Prompted largely by a not very detailed entry in a book, a bunch of friends and I went to explore Bendora Arboretum. The arboretum was planted in the 1940’s as scientific experiments exploring what soft woods would grow well in our climate — this was prompted by the large amount of wood Australia was importing at the time. There were 34 Arboreta originally, but only this one remains. The last three other than this one were destroyed in the 2003 bush fires.
This walk appears in Best Bush, Town and Village Walks in and around the ACT by Marion Stuart, which was the inspiration for this outing. The only thing to note with her description is that the walk is a fair bit longer than she describes — its 2km from the locked gate to the hut, which means a 4km return walk before you explore the arboretum at all. The arboretum has received some attention from the ACT government recently, with new signage and a fresh gravel pass. Also please note this area might only be accessible by four wheel drive in winter, which is not mentioned in the book.
We also did a side trip to Bulls Head trig, which was interesting as its not the traditional shape.
