The walk up the hill at the National Botanic Gardens in the warm, sunny conditions was enough to work up a thirst, and would also ensure that any punters who overindulge will be able to stumble out of the venue (and onto Clunies Ross Drive?).
By the end of the day, we had all drank well [...]

The criterium cycling circuit at Stromlo was named the Stephen Hodge Criterium Cycling circuit when it was opened in 2006.
Stephen Hodge has just admitted to doping during his career as a pro cyclist and has since resigned from his current position as vice-president of Cycling Australia.
So I think we need a new name for the [...]

Reports have come in this afternoon from ABC and CT, of an explosion and fire at a medical waste disposal facility in Mitchell. Three workers were seriously injured by exploding aerosol cans, and are currently in hospital receiving treatment for burns.
So was this dodgy disposal of unused aerosol cans? The Darwin’s Law in effect?? Silly [...]

Reading the ABC story School puts the ban in banana, I had thought April Fools day had come twice this year. Yesterday press were invited to report on Kevin Rudd listening to student’s environmental concerns at O’Connor Cooperative School, and apparently the invite included a warning for members of the press not to attend if [...]

Canberra based Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) company Cloud Central has launched its beta service before starting its full paid service next year. According to this CRN report Cloud Central will be one of a handful of Australian companies, and the only in the ACT, offering cloud compute resources. Based on Xen virtualisation (Yuk! Give me VMware any [...]

The ACT opposition is planning to introduce a bill which will give police powers to test drivers for illicit drug use using an oral swab. The measure would bring us into line with all other Australian jurisdictions, which already have the powers to test for drugs.
Of course the measure is opposed by the government, [...]

The ACT Liberals have been stamping their feet and making noises about Canberra missing out on federal infrastructure funds due to the current lax planning, budgeting and delivery of large infrastructure projects. The Canberra Liberals have a new plan for infrastructure:
“Key elements of the draft exposure Infrastructure Canberra Bill include;

The establishment of an Infrastructure Plan;
creating [...]

As we are all so green these days, Christmas lights may be a little frowned upon, but they do warm the hearts of children as they warm the environment. So I thought I’d kick off the Christmas lights 2009 with this beauty (apologies for the dodgy photo – I need a better camera and less [...]

All I can think is that the ACT Labour government’s newest minister, Joy Burch has taken a media laxative, as she has expelled no fewer than 13 media releases today. The member for Brindabella who has recently taken charge of the portfolios Disability, Housing and Community Services; Multicultural Affairs; Children and Young People; Ageing; and [...]

A couple nights ago I was kicking back with a beer infront of the TV when the latest ActewAGL ad came on. I spluttered beer across the living room as they declared the Cotter Dam expansion has started. They then declared the surveys and planning was progressing well – ROFL!
Today it seems I am to [...]

I recently paid my utilities bills for the quarter, but it seems one of the local utilities has taken a backwards step in the last 3 months. ActewAGL is no longer offering electronic billing, or online billing history for natural gas.
The ActewAGL payment site, epayplus states:

Electronic invoices for natural gas bills will no longer be [...]

Yesterday Chief Minister Jon “Super Highway” Stanhope, and Federal heavy Maxine McKew kicked off the second stage of Layon Drive upgrades. This will see the current pitiful Lanyon Drive between Hume and Jerrabombera upgraded to a dual carriageway. Stanhope says: “”The upgrade is welcome news for the many drivers and cyclists that use Lanyon Drive, [...]

Yesterday afternoon the crane was hard at work installing the new bridge being between the Belconnen Mall and the Churches Centre (apologies for the image quality I took the pic with my mobile). Soon DIAC staff won’t have to mix with the plebs on ground level again to get their lunch at the food court [...]

According to the following ABC story (unfortunately, no media release yet from his holiness) Jon “Eco” Stanhope wants to see some of the ACT Government petrol powered vehicles changed for electric cars. This follows an announcement in June from US electric car company Better Place, that Canberra will be the first city in Australia to [...]

The ABC reports that the Canberra Pedestrian Forum are up in arms about new draft plans for pedestrian and cycle routes proposed for the ACT. Leon Arundell from Canberra Pedestrian Forum says “Many of Canberra’s 64,000 school children and 10,000 bus commuters can’t even get to a bus stop without walking on the road”. So [...]

The ABC reports that the ACT Greens are pushing to allow public servants to salary package bus fares and bikes in an effort to improve the proportion of public servants utilising green transport options. Maybe it’s a method of propping up our ever failing bus network, but I’m a huge fan of salary packing a [...]

