For a while when I was a kid we lived near the suburb of Kingston; it was also close to our school so we were there fairly frequently. Kingston was a quiet inner-Canberra suburb, and mostly still is, with a shopping centre that’s been upgraded somewhat from the 1960s. These days all these older brick houses are grandly dubbed “heritage”, and there are boutique shops, a drool-worthy bakery, and cool cafés alongside Green Square.





Originally the Kingston Foreshore area was light-industrial: Canberra’s original power house, the bus and transport depot, the government printing office. We had no reason to go there. In the 1990s development started; land was reclaimed from the lake; a harbour created with pontoons and boat docks; shops and restaurants were built just up the stairs from the water, with apartments and offices above. The bus depot has been converted into a thriving market, and the power house is now home to Australia’s biggest glassworks. The whole development is kind of revolutionary for Canberra. The city is built on a lake but there’s not a lot of lakeside amenities. The Foreshore is a rare lakeside district; there’s nowhere else you can kayak up for a cup of coffee. Kingston Foreshore brought Kingston into the 21st century; it’s the hip younger sibling of the original inner suburb.

On this most recent visit we go there a couple of times, for a meal, or coffee, and then walk along the lakeshore a while to let the dog run loose. Beyond the Foreshore development it’s a fairly typical serene Canberra lakeshore scene, a few cyclists on the 40km loop cycling path,





a few people walking, a few fishermen,











quiet waters; lush green parks; hardly a city at all really.





But back to the Foreshore harbour. It’s there that I notice the GoBoats! They are new to me, and my mind is clear; I want to go out on the lake in a GoBoat!

GoBoats are Danish. Of course they are. Stylish and practical picnic boats, made from 80% recycled plastic bottles, electric motors, no license required, self-drive. They have appeared on many a quiet city waterway since they first launched in 2014 – Denmark Sweden England Germany Australia.





When I was a kid the only motorized vessels allowed on the lake were police boats, rescue boats, and one tourist cruise boat. Apart from that it was all sailing all the way. Plus canoes, kayaks,





and peddle boats. Fast forward to the advent of electric motors and now they’re also allowed, plus coaching and judging boats for dragon boat racing and scull racing. And now, of course, there’s paddle boarding and wind surfing. I was a kid a long time ago; they didn’t exist back then.

Anyway, on a fine sunny day in January we stop at the Red Hill shops to get picnic goodies and go boating in a GoBoat – Don and me, Julie, Suzanne, and Ellie and her dog Sylvie.





Passing under Kings Avenue Bridge,





we meander slowly along. Even at at full speed it is slow; no doubt they’re designed that way. No thrashing around creating a wake on Canberra’s lake thank you. Activity on Lake Burley Griffin is nothing if not sedate. This is not a complaint.

We cover about 2/3rds the length of the lake before we have to turn back. Here’s what we see:

Dragon boat racers training,





a big fancy new tourist cruise boat,





the National Library, looking like a modern Parthenon, and where, in another lifetime, I trained as a librarian,





the National Carillon with its 57 bells that chime on the quarter hour and play a little tune on the hour,





the High Court building,





a family fishing,





a black swan,





and a smaller tourist cruise boat behind a scull racer training with her coach.





It’s time for our scrappy picnic, nothing special, just what we grabbed from the supermarket – drinks and croissants and sandwiches, and featured in the foreground, treats for the dog.





Don takes a turn at the tiller, Ellie takes out her umbrella,





and Sylvie the gentle greyhound clambers over anyone who’ll let her.





At some point we pass under Commonwealth Avenue Bridge





and come to Acton Peninsula, the home of the National Museum of Australia.





There’s always activity on the pedestrian and cycle path that surrounds the lake,








and gushing up over all is the Captain Cook Memorial Jet. It commemorates Captain James Cook’s first sighting of the east coast of Australia. The water emerges at 260 kilometres per hour (160mph), and reaches a height of 152 metres (500ft). It’s pretty spectacular.





The whole journey, there and back again, is slow and peaceful. It could have been a time to relax, a time to surrender into the moment, a time to trail my fingers in the water watching the ripples they make. Instead I’m too busy taking photos and wanting more. More variety, more speed, more excitement. So now I want a do-over so I can be more immersed in the reality of it, in the quiet beauty of it, so I can let myself be lulled by the water and the wide sky and the gentle drifting in this tranquil place.






The Memorial Jet may be spectacular, but what’s not so spectacular is the recent national referendum to alter Australia’s constitution so that the Indigenous people “may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”. The result was overwhelmingly No. I am shocked, and heartbroken, and ashamed of my country.





Many probably now wish that Cook had never been anywhere near Australia. The Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) was the only jurisdiction to vote in favour of this amendment.

Canberra and its beautiful lake is situated on what was and always will be Aboriginal land; the lands of the Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples.





Next post: The Australian National Botanic Garden, and the Jerrabomberra Wetlands.






All words and images by Alison Louise Armstrong unless otherwise noted
© Alison Louise Armstrong and Adventures in Wonderland – a pilgrimage of the heart, 2010-2023.