Glorious Googong

We started the winter school holidays by doing a 4 hour rogaine with friends! The girls - Ella, Katy, Cath, Aoife and myself travelled 30km to the south of Canberra to Googong Dam, the location of the winter rogaine.

Once checked in, we studied the map and notes before proposing a route. Soon enough we were off. Despite the crisp start to the morning the sunshine was glorious and we were soon removing layers of clothing.



Our course took us north, initially climbing before descending down to a lookout over the dam wall. At this stage we opted to not venture further north into the bushy hiller areas but return to the south keeping to the open terrain.

Obviously our main aim was to keep the girls happy and enjoy the outdoors. In doing so there were plenty of treats and rests. The controls were all fairly easy, with only one which we approached  cautiously although we needn't have worried as Cath led us straight to it!

As we trundled along the ridge top, the views over Googong Dam and distant hills were impressive. The girls played various games with fortunately, unfortunately being a favourite. We extended our proposed route further south as we were well ahead of time and energy levels were still high.

Apart from kangaroos, wildlife was scarce. Eagle eyed Katy did spot this rather large birds nest, presumably belonging to a wedge tailed eagle, as we stumbled down a very steep hill to the waters edge.

We found the control, on the dry creek bend before making our way to Shannon's Inlet. At the bottom and in the shade, the difference in temperature was noticeable. It was surprising that here at the mouth, the girls discovered large sheets of ice covering the water. Luckily we had ample time to spare as we all became engrossed with the ice!

Eventually we pulled ourselves away from this natural playground, to complete the final stretch of the rogaine along the foreshore of Googong Dam. Arriving at the finish, 30 minutes early, we had collected 700 points walking just over 10km, or 17,000+steps according to Ella! A wonderful day with friends at a lovely location. Googong Dam, we will be back to explore your southern shores!