On The Way To London Bridge - No We Are not in England!

Yellow Box Tree

Well were off to London today??

London Bridge NSW that is!!Travelling 10 kilometres south of Queanbeyan, on the Old Cooma Road, you will find Googong Dam located on the Queanbeyan River and the main water supply for Queanbeyan with a catchment area of 873 Square Kilometers and a capacity of some 121,000 million litres.

Googong Dam

The Dam Wall

The Spillway

Barry At Googong Dam

There are some lovely picnic areas and facilities scattered throughout the dam area, along with some great walking trails - some easier than others.  Which we were about to find out!

From the Googong Foreshore area, turning left onto Burra Road, you travel another 10 kilometers before following the signs to the London Bridge Walk.

The London Bridge property was originally purchased by John MacNamara in 1857, and for which he paid the princely some of 30 pounds per acres (the property consists of 30 acres).  It was one of the first properties in the area.  As you look at the collection of buildings which make up this homestead - there is a variety of architectural designs and different uses of building materials.  The main homestead is only available for viewing by appointment or on special open days - so we saved this for another day.

In the main picnic area the old shearing shed and shearers quarters still remain and are in wonderful condition.

Front of the Woolshed

The Back View

Shearer's Quarters

As you walk down the track which is best described as a 0.8km walk from the shearing shed!!!  turned into nearly 4kms - you see the different varieties of gums but the most spectacular is the Apple Box Tree, with its magnificent yellow bark.  The vegetation is adorned with many varieties of wildflowers and butterflies and birds.

Very small Butterly (about 1cm across)

Looking over the Valley

The London Bridge walk takes in what is described as an easy walk????, but along the way the scenic views allow you take a breather and take in what is in front of you.  

the valley follows the Queanbeyan River.  At last we come to the London Bridge Arch.  If only for a better day for taking photos!!  The limestone archway is the sediment and coral remains deposited from the ocean floor some 420 million years ago.  The arch was formed by water slowly leaching through the limestone, enlarging cracks until a passage became big enough for Burra Creek to pass through - first discovered by Europeans in 1823 by explorer Captain Mark Currie.  It is quite spectacular in its formation and well worth the walk down - the walk back - well I am not so sure!!!

Finally made it back to the picnic area and collapsed under the shade of the great old trees to recover our breath before heading back along the Burra Road via Williamsdale Road and back into Queanbeyan.

On the way back to Queanbeyan we continued on up the Federal Highway to visit lake George.  Due to the ongoing drought, Lake George dried out completely in November 2002 and remained so until February 2010 when it started filling.  When you see the photos now, it is very hard to imagine it any where near full.  In the background is the 140 megawatt Capital Hill Wind Farm.

Lake George as seen from the Highway - Capital Hill Wind Farm in the Background

The Beautiful Yellow Grasses that are Lake George

Before heading back to camp for the day, spotted this photo opportunity - Sleeping Rough!!-now work it out - yes there are two pair of feet in there, and yes it was two people sleeping atop the picnic table

Sleeping Rough

Can still afford the beer though! (as seen on the table behind them).

The end of another day has come and how good was it?

Thought of the Day

“Example is not the main thing
in influencing others.
It is the only thing.”

~Albert Schweitzer~