contract to work here, she was incorrect?
At the crux of her grievances was the age-old tale: Canberra is boring.
But I kind of liked that.
Eve and I met in Sydney during uni. It was fun. The public transport was always late and the pubs were open later. My 70s-built apartment, sandwiched between the water and a goods train line, became the prime dinner party location.
I had a niggling feeling, though. Sydney was a big city, it was expensive - yes, more exxy than Canberra - and I didn't know where I fit.
If my friend was right that all Canberrans did was sit around drink beer and discuss politics was true, I was ok with that. These things felt contained and like two skills I could master at speed. Should I be admonishing her for such a sentiment?
Another mate described this odd hamlet of a capital as "the made up land of roundabouts and budget trees". I tried to convince him otherwise, and yet I failed.
How can a city named only 111 years ago for the express purpose of housing a federal government and national bodies not be made up? Across the world, it is one of less than 50 wholly-planned national capitals. Canberra is, by definition, a place crafted first in fiction before being built.
But I kind of liked that too.
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If this place was purpose-built, I could be too. Previous assertions made about my character could be unsaid and reimagined. I wondered in my first week here if that was the appeal of Parliament for so many. You can be whatever you want in a round white building on a hill, 300km from home.
I want to set the record straight with my forlorn Sydney friends - Canberra is not boring, nor is it simplistic. Though I understand why it seems to be these things from afar.
There is an appeal in moving to a place where you know what you're going to get. You can guess in loose terms what new friends do for a living before you arrive. You'll probably be able to get around without a map in a fortnight.
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I knew for the most part what I was walking into - something rare for a city of this size. After half a decade of living in places where I couldn't quite figure out the tune, that was heartening.
But there were some things I didn't realise, too. Obviously, Canberrans don't spend all day sitting in two-degree weather, bicycles beside them, discussing political matters. People here like Taylor Swift too, Eve.
In between that are hikes, dinners, farmers markets, galleries, wines and drives to get ice cream just because.
I have, in my usual fashion, triple texted Eve. No response. Last we spoke, I yelled on the phone that she just didn't get Canberra. She agreed and hung up. I don't think we will ever break this feud.
She's right. It's not the city for everyone. But as a recent arrival, I enjoy the predictability of this place, intertwined with culture and entertainment. I'm here for the what you see is what you get-ness.
I guess I'm a defender of Canberra now. That took a lot less time than I thought it would.
Lucinda Garbutt-Young is a producer at The Canberra Times. She was previously a reporter at the Newcastle Herald, where she covered breaking news, court and other general news. Do you have a story? Email Lucinda at l.garbutt-young@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Lucinda Garbutt-Young is a producer at The Canberra Times. She was previously a reporter at the Newcastle Herald, where she covered breaking news, court and other general news. Do you have a story? Email Lucinda at l.garbutt-young@austcommunitymedia.com.au
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