Monash Drive has been part of the National Capital Plan for many years now, threatening to cut off the suburbs of Ainslie & Hackett from their bushland backyard. The ABC reports that the National Capital Authority (NCA) is going to drop Monash Drive from the National Capital Plan, and as expected the Greens are jumping [...]

I just caught the end of an interview on 666 ABC Canberra radio this morning with Brumbies CEO Andrew Fagan. He said next season the Brumbies will be wearing Canberra on their jerseys? Not sure if this is the return of the ACT Brumbies of old, or maybe just the ACT government buying sponsorship (eg. [...]

[ 14 October, 2009 to 15 October, 2009. ] [First Filed - Oct 13, 2009]
Tomorrow, Wednesday 14 October is National Ride to Work Day. As one of the most cycle friendly cities in Australia, I’m hoping to see Canberrans out in force on their bikes tomorrow. Personally, I’m planning to cruise to work on my “fun” bike (long travel, freeride mountain bike). It’s [...]

Canberra mountain biking, and Stromlo Forest Park have received another international tick of approval, as it has just been awarded the hosting of the 2010 World Solo 24 hour Mountain Bike Championships. The announcement on the CORC site comes hot on the heels of the highly successful Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships which were [...]

After an all too brief (and successful) reproductive life, I’ve found myself with 3 little Kramers, and no desire to keep getting up in the night or buy a van. So rather than take any more risks and end up with an accident (I’d rather have my risks and accidents on a mountain bike), it’s [...]

The CT reports that Canberrans have rushed to get the recently released swine flu vaccine, and orders have been placed for another truckload. Seems a bit late for my liking as all reports indicate that the latest mutations of the swine flue were less intense, and we’re heading into summer (out of flu season). Is [...]

Canberra mountaineer Andrew Locke has summited the 14th peak in his quest to climb all mountains above 8000 meters in the world. Late last week he reached the peak of Mount Shishapangma in Tibet, completing his collection of the memorable and dangerous climbs. We first brought you the news of his goal when we wished [...]

Yesterday, Jon “Eco-Warrior” Stanhope announced the new and improved REDEX (Rapid Express Direct) bus trial – starting one month after the initially planned start date.
Meanwhile, the ABC reports the delay of REDEX bus trial is due to the wait for new ACTION buses to arrive.
The ACT Government has cut the routes, and delayed the [...]

It’s been 18 months since our last update, and RiotACT may look pretty similar this morning, but over night we loaded a whole bunch of new updates and improvements. For the moment you can meander around the revamped site and find all of the new features, although we’ve released some of the new stuff [...]

Chief Minister for everything, Jon “Community” Stanhope has announced the release of a discussion paper and subsequent consultation process on roadside memorials. Potential options include formalising the current free-for-all, approved park benches, plaques, and tree plantings.
As we know all too well, Canberrans can get pretty fired up about their roadside monuments…
Richardson roadside shrine removed – [...]

The ABC reports University academic and child pornography lecher Nicol Schraudolph, has received very light treatment from the ACT courts. Given he was found in posession of 40,000 child porn and child abuse images and nearly 900 videos, a suspended 18 month sentence, and only 6 moths of periodic detention is far too light. [...]

The ABC reports that Labor will attempt to block the ACT Greens bill to ban the production of cage eggs in the ACT. Jon “Sensible” Stanhope claims that banning their production in the ACT will just see imports of cheap cage eggs flooding over the border from NSW, and he would rather see a system [...]

Right on cue Canberra turned on a cracker of a spring day for today’s opening of Floriade. Seemed half of Canberra (and the rest of Australia) was there today to check it out. Surprisingly there’s a quite a few flowers in bloom (unlike my garden), although a lot of the tulips and some of the [...]

Chief Minister and Minister for All Things Important, Jon Stanhope announced the imminent commencement of GDE stage 2. It will start in 2 weeks, but don’t hold your breath, as the first part won’t be completed until mid 2011, with the remainder due around 2012. There goes the land and house prices in Gungahlin again!
With [...]

I’m a little sad it’s over, but Canberra turned on some spectacular spring weather and the competition has been awesome. It’s been great showing off our city and trails to the many interstate & overseas visitors – most of whom liked what they saw.

This morning saw the final practice for the downhill competitors. Shortly after [...]

Although many Canberrans, and Australians were a little hungover following Caroline Buchanan and Jared Graves victories in the 4X last night, it was a beautiful Canberra day up on Mt Stromlo – so much that it will be my first sun burn of the summer (doh!)
In the elite XC races today, Swiss Nino Schurter won [...]