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<p data-block-key="n6wok">Ah, Charnwood: Canberra&#x27;s favourite suburb to pick on. But for those who grew up there in the 1980s and 90s, the days were an awesome mix of school, going yabbying and watching the big kids do tricks at the skate park.</p><p data-block-key="41v0c">Here are the 11 things you only truly understand if you grew up there (according to the awesome Diana McKinlay from Team Zango).</p><p data-block-key="9mbie">1.Hanging out for when you were old enough to go to Mr K’s farm for end-of-year camp.</p><p data-block-key="6skqj">2. Trying not to fall into the creek on the walk to the flying fox but still managing to get muddy anyhow (and yelling as loudly as you could under each underpass on the way).</p><img alt="Umbagong_stepping_stones" class="richtext-image full-width" height="371" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Umbagong_stepping_stones.width-800.jpg" width="600"><p data-block-key="cp5nl">3. Having to explain that the logo on your school jumper had a backwards &#x27;S&#x27; because it was the logo of the sheep station Charnwood was built on.</p><img alt="IMG_20230626_151932~2" class="richtext-image full-width" height="473" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/IMG_20230626_1519322.width-800.jpg" width="327"><p data-block-key="4g5d2">4. Not knowing your friends&#x27; actual address but knowing exactly how to get there via the paths behind your houses.</p><img alt="Charnwood paths" class="richtext-image full-width" height="533" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Charnwood_paths.width-800.jpg" width="800"><p data-block-key="bv9u0">5. Not having a lot of sports equipment funding so instead getting visits from random groups to teach you a random sport; so you were just as likely to learn lacrosse and baseball as cricket and footy but really just wanting to play bullrush every lunch.</p><p data-block-key="e043t">6. Riding your BMX as fast as you could down the S’s after watching the older kids do tricks on theirs at the skate park.</p><img alt="4228946032418237" class="richtext-image full-width" height="798" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/4228946032418237.width-800.jpg" width="800"><p data-block-key="eggeb">7. Catching tadpoles at the creek; and yabbies at Fassifern.</p><p data-block-key="a2bhd">8. Not being able to get a BBQ chook from Woolies or Coles because they just weren’t as good as Charcoal Chicken.</p><img alt="Regal Charcoal Chicken" class="richtext-image full-width" height="533" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Regal_Charcoal_Chicken.width-800.jpg" width="800"><p data-block-key="4tii6">9. Speaking of Charcoal Chicken, eating hot chips on the steps just outside while waiting for one of the arcade machines up the back to be free.</p><p data-block-key="7m7q4">10. Watching a bombers v booners brawl at the skate park, where the footwear of choice was steel-capped black boots or Doc Martens.</p><p data-block-key="6cuqd">11. Making houses in the trees and tanbark at the edge of Charnwood Primary oval, and trying to leap over the tall koppers logs or giant patches of Spitfires without stacking.</p>

