London Bridge Arch
20 August 2023
I hadn’t visited Googong Foreshores in over 20 years and had memories of scrambling around the Arch, so wanted to go back and refresh my memory of the place.
Well, the place doesn’t look that healthy. I don’t know if it’s the lack of rain, the damage from grazing, insects, or fungus, but the trees just looked like they were struggling as I walked down from the carpark to the Arch. Everything is just … brown.
The track to the Arch is now much longer than it used to be as they’ve closed a section of it for rehabilitation; see the red dashed line below. The closure means you can no longer walk over the top of the Arch.
The limestone Arch over Burra Creek was pretty cool to see again, although sad to see some graffiti inside the cave/tunnel.
I walked a little way north of the Arch into the forest close to where Burra Creek joins Queanbeyan River before entering Googong Dam. With its shale bedrock and open forest of Brittle Gum trees and Lomandra undergrowth, it reminded me of Aranda Bushland.
I was unable to find any indigenous name for the local area or Arch formation. I also learned that despite being located in NSW, Googong Dam is legally the property of the Commonwealth of Australia, purchased from NSW in 1974 and controlled and managed by the ACT.
The outflow of Goongong Dam meets up with Molongolo River at Oaks Estate outside Queanbeyan where it then flows into Lake Burley Griffin via Jerrabomberra Wetlands. The Molongolo River starts in Tallaganda National Park south of Captains Flat, while the Queanbeyan River starts near Jerangle, south of Tinderry. Burra Creek flows north out of Tinderry Nature Reserve.
