22 October 2012

Coffee shops and community life in Harrison/Gungahlin?

| qwerky
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My husband and I are returning to Canberra after three years away and we’ll be renting in Harrison. I’ve never lived in Gungahlin before and I’m sort of familiar with the town centre but not the rest of the area.

I can’t see any Harrison shops on Google Earth but maybe it’s an old picture. Does anyone have any recommendations for good coffee shops in the Harrison area?

Thank you in advance.

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Mothy said :

Cafe at Forde is Tusmo – http://www.facebook.com/tusmocafebar

Bluey said :

The local IGA is dead in new suburbs, they dont exist. Shame really.

Forde, Ngunnawal, Platypus Shops, Nicholls, Palmerston. No?

Forde being the only ‘new’ suburb there my point still stands.

What are the platypus shops?

Cafe at Forde is Tusmo – http://www.facebook.com/tusmocafebar

Bluey said :

The local IGA is dead in new suburbs, they dont exist. Shame really.

Forde, Ngunnawal, Platypus Shops, Nicholls, Palmerston. No?

Masquara said :

qwerky said :

Masquara said :

Wow – I actually remember you qwerky!

Tilleys in Lyneham is quite close to Harrison … good coffee …

Great! That’s why I chose a nick that would stick! (Sorry didn’t mean for it to rhyme..)) I don’t remember yours though; have you changed it? And thanks for the tip about Tilleys and for explaining that it’s still in Lyneham, LOL. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been there. Have they changed their outdoor chairs yet?

No – and the pleather cushions have fallen apart. It’s first in, cosiest arse.
You were running breakfast get-togethers in civic a few years ago I think, trying to get social stuff happening a little via Riotact. Hopefully you’ll find a place to drink coffee in Gungers … but I suspect you’ll be back at Tils (surly service and dreadful food notwithstanding!) Anyway, welcome back!

Yes that’s me; I was trying to get a bit of a social thing happening. I joined CFG so that was good. Then moved to Victoria and started a social group which I’ve been running for three years. When you don’t have kids it’s harder to meet people in a new location unless you’re particularly proactive. Just as well I am!

poetix said :

‘We buy, wrap and locate a Santa…’ How does he feel about that?

Mostly he’s pretty good with it, but he does bitch about not being able to hold the bag 😉

Aeek said :

Don’t forget Mitchell. I remember great coffee in a place with very basic decor.
Industrial estate so the hours are a bit different.

Jindebah in Kemble Court, Mitchell – award winning coffee according to their website:
https://www.jindebah.com/

beejay76 said :

qwerky said :

No Beejay76 we don’t have any kids (that I know of! ;-), so I hope that doesn’t mean we’ll be exempt from community activity. Although, I guess the community meets at the school? Perhaps we Harrison people should have a picnic at the park on Tanami St in January?

Absolutely! There is a *lot* of activity in Mullion Park! In fact, a friend and I will be running a chrissy party this year. People sling in $10 per child and nominate from a choice of pressies. We buy, wrap and locate a Santa to distribute pressies and have a lolly scramble. Adults bring along a plate and we all hang out and drink and eat for a few hours while the kids run crazy. Last year we did water pistols. Looking at Nerf guns among others this year 🙂 It’ll be mid-Dec: let me know if you’ll be here.

There will also be the Harrison School Fair on 17th November 3-7, but perhaps you’ll not be here for that one. We have a massive school (1100-odd students and climbing fast), so the fair is epic.

Chrissy, pressies…Is Harrison called Harry?

‘We buy, wrap and locate a Santa…’ How does he feel about that?

qwerky said :

No Beejay76 we don’t have any kids (that I know of! ;-), so I hope that doesn’t mean we’ll be exempt from community activity. Although, I guess the community meets at the school? Perhaps we Harrison people should have a picnic at the park on Tanami St in January?

Absolutely! There is a *lot* of activity in Mullion Park! In fact, a friend and I will be running a chrissy party this year. People sling in $10 per child and nominate from a choice of pressies. We buy, wrap and locate a Santa to distribute pressies and have a lolly scramble. Adults bring along a plate and we all hang out and drink and eat for a few hours while the kids run crazy. Last year we did water pistols. Looking at Nerf guns among others this year 🙂 It’ll be mid-Dec: let me know if you’ll be here.

There will also be the Harrison School Fair on 17th November 3-7, but perhaps you’ll not be here for that one. We have a massive school (1100-odd students and climbing fast), so the fair is epic.

qwerky said :

Masquara said :

Wow – I actually remember you qwerky!

