After unlocking the padlock, Adam Burgess swings open the heavy gate to little-known Totara Road. Expectantly, I follow him. For me, it's akin to a kid being given free rein in a lolly shop.
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This hidden dirt track leads to several forests in the southern sector of the National Arboretum Canberra, which are usually off limits to vehicles, but which will be open to the public for one day only later this month, and today, I'm getting a sneak peek.
"Because you can't usually drive in here, not many visitors, apart from keen joggers and cyclists explore these forests," says Burgess, who is horticultural manager at the National Arboretum Canberra.
For Burgess, who has worked here since before the first trees were planted more than 10 years ago, this is one of his favourite parts of the arboretum, and it shows. He energetically bounds around checking every tree – its form, trunk, leaves and its general health.
I'm about to ask him if he's got names for each tree when he stops at one of the most bizarre looking trees I've ever seen.
"Check this out!" he hollers with all the enthusiasm of the late Steve Irwin in his prime and the panache of Sir David Attenborough presenting a nature documentary.
At first glance the tree looks dead, but Burgess says: "Oh, it's supposed to look that ugly.
"It's a rare toothed lancewood (Pseudopanax ferox) from New Zealand." Burgess shows me how the whole plot of toothed lancewoods is planted in a Maori pattern, "in a square grid on an angle and a zigzag path down the centre".
Thankfully, despite its threatening name, the tree doesn't bite but, Burgess says: "Maori used the juvenile stems for spears."
Further along, we venture on foot into the silver birches (Betula pendula). "Canberra has fallen in love with these trees," he says. "It's probably because you easily can see them from the Tuggeranong Parkway so commuters are able to keep a close eye on their growth.
"However, unlike when you are zipping past at 100km/h, here under their canopy you can gain an even better appreciation of the effect of a mass planting."
Burgess leads me into the centre of the birch grove. He's right, at ground level you certainly get a different perspective – long rows of motley-coloured trunks with light filtering softly through green and yellow foliage. It's a photographer's delight.
Not surprisingly, Burgess and his green thumb mates have timed the Behind the Locked Gates day to coincide with the peak of the autumn colour. "It's a bit later than usual this year due to summer spilling over into March and early April," he says as we wander through a stunning stand of Chinese trident maples (Acer buergerianum), their crimson red and orange leaves, juxtaposed against the yellow of the silver birches.
As for lollies, while none of the trees are edible, it's only a hop, skip and jump to the arboretum's Sprout Cafe for a treat, or even better, a long lunch at Janet Jeff's Conservatory Restaurant where you can indulge in fine seasonal fare, knowing you've earned it by traipsing through the patchwork of forests spread out below.
Due to its infancy, the arboretum is criticised by some as being little more than a glorified visitor centre-cum-kids' playground. Allowing more people to experience the 100-odd forests through initiatives like Behind Locked Gates will go some way to allaying this misconception.
Fact File
Hidden Forests: Behind Locked Gates to forests in the southern sector of the National Arboretum Canberra is on Saturday, April 23. Guides will be on hand to provide free tours and information, including the stories behind the forest patterns and the ANU Research Forests. Alternatively, just have a wander. Ph: 02 6207 8484.
Did You Know? For the less adventurous, the arboretum is hosting a series of guided walks during Tree Week (May 2-May 8) to visit forests in autumn colour closer to the village centre.
Don't Miss: Celebrating Canberra's Trees Heritage, a photographic exhibition which highlights significant natural and cultural heritage trees of our region, including this enchanting olive tree growing at Charnwood Homestead. On show until May 8 at the ACT Heritage Library (Level 1, Woden Library, corner Corinna and Furzer streets, Phillip). Open Monday to Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 10am-4pm. Ph: 6207 8145.
The Lost Sentinels
Regular readers may recall this column's audacious expedition several winters ago to photograph two of our territory's most remarkable trees (Alpine Adventure, August 2, 2014 http://www.traveller.com.au/tim-the-yowie-man-alpine-adventure-zxj39]).
The two giant noble firs (Abies procera) which, like a pair of sentinels, guard a secret valley in a remote part of the Brindabellas are all that remain of the Stockyard Creek Arboretum, established in 1940 to trial exotic species.
In the 1990s concerns from park managers that wildings from the arboretum would infiltrate the surrounding national park resulted in an announcement that all trees in the arboretum would be felled. Several foresters argued valiantly to keep the two grandest firs as they were "shy seeders" and unlikely to spread into the surrounding native vegetation.
Luckily, the pair were spared the chainsaw, but then they faced an equally destructive force when the 2003 bushfires, that razed much of our high country, bore down on them. Miraculously, while the surrounding bush was destroyed, the two firs escaped with just a few burn marks.
Today this column can exclusively reveal that 49 tiny trees, grown from seeds collected from the sentinels are about to be planted in Bendora Arboretum, the only remaining upland arboretum in the ACT.
Ranger Brandon Galpin, who "monkeyed halfway up the trunk" of one of the surviving two firs to collect the seeds, says it's "another chapter in the fascinating history of these two magical trees", adding, "this new plot of noble firs at Bendora Arboretum will be a lasting legacy to the lost arboreta of the Brindabellas".
Friends of ACT Trees, who are partners with ACT Parks and Conservation in re-invigorating the Bendora Arboretum will assist rangers, including Galpin, in planting the trees this Wednesday.
CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns at: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/by/Tim-the-Yowie-Man-hvf8o
WHERE IN THE REGION?
Cryptic Clue: Closer to the ACT border than England.
Degree of difficulty: Medium-hard
Last week: Congratulations to Jenny McLeod of Weston who was first to correctly identify last week's circa 1964 photo taken by Roger Hall, as the J B Chifley building ( Chifley Library) on ANU's Acton campus.
The triumphant McLeod beat several readers to the prize, including Jacinta Lewis of Sutton, Joyce Holmes of Reid and Chris Fitzgerald of Downer who fondly "remembers researching for many assignments" in the landmark library.
Several readers, including Greg Royle of Red Hill and Kevin Mulcahy of Tura Beach unravelled the clue which referred to former prime minister Ben Chifley, after whom the library is named, and who died following a heart attack at the Kurrajong Hotel on June 13, 1951. The clue was a "dead give-away" for Mulcahy, whose father was acting private secretary for Chifley during World War II.
Meanwhile, university librarian Roxanne Missingham, who also studied at ANU in the 1970s, explained how the library has changed in the past half century "with much of the collection now stored in Hume, students have better access to the library as a study area". However, according to my library insider, "some things never change; in 1966 a librarian noted the problems with parking faced by staff, with students 'monopolising' nearby parking".
On Tuesday, April 12, as part of the Canberra & Region Heritage Festival, the ANU is hosting a special heritage tour of the Acton campus. The one-hour walking tour (3pm-4pm) explores the original administration area of the federal capital, as well as the diverse mid-century architecture of the university including the Chifley Library. Organisers also promise that participants will "hear about the protests, politics and drunken escapades that helped shaped the ANU into the world-class institution that it is today". The tour is free but bookings are essential. Email: fs.heritage@anu.edu.au or Ph: 61258794.
How to enter: Email your guess with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday, April 9, 2016, with the correct answer wins a double pass to Dendy cinemas.
