Lake Ginninderra in Belconnen.
Apart from some slightly tender feet I'd pulled up pretty well after yesterdays big walk, no doubt helped by the fact that I had a good shower and a soft bed to enjoy back in town last night! Once again it was around 10am this morning by the time Sam dropped me off in Hall and then motored off back towards Canberra. So, with Sam receding from view I picked up the track markers, re-set the GPS and set off along Victoria Street on day 3 of my Centenary Trail adventure.
Setting off from Hall. I'd got another nice day for this walk.
Leaving Hall this morning.
Initially this morning I followed a rough dirt track that kept to the grass road verge as I followed Victoria Street out to meet the Barton Highway. Arriving at the Barton Highway the Centenary Trail still kept pretty close to the busy road until I arrived at the slightly surreal Gold Creek Village. The Centenary Trail now dropped down this very touristy area passing close by fast food establishments and fibre glass dinosaurs, among other world class attractions designed to seperate the punters from their money. Dropping out the southern end of the Gold Creek Village Precinct the Centenary Trail was soon back beside the Barton Highway again, actually I even walked the highway for 50 metres or so.
The Centenary Trail follows Victoria Street out towards the Barton Highway.
I emerged from the bush into Gold Creek Village.
This was a slightly surreal section of the Centenary Trail.
Yes, like I said... surreal!
The good news was that I didn't walk beside the Barton Highway for long, I was soon picking up a sealed shared path that ran along the Ginninderra Creek corridor. This was the best walking so far today as the track kept fairly close to the creek and the traffic and suburbia melted away a bit. After following the creek for awhile I arrived at the large Lake Ginninderra and the nice walking continued, now with water views and even better with sections beneath the canopy of the gently sighing Casurainas. Crossing over the lake on Ginninderra Drive I was now getting a good look at the shiny and modern looking high rise buildings of Belconnen which were quite a contrast to the old historical buildings in Hall that I'd passed by on the start of my days walking. If anyone ever reads this and considers following in my footsteps then I have to say leave a bit of time to check out and enjoy the John Knight Memorial Park on the shores of the lake at Belconnen, this beautiful park full of shady Casuarinas is a magic spot.
I had a short section along the Barton Highway.
Reaching Ginninderra Creek the Centenary Trail doubles back and passes beneath the Barton Highway.
Looking over Ginninderra Creek.
A lot of todays walking was along sealed shared paths - this is heading towards Belconnen along Ginninderra Creek.
Ginninderra Creek
Approaching Lake Ginninderra I got some welcome shade from some nice Casuarinas.
Lake Ginninderra
Reaching the bright lights of Belconnen the Centenary Trail once again required a bit of concentration to stay on, there were the occasional signposts however they can be a little thin on the ground sometimes. I basically headed through town past the aquatic centre along Eastern Valley Way to pick up College Street. Climbing up the roadside verge I followed College Street until diverging to climb a rough pad on top of a road side cutting, once at the cuttings high point I picked up another (way marked) track heading south keeping close to the ridge crest. The walking now improved a fair bit as the Centenary Trail stayed a fair way away from most of the bigger roads for the most part, as it zig zagged its way through bushland reserves to arrive at the Australian Institute of Sport Precinct.
John Knight Memorial Park in Belconnen.
Belconnen
Lake Ginninderra, Belconnen.
Belconnen
The Centenary Trail climbs to the right onto the cutting here on College Street.
Gossan Hill Nature Reserve - I thought the walking improved a bit from here to Black Mountain.
Gossan Hill Nature Reserve
The Centenary Trail climbing through Bruce Ridge Nature Reserve as I headed towards the AIS precinct.
Being here in the Christmas holidays (as well as in a pandemic!) the athletes that normally call the AIS home were a little thin on the ground this afternoon. Although while there weren't too many sports people around this afternoon it was still a very interesting little interlude to my day checking out the AIS Precinct. The Centenary Trail basically weaves it's way through the complex of buildings and stadiums so there was ample opportunity to have a sticky beak.
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
Wasn't Mal a politician... for a few minutes!
AIS
AIS
AIS
The High Performance Centre... they must of known the Feral walker was coming;)
Leaving the AIS the Centenary Trail passed through another nice section of native bush in the Bruce Ridge Nature Reserve as I made my way towards Black Mountain. Arriving at Frith Road I gave Sam a call to tell I was almost finished for the day, although to be honest I was now so close to our apartment in Acton that I could of just walked back. Picking up another informal looking track I climbed high above Frith Road on another road side cutting before picking up an old water race that contoured the slopes above the road and below the Canberra Nature Park. After passing by an ugly electricity sub station my track emerged at the car park on the end of Frith Road and my days walking was suddenly over - although with Sam yet to arrive I wandered down the road for a few minutes to meet her in front of the CSIRO complex.
The Centenary Trail passing beneath Gungahlin Drive.
I followed an old water race for a bit through Bruce Ridge Nature Reserve.
The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked 18.9 kilometres and climbed around 222 metres on what I'd call a medium grade days walking. Over the three days of my Centenary Trail walk so far I walked around 72.3 kilometres and climb about 1697 metres. The walking today followed a lot of shared use sealed paths and while it made it pretty easy to cover the distance, the hard surface was tough on my feet again. Also today was the most suburban of all my days so far, whereas on day 1 and particularly on day 2 there had been sections that I couldn't hear the hum of traffic, today I could tell that suburbia was never far away. I used the notes and maps out of the Woodslane book Walking & Cycling Canberra's Centenary Trail by Nina Hvoslef & Tallis Didcott, along with my GPS topos today.
Relevant Posts.
The Centenary Trail climbs high above Frith Road.
Black Mountain was looking a lot closer now.
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