Tilleys in Lyneham is quite close to Harrison … good coffee …

Great! That’s why I chose a nick that would stick! (Sorry didn’t mean for it to rhyme..)) I don’t remember yours though; have you changed it? And thanks for the tip about Tilleys and for explaining that it’s still in Lyneham, LOL. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been there. Have they changed their outdoor chairs yet?

No – and the pleather cushions have fallen apart. It’s first in, cosiest arse.
You were running breakfast get-togethers in civic a few years ago I think, trying to get social stuff happening a little via Riotact. Hopefully you’ll find a place to drink coffee in Gungers … but I suspect you’ll be back at Tils (surly service and dreadful food notwithstanding!) Anyway, welcome back!

qwerky said :

Have they changed their outdoor chairs yet?

Has anything ever been changed in Tilleys?

Masquara said :

Wow – I actually remember you qwerky!

Tilleys in Lyneham is quite close to Harrison … good coffee …

My husband just suggested that perhaps I *am* Masquara. Like the end of Fight Club or something by Philip K Dick. Sitting in Tilley’s writing left wing comments and right wing ones. Beret, then business suit.

Freaks me out. This me, anyway. No offence, other sensible me. See you at Tilley’s.

Masquara said :

Wow – I actually remember you qwerky!

Tilleys in Lyneham is quite close to Harrison … good coffee …

Great! That’s why I chose a nick that would stick! (Sorry didn’t mean for it to rhyme..)) I don’t remember yours though; have you changed it? And thanks for the tip about Tilleys and for explaining that it’s still in Lyneham, LOL. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been there. Have they changed their outdoor chairs yet?

Wow – I actually remember you qwerky!

Tilleys in Lyneham is quite close to Harrison … good coffee …

Thank you all for your helpful comments. What a shame we can’t ‘like’ them as we can on Facebook, and comment on individual ones. Yes, I had a sinking feeling there weren’t going to be any shops nearby. I’ve been spoiled for the last three years here in Ocean Grove, Vic; it’s a nearer part of the town, but there’s a big Safeway and other shops only 850m away. And more coffee shops than you could ever visit in a lifetime in Geelong/Bellarine/Surf Coast! But it’s good news about the shops coming, Gungahlin Al. No Beejay76 we don’t have any kids (that I know of! ;-), so I hope that doesn’t mean we’ll be exempt from community activity. Although, I guess the community meets at the school? Perhaps we Harrison people should have a picnic at the park on Tanami St in January?

Gungahlin Al5:27 pm 22 Oct 12

Hi Qwerky. As others have said, we don’t have anything retail at all yet. We’ve been waiting since 2005!
However, there is change coming. There are retail premises for lease on the ground floor of the apartments under construction on both blocks immediately south of Nullarbor Ave facing Flemington Road. The 6-storey apartment building on the north side of Nullarbor will also have ground floor commercial.

And the actual “shopping centre” block has been sold too – it’s on the north of Nullarbor Ave on the Franklin side of Flemington Rd. I haven’t seen any plans for that, but haven’t been watching DA notices for a while. It’s meant to also be part of an apartment complex, but LDA people talked to me about two years ago about leaving it at just a single storey development. It was mid-GFC and they were being typically short-sighted. I was saying no to that idea but don’t know what has happened since.

Either way, we will have a surfeit of commercial premises soon, finally. Must admit to being interested in the idea of an inbound cafe there for the caffeine addicts…

Beejay76 is right about Harrison School. Who needs private schools when the public one is so good and walking distance for the kids?

+1 for Da Nunzio.

As for community life, if you have children who will be attending Harrison School, we have a fantastic community. I think it’s the most community-minded place I’ve lived in, and I’ve lived in a lotta places!

If you want to stay outside of the town centre there are a few options, perhaps not widely known. Down by the ponds you can have a nice coffee and meal at Da Nunzio’s Italian. We cycle down there occassionally for coffee and a hot chocolate for the little one on the weekend, and it’s not overcrowded. There’s also a nice cafe at the Forde shops, you can sit out in the sun on a nice day, and they have colouring books and pencils for the young-uns. Both of those aren’t far from Harrison.

Don’t forget Mitchell. I remember great coffee in a place with very basic decor.
Industrial estate so the hours are a bit different.

I’ve lived in Harrison just over 2 years now. It is completely devoid of any kind of shop, coffee or otherwise. You’ll have to head into the town centre like the people of Franklin do as well. The local IGA is dead in new suburbs, they dont exist. Shame really.

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