22 November 2023

swimming holes

| bunyip
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Coming up to summer i think its time to share your favourite swimming locations…

personally I have not found that many.

READ ALSO The best swimming lessons in Canberra

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oh, and yes, ginninderra falls is closed.

I’ve got a couple of secret locations.

I will share one place alot of people probably know about though, London Bridge is quite a beautiful place. Anybody else know of it?

I’m not sure where exactly, sorry, but I recall being told it was a very big treated pine operation for many years, supplying throughout Australia.

The Bungendore quarry site is quite a bit higher than Bungendore, which is down on the flood plain. Where was the Koppers Logs business located?

um danny maybe don’t swim in that place near Bungendore.I’ve been warned that Bungendore underground water is very heavily contaminated with arsenic from the old Koppers Logs business and is the worst in the country.

Shannon’s Flat is nice, good country around there.

The Molonglo is just opposite where I am. There’s a low level crossing at Molonglo River Estate, I think it might link the new back road for HQ JOC? From memory, there’s a nice big wide bit there, but it’s usually full of bullrushes.

Vic Bitterman7:16 pm 16 Nov 07

V twin venom…. as an avid trout fisherman, I’m up on these laws. Some of our best trout streams are land locked on private property!

A landholder does not own the water. So, you may walk upstream inside the watercourse quite legally. If you happen upon the land, you are breaking the law by being on someone else’s property without permission.

As to the original topic, I own a land holding near Shannon’s Flat, and it has a nice creek with several permanent waterholes…. absolutely magic place to get to… and it’s all mine! (Permission is granted to my mates to go visit though).

V twin venom2:07 pm 16 Nov 07

Green = weed. This disused pit was a source of road base material for the old Yarrowlumla Council (now Palerang). The water is very deep and very cold. It is also, or at least used to be, crystal clear. The land is now under the control of some enviro-nazi department so access is restricted. The Molonglo upstream of Queanbeyan has some great swimming holes but alas access is via private property. Does anyone know the law regarding accessing a swimming hole (say 1km from a road) by following the river from the road reserve.

QuickRelease12:39 pm 16 Nov 07

Green = Algae

I’m pretty sure it was just a quarry (rocks, not metal) so I’m thinking the green is just algae. Not as bad for you as copper, but not always healthy.

Green = copper?
Green = Algae?
Anyone know -what- they mined out there?

I’d be wary of swimming in something that could give my kids a more than healthy dose heavy metals.

Absent Diane9:42 am 16 Nov 07

Pine island used to be nice as a kid.. i also remember when it felt like you were driving out in the middle of nowhere to get there.. last time I went it felt like it was directly behind the hippiedrome.

Anyone know if Ginninderra Falls is open? The only info I can find online says it’s closed because drought?

Regarding the old mine just outside Bungendore that Danny referred to: I’ve swum there, and on a hot day the water more than a foot or two below the surface is shockingly cold.
Oh, and I should also mention: Last time I looked, a few weeks ago, the water was a rather unnerving shade of green. What did they mine there? Kryptonite?

Top of Coree Creek Falls is a nice rock dish-pool. Lovely spot. Bit of a walk but.

I really like the cliffs on the Molonglo down the bottom of Stockdill Drive in Holt. Good jumping, deep water, nice little beach to lie around on and nobody is ever there.

haha is that a good/bad or cool thing for them to do??

theyre tiny arent they?

Ingeegoodbee5:59 pm 15 Nov 07

Hey Bunyip, I know that one too – and if you sit still long enough the galaxids will come nibble the dead sking right off your hide!

PLenty of places in the Brindies but ill think ill keep those to my self and those people that over the years have done a bit of exploring lol.

not ezactly near canberra but the thredbo river near the trout farm just outside jindy is pretty darn good for a dip, nice deep crystal clear water, bit cold to start off with even on a 30+ degree day but once you get used to it…

such an amazing place.

Gungahlin Al5:21 pm 15 Nov 07

Not to Garema Place thanks Bonfire!
I’ll know who it is when I see someone floundering around in the all ciggie packets and butts…

Gungahlin Al5:20 pm 15 Nov 07

More Google Maps links please!
(What a brilliant tool GM is turning out to be…)

i like the fountain in garema place

pine island i thought was always a bit dodgy, would have been nice years ago before my time but yeah not now that it has been noticed…

the open cut mine sounds fun might have to check that out…

It was nice a couple of years ago – but since the drought the water is bound to be mucky.

Pine Island was always a favourite of mine when I was a kid. Haven’t been there in years though so wouldn’t know if it has stood the test of time.

there’s a old open cut mine just outside of bungendore that, so the story goes, was filled with water when they struck a natural bore. I’ve been in there a few times and it was a great way to cool off. One thing you have to be aware of though is that it is *very* deep so you probably want to make sure you can swim well and that you’ve got some mates around. It’s at bottom of the steep hill on the bungendore road that takes you down to the bungendore valley/flat when coming from the federal highway.

See Google Maps

by the sounds of it tuross cascades sounds just as good.

Tuross Cascades???

i was refering too cascades just off googong dam…

Thumbs up for the Tuross Cascades. Top spot. Bake on the rocks and then jump in, rinse and repeat.

HA, very true, i wouldnt really swim in the lake anyways.

The Cascades is okay if you get there early enough in the morning to get in before the young brats in theyre parents vehicles…

Sandwash is pretty good, go for a walk through the bush and you will find a nice little spot…

Gungahlin Al2:32 pm 15 Nov 07

None downstream from Queanbeyan!

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