Journal of the Australian Native Plants Society Canberra region (Inc)
Gale Precinct: Queanbeyan’s Little Secret
By Roger Farrow
Jun, 2024
Gale Precinct is Queanbeyan’s best kept secret, a piece of native bush with a high diversity of plants and animals that has survived trashing by 4 WDs and trail and mountain bikes and by rubbish dumping over the years to emerge resilient and untamed. Now that wildlife fences along the Old Cooma Road and Ellerton Drive have largely stopped the illegal entry of vehicles and bikes, many of the trails are reverting to Wombat tunnels that may soon even become inaccessible to the Wednesday Walkers.
On a sunny winter’s day, we followed our usual trail down the west side of the Precinct from Wickerslack Lane through Cryptandra, Styphelia and Dilwynnia heathland among twisted Red Box and Brittle Gum. After morning tea among the Golden Wattles, the leader lost his way and we ended up on the powerline clearing where yet more fields of Cryptandra in bud were seen.
We reached the northern boundary and continued towards the Queanbeyan River, through a grassy woodland, noting the unusual variation in leaf colour among the varying subspecies of Chrysocephalum apiculatum but also the invasion of Privet, Sollya and Cootamundra wattle. Our destination was the limestone outcrop overlooking the Queanbeyan River where we had lunch.
From there we descended along the western boundary bordering the River through thickets of Hopbush towards the limestone quarry, noting the first ‘woolly’ flowers of Styphelia (Leucopogon) attenuata on the way. (Why do they flower so early when there appear to be no insect visitors around?)
The climb past the quarry is always a bit of a struggle but then there is a straightforward route back to Wickerslack Lane through a less diverse understory of Cassinia, Burgan and Poverty and Golden Wattles, Acacia dawsonii and Acacia pycnantha.
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