Highway to Hell part 4: the anatomy of hell

Before moving to Melbourne, I lived in and around the A.C.T. Here's some advice for anyone heading up to the game this week...

Don’t blink! Thousands of people miss Canberra altogether because they don’t realise that they’re actually in it. Many a prospective tourist will drive straight through and only realise their error when they hit Sydney. This is the fault of whoever decided to call Canberra a ‘city’; there’s no way it can live up to such a title. The golden rule is, ‘you’ll know you’re there when you see a roundabout’. At which point, slow down and try and find a building.

Most people will probably be arriving on Saturday night and therefore be looking for something to do. Again, the whole ‘city’ thing can get in the way and have you expecting more than Canberra can give. By way of comparison, Adelaide on a Monday night is pretty close to Canberra on a Saturday. Head to Civic and see what’s going on. The majority of ‘night life’ centres on the very exciting bus interchange.

If you want to eat and you’re staying around Civic, head to Garema Place for dinner, because you’ll get a bit of choice. There’s a café there called ‘Gus’s’ and it’s pretty good. Gus, who has sadly passed away, introduced outside dining to Canberra. He was also my brother’s godfather. He would give him really great Christmas presents and me nothing at all, kind of unfair, I reckon.

On game-day it's a good idea to park on Dryandra St in O’Connor and then walk through the bush to get to Canberra Stadium. It’s pretty fun. After rocking up to Dryandra and finding a park (for free!), just follow the Raiders’ fans.

Canberra Stadium is nice. There are drink holders and they sell noodles. I think it ran way over-budget, and if any of my friends from Canberra actually read this blog, feel free to correct me on the following, but I'm pretty sure it led to the demise of the Liberal government in the A.C.T.

Well, that's about it. In all seriousness though, don't stay any longer than you have to!!