A Sunday morning on Lake Burley Griffin

The first people that I met on my walk were Sally her sister. I had just arrived at Regatta Point on my scooter to a packed grass hill full to the brim with Canberrans.

They were excited to watch the balloons set off, which ultimately didn't come to fruition.

When I asked to have a chat about what the lake meant to them they were more than happy to help, however, they prefaced the conversation with one thing; they had only just moved to Canberra.

That was not an issue, I wanted to get new and old perspectives of the area.

The main reason that they had come down to the lake was to see the balloons, but it was hardly the first time that they had visited the Kingston foreshore since they moved.

“We go for walks around the area, grab a coffee, at least a couple of times a week. Probably three or four times,” Sally said.

For the pair, even before moving to the city, they had heard about the lake. They described it as the central point of Canberra, which is nothing short of the truth.

Over the three hours that I walked around all corners of the lake, the hill was never empty; with friends and families meeting there at varying hours.

Some brought picnic blankets, others simply visited the café before taking a seat. Some had their dogs on lead, others with babies in prams.

No matter who they were, the hill offered a meeting point for them that morning, facing the lake as they took in the start of the new week.

What always draws both Sally and her sister back multiple times a week is the multitude of activities and experiences that the lake and foreshore offer.

“When you walk around the Kingston foreshore you see Questacon, the flags, you know you are in the Capital when you are here because you see so many iconic things,” she said.

I understood that once I continued to walk throughout the day, I could go no further than one hundred meters without seeing something that was either picturesque or had people lining up to see it.

Whether it was the flag display, Questacon, the 'Australian of the Year Walk', or the High Court. The lake oozes with interesting activities and experiences, without making it seem cramped or forced.

With that thought I left the pair to their Sunday morning fun, I had already taken up enough of their time.

Off I went, over the bridge to the Jetty.

The next person I met on my journey was Sharna, who had just finished an adventure of her own.

She had just come off the water, having been paddleboarding for the previous few hours. Sharna isn’t a local, instead, she has made the four-hour trip from the beaches of the Hunter Valley to visit the area.

It was her first time visiting the lake despite having heard many stories about it from people she had met through her paddle boarding business. 

The uniqueness of the area was something that Sharna especially enjoyed, the fact that there was this great body of water used for recreation just down the road from the town centre.

That is something that is truly so unique for Canberra. Brisbane has the Brisbane river, Sydney has their harbour and Melbourne - the Yarra.

This is where Canberra earns its title of the 'Country Capital'. Unless you pay attention, you can easily forget that Parliament house is just down the road one way and the shopping precinct the other.

When you are on or near the water, that is the sole focus.

For Sharna, just going somewhere different was an absolute treat.

“It is so nice, I run paddle boarding in the Hunter Valley and just to explore and see something different is honestly just so nice,” she said.  

“The amount of people on the water is so cool honestly. Seeing it from the water is just so different to seeing it on the land”

Sharna was able to offer a unique perspective of why she feels that people around the region flock to Burley.

“It is the water,” she said.

“People just have this calming feeling on the water. I come across so many people who as soon as they come across some body of water, they just become calmer."

It is an understandable theory that was quite frankly backed up by numerous others throughout the morning. You rarely see someone not relaxed at the lake, with everyone using it as an escape from their day to day lives.

With that unique perspective I bid Sharna farewell, she was about to head back to Newcastle and I couldn't delay her any longer.

Whilst the balloons had officially been cancelled they still decided to keep them hovering mere metres above the ground for families to see.

I knew that had to be the next place that I ventured to.

As I scootered over to the balloons I ran into Andrew, Nisha and their puppy Molly. They were sitting near the café, having just taken Molly for a walk after they looked at the balloons. 

The pair have lived in Canberra for most of their lives, with visits to Lake Burley Griffin being something of a regular occurrence.

For Nisha, having previously worked in the city whilst living on the south side, biking along the lake would constitute her daily commute.

Due to a change in her work and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the regularity of their visits have dropped.

“We come a few times every year,” Andrew said.

“See I would say once every couple of months. When I used to work in the area, I used to come almost every day,” Nisha said back.

However often they come, it ultimately doesn’t matter. Whenever they do get the opportunity, it is one that the pair relish.

When asked what they think draws so many people to the Lake their answer is simple.

“If you look around there are so many memorials, museums and iconic things in Australia. You have the high court, the war memorial not far from the lake, and beautiful views of old parliament house,” they said.

“It is just a historic walk of Canberra, just truly a Canberra icon.”

Whilst it may not be the reason that they specifically come down to the lake, it does bring up an interesting idea.

For tourists or those wanting to get the ‘Canberra experience’, there arguably isn’t a better place to go.

It may not be so much about the lake itself, rather it acts as the central point for travellers wanting to experience the best that Canberra offers.

Despite this idea, the lake does remarkably well to still avoid becoming a ‘touristy’ place that has been ruined for the locals.

Even on a day when there were balloons hovering and activities occurring that brought in many tourists, the overwhelming amount of people there were just locals.

I think that this is one of the most beautiful and important things about the lake, it offers something for everyone.

If you are a local and you have seen and completed numerous trips around the war memorial and the high court, it is independent enough to still warrant a trip.

For those who want to see those locations it still deserves a quick walk, a beautiful secondary activity to complement the first.

After discussing the idea with the pair, it was time that I let them get back to walking Molly.

As the sun began to rise above the horizon, I wanted to talk to one more group before my Sunday morning ended.

I still hadn't made it to the balloon display yet, that was going to be my last location.

As I finally made it to the balloons I met the last people that I spoke to that day, Jules and her partner.

They were standing simply staring at the balloons hovering mere meters above the ground.

They were not the only ones, nearly a thousand people had crammed themselves onto the lawn near Questacon to catch a glimpse.

When I asked what their reason for coming down was, their answer was likely the same as many on that specific Sunday.

“We wanted to see if the balloons were going to take off,” she said.

Foolishly I nearly wrote the pair off as simply event seekers, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

When I asked how often they come down, I was shocked by their answer.

“We live nearby so I make sure that I see the water every day. I usually ride my bike to work in the city, so I go past it nearly every day,” she said.

I hadn’t spoken to anyone who was so dedicated to the lake yet, no one that spent at least some part of every day there.

Despite my love of the area, I couldn’t even see myself doing that. However, her next answer dropped some clues as to the reasoning.

“Those days where I don’t ride I still come down and have a look. We are originally from Sydney so it is nice to see some water here.”

For those who were not born and bred in Canberra, this is a logical reasoning. If you have spent your whole life living by the water, it becomes a natural part of your routine.

Whether that be the beach or a lake, there is ultimately no difference.

In the same vein, for those who didn't grow up around the water, it is an opportunity that they may not have ever gotten before.

Three of the four groups that I talked to were either tourists or had recently moved from out of state.

Maybe it is a case of they are not taking for granted the amazing area that Lake Burley Griffin is, or maybe it is simply a case of the lake acting as a replacement for previous bodies of water that they lived by.

Either way, I didn't want to distract the pair any more from the wonderful balloon display than I already had, so I left them to their Sunday.

With that conversation, I had finished my morning along the lake. Three hours of beauty, peacefulness, tranquility, and ultimately learning, had drawn to a close.