11 things only people who grew up in Charnwood understand

<p data-block-key="wv03r">From the older, glamorous suburbs of Kingston and Manuka to younger, innovative and sustainable suburbs like Ginninderry and Whitlam, there’s no doubt Canberra offers a diverse selection of places to call home.</p><p data-block-key="a2i0i">But what if we matched our suburbs with their red-carpet counterparts? If Canberra suburbs were celebrities, who would they be?</p><h3 data-block-key="87ksn">Wanniassa: Russell Crowe</h3><img alt="Body_Image_800px_532px.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="531" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Body_Image_800px_532px_uf8Rkpq.width-800.png" width="800"><p data-block-key="bb0p4">This one came directly from a resident of Wanniassa.</p><p data-block-key="63el6">“If we were a celebrity we’d be Russell Crowe,” she says.</p><p data-block-key="bm34m">“Big, cuddly, friendly, generous and down to earth. Enjoys his nature and doesn’t mind a flanny or an unkempt beard.</p><p data-block-key="crq7u">“Also, he keeps it real despite being the jewel in the Hollywood crown - just like Wanniassa keeps it real but is easily Canberra’s best suburb.”</p><p data-block-key="49fc4">Well said.</p><h3 data-block-key="cv406">Griffith: Helen Mirren</h3><img alt="Body_Image_800px_532px2.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="531" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Body_Image_800px_532px2_vqaKDgq.width-800.png" width="800"><p data-block-key="cekqv">Older, elegant, classy and desirable - if ever there was a celebrity who best represented one of Canberra’s first suburbs, Helen Mirren is it.</p><p data-block-key="5sv9v">Mirren has played a wide range of characters but has become somewhat known for her portrayal of royal figures. Arthur Circle, Bannister Gardens and La Perouse Street - it doesn’t come more ‘royal’ than that.</p><h3 data-block-key="56q0a">Braddon: Ed Sheeran</h3><img alt="Body_Image_800px_532px3.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="531" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Body_Image_800px_532px3_LGulKuc.width-800.png" width="800"><p data-block-key="7c516">Braddon is a lot older than Ed (the British singer-songwriter is just 31-years-old) but Ed’s most famous songs couldn’t be a better description of Braddon: think <i>Beautiful People</i>, <i>Happier</i>, <i>Feels</i>, <i>Perfect</i> and <i>All of the Stars</i>.</p><p data-block-key="9lbjm">Sheeran is effortlessly cool and just gets better year after year. Much like our inner city hot spot.</p><h3 data-block-key="6m252">Gordon: Tim Allen</h3><img alt="Body_Image_800px_532px4.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="531" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Body_Image_800px_532px4.width-800.png" width="800"><p data-block-key="dvg90">This Hollywood funny man is at his best at Christmas time - remind you of a particular Canberra suburb? Allen starred in <i>The Santa Clause</i> 1, 2 and 3, <i>Christmas with the Cranks</i> and <i>El Camino Christmas</i>, making him the Hollywood star with the most Christmas movies under his belt. Gordon comes to life with a festival glow from mid-November onward and draws crowds from right across the capital. It’s a perfect match.</p><h3 data-block-key="burmq">Denman Prospect: Ashton Kutcher</h3><img alt="Body_Image_800px_532px5.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="531" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Body_Image_800px_532px5.width-800.png" width="800"><p data-block-key="a6ert">Young, good-looking and with a love of innovation, Ashton Kutcher is the Denman Prospect of Hollywood. As much an angel investor as an actor, Ashton Kutcher has inspired a wave of celebrities to follow his lead in funding tech companies.</p><p data-block-key="ab3f5">Future-focused Denman Prospect was the first Australian suburb to have a minimum requirement for solar power on every single dwelling and electric charge stations at the village shops.</p><h3 data-block-key="9ti4d">Ainslie: Jane Fonda</h3><img alt="Body_Image_800px_532px6.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="531" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Body_Image_800px_532px6.width-800.png" width="800"><p data-block-key="anj1o">Well-known for her generosity and social conscience, actress Jane Fonda is the perfect Ainslie.</p><h3 data-block-key="b21jj">Charnwood: Sophie Monk</h3><img alt="Body_Image_800px_532px7.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="531" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Body_Image_800px_532px7.width-800.png" width="800"><p data-block-key="8de5i">As Aussie as they come and with an absolute heart of gold. Sophie’s proud of her heritage and is adored by many (although she cops some serious flack from the other actors and the media around her). Definitely sounds like Charnwood to us.</p><h3 data-block-key="76tn6">Queanbeyan: Mel Gibson</h3><img alt="Body_Image_800px_532px8.png" class="richtext-image full-width" height="531" src="https://d2t3vhau9g43uy.cloudfront.net/media/images/Body_Image_800px_532px8.width-800.png" width="800"><p data-block-key="1pior">Not Mel in his later years but Mel at his absolute best in the 1980s - gorgeous, fearless and with the perfect mullet. Mel’s character in Lethal Weapon - Martin Riggs - didn’t mince his words and he understood the partnership he was in was truly special. In that case, does that make Danny Glover (aka Roger Murtaugh) the Canberra to Mel Gibson’s Queanbeyan?</p>

2 news articles with tag charnwood

11 things only people who grew up in Charnwood understand

If Canberra suburbs were Hollywood celebrities