Truffle Degustation at Benchmark Wine Bar

It’s a typical cool cold Canberra evening in the middle of truffle season when my friends and I descend onto classy Benchmark Wine Bar (near the Novotel and bus station on Northbourne). Benchmark Wine Bar has had truffle degustations each Tuesday of the past few weeks, but the menu’s changed each time; we’ve no idea what to expect from our four courses.

Advertisement

Treasures Gallery and Bookplate

There are so many tourist places I’ve never visited in Canberra, or which I only visited properly once, when I first moved here. When I thought about it recently, it seemed odd: so many of our tourist institutions are living, working places which are always changing – or at least usually have a new exhibition on. It’s this which leads me to make a concerted effort to get to these places over the next few months: and the National Library of Australia is where I start!

4th* of July at the US Embassy

I’ve never been to the US Embassy in Canberra before. The building – situated among plenty of other embassies in the leafy suburb of Yarralumla – is instantly recognisable, with plenty of red bricks, white fences and white railings. It’s also recognisable by its sheer size. When I hear that there’s an opportunity going to be part of one of their biggest parties of the year – their 4th of July celebrations – as a ‘roving social media reporter’, I’m keen. To my surprise and delight, I get the gig. What follows, dear reader, is what I can happily describe as a whirlwind experience.

Snow (just an hour from Canberra!)

As a born and bred Queenslander, there’s not a lot that gets me more excited than the possibility of seeing snow. I’d heard rumours before that snow could fall quite nicely up in the Brindabellas and having been up Mounts Franklin and Ginini in May, was keen to see how the scenery had transformed.  Having taken my trusty steed Pedro (a Suzuki Swift) up previously, I knew the road was quite dangerously marked with potholes. So, in true T1 style, I begged a friend with a 4WD to take us up for the day… and we weren’t disappointed.

Give me some of those Perisher Blues…

* This post was by T2, a co-author of In The Taratory from 2011-2013. *

While many complain about a lack of things to do and see here in the nation’s capital, one of Canberra’s draw cards is its proximity to the ski fields. Yes, I do realise that I’m writing for a blog aimed at promoting experiences in Canberra – but the famous Snowy Mountains, located in Kosciusko National Park, are close enough. A mere 2.5-hour drive south of the border will put you right on the doorstep of two of Australia’s largest ski resorts: Thredbo and Perisher Blue.

Improvention 2011

Despite two-and-a-bit and three-and-a-bit years of living in Canberra respectively, neither T2 nor I had been to the Street Theatre, so what better reason than to attend Improvention? Improvention is a week-long festival showcasing improvised theatre: from what I understand, during the day there are conferences and workshops for improvisers (hailing across the globe) to attend, while at night the public gets to see performances for a rather reasonable fee.  Improvised theatre is simply performance where most everything is made up on the spot with a bit of stimulus or a framework to work in—think Thank God You’re Here or Whose Line Is It Anyway?