Johnny Boy's Walkabout Blog

Brindabella Arboreta, Hills, Border Markers and Geocaches – M/M-R. Three little walks in the Brindabellas. We start at the southern end of Chalet Rd and visit blaze trees and border markers. With the solution to geocache GC7X339 Marking our territory 4 in hand, climb the southern spur of Bendora Hill, then descend to the north. Walk in Chalet Rd to the Bendora Arboretum and find geocache GC7PWB7 Ancient Arboretum. Continue on Chalet Rd back to the start. Next, we drive to Aggie Gap and climb Mount Aggie for lovely views down to the Goodradigbee Valley. Finally, a visit to the burnt-out Snow Gum Arboretum and Snow Gum Hill. Around 12km and 500m climb. Map: Tidbinbilla. Leader: John Evans 0417 436 877 john@johnevans.id.au . Transport: ∼$15 per person.

Summary

Distance: 11.2km | Climb: 250m | Time: 8.50am – 2.30pm (5hrs 40mins), including 35 mins of breaks and some driving between walks | Grading: M/M-R; M(8)

Photographs

Photographs are available, where you can start a large sized slideshow.

Waypoint and Track Files

Download the gpx file for this trip (if your browser does not automatically download the file, it will open the gpx file in a new window and you can then save it). To use in Google Earth, do File, Open… and select Gps or All files as the File Type.

Track Notes

Met at Weston Creek at 7.30am and a 1hr 15min drive to the southern end of Chalet Rd on the Brindabella Range crest.

Walk 1

We walked the few tens of meters to the 7½ Mile survey blaze and collected some information to solve the final location of geocache GC7X339 Marking our territory 4. Some mistakenly identify this blaze as an ACT-NSW border marker tree – it is not. It marks 7½ Miles from Piccadilly Circus via Chalet Rd, which was the old alignment of the vehicle access down the Brindabella Range. The Mt Franklin Rd was later rerouted via the drier western side of Bendora Hill.

We also visited the nearby 11 Mile (Mouat) marker cairn and blaze tree.

I identify it thus because it appears it took the original surveyors a little while to sort out their nomenclature. Percy Sheaffe, marking the border clockwise from Mt Coree, put in an 11 Mile marker. Later, Harry Mouat, working anticlockwise from Mt Coree, put in this 11 Mile marker cairn.

Setting off up the gentle slope towards the top of Bendora Hill, we ran into a few hundred meters of waist high heath and scrub.Border marker W53 was hiding in it.

But it soon cleared. U53 was easier to spot and so were another couple (but too much of a good thing can bore others). We enjoyed a nice up, over and down via an old cleared vehicle access track – we followed the gap in the trees.

A mountain katydid spotted.

Here’s what’s under the wings:

A little more scrub to bash through on the final descent to the junction of Mt Franklin and Chalet Rds were we stopped for morning tea. Somewhere up and over the hill we found and I logged GC7X339 Marking our territory 4.

We walked in Chalet Rd to Bendora Hut and had a poke around. Three of the party had not been in the area before.

A stroll through Bendora Arboretum via the signed walking track.

Magnificent trees – I must remember to return in autumn for the colours.

There is some interesting information on the 36 arboreta established to test commercial viability of exotic trees. Bendora is the only one still existing.

We then went in search of geocache GC7PWB7 Ancient Arboretum. It was tucked away in a side plot of trees a little disconnected from the main arboretum.

We huffed and puffed back up to join Chalet Rd and walked back to the cars, then drove south to Aggie Gap.

Walk 2

It was now nearly 1pm, so we hurried up the good footpad to Mt Aggie. Lovely views over the Goodradigbee River valley, but breezy. We retreated against some rocks for lunch and continued views (wind from the SE).

A quick 1.1km back down to the cars. We drove to the turn in off the Mt Franklin Rd to Snow Gum arboretum

Walk 3

The purpose of this short amble was to visit a burnt-out arboretum. A sad nearly empty rectangle filled with scrub and regrowth.

I’d received a dinner invitation during a lunchtime call to my dear wife, so the leader decided to forego the scrubby climb to Snow Gum Hill.

This is some of what I later enjoyed.

Thanks all. Hope you enjoyed it. Many great places to go and things to see in our own backyard.

Track Maps

Track Walk 1

Track Walks 2 and 3

Party

5 walkers – Cate E, Brett H, Stuart M, Quentin M, me.