25 May 2010 Mt Coree - border commemorative plaque

Map: Cotter Dam 1:25000

Getting There

This walk was organised and led by me as an irregular CBC Tuesday walk:

Tuesday 25 May - Mt Coree - border commemorative plaque - L/R. The Governor of NSW, Marie Bashir, may chopper in; the ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and Surveyors-General of NSW and the ACT will drive up; but we'll walk to the summit to witness the laying of a plaque to commemorate the commencement of the ACT border survey in 1910. A steep walk up the SE flank of Mt Coree from Blundells Flat. After the ceremony, we'll go down via the S nose. Then possible border marker hunting S along the border. Return via Two Sticks and Curries Roads. Around 15.2km and 800m climb. Map: Cotter Dam. Leader: John Evans - jevans@pcug.org.au, (h) 6288 7235. Transport: ~$10 per person.

6 of us met at my place at 7.30am and drove through the misting rain to Blundells Flat. 34km. One girls' car and one boys' car.

Further Information

Have a look at previous walk report from 7 Jul 09 to get an idea of what we'll see. We'll have another look for E50, F50 and G50. Then S along Two Sticks Road and up into the bush searching for M50, N50, O50, 2 Mile, P50, Q50, R50, S50 and T50.

Photographs

Access all primary pics here. All thumbnails in the walk report are active - click for a larger picture.

Walk

Track Mt Coree plaque

We set off up Curries Road after a very vague briefing from me, so I'll take half the blame for having to chase after the fast walking and fast talking girls as they strode on past the turn off. The other half lies with them, as every leader should be followed (grin). Up the steep (150m climb) fire break between the eucalypt and burnt out pine forests. Here, a left turn and head for the top. My companions were now willing to let me lead - through the dripping bush. We were all wet through by the time we reached the top, so it was good that we had a change of dry clothes with us. Actually, the going was not as bad as I was expecting (apart from the wet). We arrived at 10am, were greeted by the setup team, but had a long wait till the festivities began.

Plenty of time to have a look around. A couple of temporary border markers had been set up to indicate the line of the border near the plaque housing. The stake was painted ACT on one side and NSW on the other. The plaque is positioned such that the border runs fair through it. The second vehicle to arrive towed a porta-loo up.

1 Temporary border marker	Temporary border marker - NSW side	Every walk should have one

We continued to wander about, the magnificent view shrouded in mist and rain. At one stage our party visited border marker 1A.

A foggy Mt Coree

Invited guests (including descendents of the original surveyors) began to arrive and, at 11.30am, the Governor of NSW (Professor Marie Bashir) and the ACT Chief Minister (Jon Stanhope). Speeches began at 11.45am.

The temporary plaque	Speeches	2 ACT Chief Minister in NSW, Governor of NSW in the ACT

We'd already agreed to return via Coree Summit, Pabral, Two Sticks and Curries Roads, so we set off in the rain after the ceremony was over. At the corner of Two Sticks and Curries we wandered into the bush to search for border marker E50 and, although there was a tape at its location and a possibility, I couldn't claim it as a bag.

3 The girls walking back along a misty Pabral Road	Gum leaves	Tromping Two Sticks Road

Back at the cars, there were insufficient plastic bags to contain all our clay covered boots and wet clothes. Surprisingly, my companions expressed that they'd enjoyed the wet walk and unique occasion.

Many thanks for joining me - Karen C, Lorraine T, Mark B, Max S and Monika B.

Distance: 15.2km Climb: 800m. Time: 8am - 1.55pm (call it 5hrs), with an awful lot of standing around.
Grading: L/R; H(12)

KMZ file for Google Earth/Maps: Mt Coree plaque

Back to Walks Index

This page last updated 19Aug22