Canberra has its characters and its most popular haunts – and Region loves telling their stories. Here’s a look back at the ACT region’s unique lifestyle in 2025 and 16 stories that had you clicking.
16. Scientists are building ‘fish hotels’ in ACT rivers in a race against time
by James Coleman
Workers constructing a fish hotel in the Namadgi National Park. Photo: ACT Parks and Conservation Service, Facebook.
Australia’s freshwater fish are in trouble – and Canberra is right at the centre of the rescue mission.
A landmark study led by University of Canberra researcher Associate Professor Mark Lintermans found that 37 per cent of the nation’s native freshwater fish are now at risk of extinction, with some species predicted to vanish within just two decades.
15. The War Memorial’s spectacular copper roof will turn green, eventually … but why the delay?
by James Coleman
The copper roof on the new Anzac Hall at the Australian War Memorial. Photo: Australian War Memorial.
A new roof is sparkling under the sun at the Australian War Memorial and, unlike most roofs around the world made of copper, this is expected to stay like this for quite a while.
The big crane that was looming over the building’s iconic green dome has come down and the new Anzac Hall, to the rear, is now shielded from the elements.
14. Rubbish idea could prove a winning invention
by David Turnbull
Andy Stodulka puts his Rotaskip to use. Photo: David Turnbull.
A Canberra engineer has invented a device to make taking a load of rubbish to the tip easier than it has ever been.
With the help of an innovation grant from the ACT Government, Andy Stodulka has invented what he calls the Rotaskip.
Essentially, it’s a trailer fitted with a rotating bowl that enables whatever is in the bin to be tipped out simply by using a remote control.
13. This Canberra bus enthusiast has just saved you from a lot of Googling
by James Coleman
Kyle Hanley bought his old Newcastle school bus. Photos: Kyle Hanley, Public Transport Association of Canberra (PTCBR).
For the first time, Canberrans looking to travel interstate without using a car now have a one-stop shop to see how it can be done.
Following an online competition, the Public Transport Association of Canberra (PTCBR) has released a regional public transport map for the city, detailing coach and train connections between Canberra and places as far flung as Albury in NSW (and Wodonga in Victoria), Mollymook on the South Coast, and Cowra in Central West NSW – to name just a few.
The PTCBR put the call-out last month to Canberrans after discovering how few locals actually know about these services.
12. WATCH: Before the Hume Highway, there was the ‘Great South Road’ – and some of it’s still left
by James Coleman
The Towrang Bridge was built by convicts in the 1830s. Photo: Goulburn Australia.
You’ll have heard how the route between Sydney and Melbourne is one of the busiest domestic air lanes in the world. Some 9,217,377 passengers reportedly flew between the two cities in 2024.
So it’s little wonder a portion of this route was also among the first to be connected by highway.
You’ll know it as the wide and sweeping Hume Highway today, but back during the 1800s, the road snaking its way between Picton, near Sydney, and Goulburn (and from there, eventually on to Melbourne) was called the Great South Road.
11. Exhibition explains architect Enrico Taglietti’s role in giving Canberra its modern, human face
by Sasha Grishin
Enrico Taglietti in his studio in Griffith Canberra, circa 1976. Photo: Ted Richards, courtesy Taglietti Archive. Photo: CMAG.
Prolific Italian-born architect and designer Enrico Taglietti left a huge impact on Canberra’s appearance over six decades. Art critic Sasha Grishin explores the exhibition at CMAG that brings together a huge amount of previously unseen material.
10. Canberra to Cooma by train? The forgotten ‘Snow Express’ locals want back
by James Coleman
The Canberra Monaro Express, pictured here at Royalla in 1985. Photo: Australian Rail Maps.
Imagine skipping the highway and riding the rails to Cooma. Turns out, once upon a time you could – on board the ‘Canberra Monaro Express’. So what happened?
9. Former owners of Big Splash have an idea to save it (and run it year-round)
Aquatots founder Alena Sarri remembers growing up at Big Splash. Photo: James Coleman.
