Discussion: Destination

How far north are you aiming for (on your MTB) ?

Denham, Coral Bay, Point Sampson, Karijini, Millstream and Kalbarri

I have never heard of these places .

I've never heard of Weston Creek.

It is a up-market area of the nations capital. Weston Creek was named in honour of Captain George Edward Weston, a former officer of the East India Company who arrived in Australia in 1829, and was Superintendent of the Hyde Park Convict Barracks in Sydney. In 1841, Weston was granted land in the district now known as Weston Creek.

Surprised you did not know that Weston Creek was the site of Canberra's main sewerage treatment plant from the early days of Canberra's settlement up until the late-1970s. Located by the river down the hill from the present day RSPCA site, the plant was proposed as early as 1915. Following several studies, it was approved for construction by the Federal Capital Advisory Committee in January 1924, and commenced operating in 1927. Sewerage from the fledgling city of Canberra was pumped to the site through an underground pipe from the vicinity of the Canberra Hotel, through the Yarralumla area. In the late-1960s, odours from the plant became a problem in the expanding residential areas of Woden and Weston Creek, and also at nearby Government House. Several refinements were made to the plant, and the sludge drying beds were abandoned. The plant was closed in August 1978 and replaced by the new Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre.

In December 2010, during excavation work to construct the North Weston Pond as part of the new Molonglo Valley development, 90,000 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated waste were discovered buried near the former sewerage treatment plant site. The contaminated soil contained asbestos sheets and pipes that were dumped at the site by builders from around Canberra during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

My parents used to live just near Western-super-Mare

But did it have a sewage plant that made wikipedia?

Canberra might be central to everywhere but it doesn't mean I care to know anything about it (except for the area in and around Kowen Forest).

...but those are the ACT's least interesting orienteering maps!

Also, Alice Springs is more central, to Australia at least.

Not from a MTBO perspective.

I've been spouting the "central to everywhere" line ever since what's-his-face from the Events Committee said we should hold more events there (and not in Perth) due to its location. Never mind that from Perth it's the most expensive capital city to travel to.

BTW tRicky the old sewage works in Weston Creek are probably about 1 km or so from the bendy 2 plank bridge you fell off in the MTBO mass start race held here last year.

I didn't fall off; I was pushed! By a tree.

You learn something new every day: Weston Creek and Weston Park are named after different (apparently unrelated) Westons.

At the risk of offending Bruce, I wouldn't have described most of Weston Creek as being notably upmarket (at least by Canberra standards); Canberra tripled in size between 1965 and 1975, and Weston Creek, most of Belconnen, and the southern half of Woden are all fairly standard areas of Canberra suburbia built in that time.

(One of the consequences of incomes being relatively evenly distributed in Canberra is that house prices are relatively evenly distributed too; there are a lot of people making $100-120K a year but not many making much more than that, so there simply isn't the money around for people to pay $2 million+ for a house).

Pretty sure BB was being sarcastic :)

Do you think anyone ever confuses Weston Creek for Western Creek in Tasmania?

As it happens, Weston Creek (the creek) was formerly Western Creek before somebody thought of naming the district after Mr. Weston (the elder) and presumably thought that keeping the old name for the creek would be too confusing.

I'd have truly suspected BB of being sarcastic if he was talking about Charnwood (or Queanbeyan).

GoogleMaps confused Weston Creek (ACT) for Weston Street (WA) when I went searching for it earlier.