The original builders of Belconnen’s Big Splash Waterpark are eager to do a deal with the current owners to restore it to its former glory – including adding an indoor 25-metre pool and hydrotherapy facility – if only they could find them.
Alena Sarri manages Aquatots, a baby and kids swim school with four facilities in Forde, Nicholls, O’Connor and Googong. However, her Dad, Andrew Sarri, and brother, Toni Sarri, were the masterminds behind Big Splash, taking over the lease in 1979 when it was known as the ‘Jamo Pool’, which had only a 50-metre pool and a toddler pool.
8. Step back in time at a pub older than Canberra itself
by Morgan Kenyon
Plenty of pubs serve our nation’s capital, but few boast a history as rich as the Old Canberra Inn. Photo: Gillespie Collection. Hall Heritage Centre.
Long before Canberra was a city, travellers found their way to Old Canberra Inn. Here’s why this pub remains a community favourite after 168 years.
7. The Green Shed is back! Sort of …
by James Coleman
‘The Shed’ comes courtesy of former The Green Shed employee Adam Charif. Photo: The Shed, Facebook.
Welcome to ‘The Shed’.
It’s been more than a year since The Green Shed lost its ACT Government contract to run the recycling and reuse centres at the Mugga Lane and Mitchell “resource management centres” to the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Goodies Junction.
And now it’s back. Well, sort of.
6. Tron just got real: Australia’s first electric motorbike is here
by James Coleman
Savic’s Sam Carter and Victoria Brown with the new Australian-built C-Series electric motorbike. Photo: James Coleman.
Not everyone was a fan when talk of electric motorbikes first surfaced, but the market’s changed, according to the company behind Australia’s first electric motorbike, which has plans to sell 5000 of them a year. James Coleman jumped on the back for its Canberra tour.
5. The secret life of a South Coast van owner
by Hayley Nicholls
Essentially glamping, these kooky beachside shantytowns may look a little unmanicured, but the benefits are inarguable. Photo: Hayley Nicholls.
Have you ever dreamed of a South Coast holiday home? Hayley Nicholls did – until she saw the price tag. But there are other alternatives …
4. Sidney Nolan’s gift to the nation keeps on giving after 50 years
by Sasha Grishin
Sidney Nolan at Lanyon, 11 March 1975, at the launch of the first public exhibition of works gifted to the nation. Photo: National Archives of Australia 2025.
Sidney Nolan presented to Australia, the place of his birth, a fabulous and huge gift of art that is stored at the Canberra Museum and Gallery. Now, 50 years later, CMAG is celebrating the significance of this gift. Art critic Sasha Grishin explores some aspects of the Nolan legacy for the people of Canberra.
3. Netflix film crew falls in love with ‘Canberra’s Kakadu’ while shooting survivalist thriller
by James Coleman
Ginninderra Falls is located on a 55-hectare freehold estate in Wallaroo. Photo: Ray White Real Estate.
Filming has taken place at Ginninderra Falls for a new Netflix ‘survivalist thriller’ starring Charlize Theron, Taron Egerton and Eric Bana after the US-based producers happened to stumble across the site’s property listing online.
According to Ray White real estate agent George Southwell, the film crew has described it “as one of the most amazing sites” and one that “could quite possibly become a permanent fixture for their filming in the future”.
2. Bushwalker’s $2700 surprise proves there’s still gold in them thar South Coast hills
by James Coleman
Gold ore nugget found by Robert Keler, near Mogo. Photo: Have A Go Prospecting, Facebook.
More than 100 years after the gold rush, one South Coast local struck it lucky – stumbling on a $2700 nugget “sticking out of the ground”. But how common is it really?
1. What happens when you leave a lid on a bottle when recycling? Maybe not what you think
by James Coleman
Inside the old Hume Materials Recovery Facility, which burnt down when batteries inside a waste compactor overheated. Photo: James Coleman.
The ACT Government will be employing some pretty advanced tech in its brand-new recycling centre – but what does this mean for the lidded bottle you just put in the bin? We set out to bust some common recycling myths …
