This column's recent quest to uncover Singing Stones Beach (Singing Stones, March 4 ) struck a note with many readers.
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"That beach is one of my family's favourite places to visit when we're down at the coast," reveals David Salt of Ainslie. "The sand comes in and buries the stones from time to time but the next big set of storms always reveals them."
The sound of the stones when washed over by water, which Salt describes as "magical, like a rushing wave of tinkling, burbling glass shards," aren't the only attraction for the Ainslie family who believe the Pretty Beach – Pebbly Beach walking track "is one of the finest coastal walks in the world".
"No one from our family is allowed past those stones without throwing a rock into a little rock pool on the side of a large square rock just off-shore," reports Salt. "Over 50 years the little rock pool has eroded away and is now just a notch on the side of the rock."
According to Salt, during the half-a- century that his family have been trekking along the coastal track, "we have seen all sorts of wildlife, including a massive (dead) white pointer shark washed up on the rocks next to singing stones".
Despite its seemingly unique qualities, it appears that Singing Stones Beach isn't the only south coast cove boasting melodious qualities. Erwin Feeken, of Bywong, divulges that while beachcombing a few years ago he stumbled upon "another musical beach near North Head, east of Batemans Bay".
The hidden beach, which can only be accessed at low tide, is hard to find. "From the end of the North Head track, walk south to the end of the beach and then step onto a mostly flat rocky platform until you can go no further," advises Feeken, adding, "you then have to climb over a rock wall and, with difficulty, descend into an open cavity at the bottom."
However, according to Feeken, the effort is more than worth it, "with a cavern full of a multitude of variously coloured, but fairly evenly sized rounded pebbles, which, when washed over by waves create a pleasant, indescribable singing sound."
Musical Rocks
Feeken, a retired cartographer, further explains that some types of rock, located a long way from the coast, may also produce a melodic resonance.
According to Feeken on 30 September 1873, desert explorer Ernest Giles made the following entry in his diary while trekking through the Tomkinson Ranges in Western Australia. "The summit of this hill I found to consist of great masses of rifted stone, which were either solid iron or stone thickly coated with it. The blocks rang with the sound of my iron-shod boots, while moving over them, with such a musical intonation and bell-like clang, that I called this the 'Bell Rock'."
Back in 1988, Feeken had his own opportunity to test the musical qualities of the Bell Rock Range while undertaking field work for then Bureau of Mineral Resources (now Geoscience Australia).
"When I hit the rocks with my geological hammer, they certainly sounded like bells, with different sound pitches," recalls Feeken.
"Geologists declared the Bell Rock Range to be gabbro, a plutonic rock which may contain a substantial amount of ferro-magnesian minerals," explains Feeken, adding "so, Giles, not trained in geology, was not too far off the mark."
Meanwhile, Daphne Hillery of Kambah, recalls visiting many years ago the bouncing stones beach in Queensland's Daintree National Park.
"They were well above water level, but one could skim a stone across them, as in skimming a stone across water, and hear them sing," reports Daphne.
The stones, made famous after featuring in an episode of the Leyland Brothers are sacred to the Kuku Yalanji Aboriginal Peoples and access to the area is now restricted.
MAILBAG
Doctor Who?
This column's recent exposé on the 'Canberra Easterly' prompted a number of readers to divulge their localised nicknames for our region's evening summer sea breeze.
While Sue from Gungahlin refers to it as 'The Bay Breeze', most readers prefer to refer to it as a 'doctor'.
"Out Bywong way we call it the Lake George Doctor," reports Robbie Wallace, while Anne MacDonald of Narrabundah reveals that "back in the 1950s students in the Meteorology course at the Australian Forestry School in Yarralumla were taught the name 'Doctor Bateman', for this refreshing easterly breeze, as with the Freemantle Doctor and the Albany Doctor in Western Australia."
Further, according to MacDonald "The Australian National Dictionary cites the first Australian use of 'doctor' with this meaning was in 1870 and notes its origin as the West Indies and South Africa".
Meanwhile, Juha Turunen of Queanbeyan agrees with Murrumbateman winemaker Ken Helm that "some nights when the easterly is really strong, you can even smell the ocean."
Whatever it's called, with the hottest weather of the season now behind us, we may well have experienced the last Canberra easterly until November.
Rocky Reptile
While sifting through photos of Singing Stones Beach (see main story today), I noticed a rocky sentinel guarding the mouth of the beach. I'm not sure if it's because of this column's recent obsession with monitor lizards, but I immediately thought it resembled the head of a giant goanna. What do you think?
Meanwhile, Gabby Frizzell reports that a Rosenberg's Monitor regularly visits her house in the bush at Braidwood. "It comes each day, cleans up all the bugs on the patio then does a lap of the house and back into the scrub," reports Frizzell, adding, "it has even tried to open our screen doors to get inside, but so far has been unsuccessful."
Still in the reptilian world, prompted by the photo of the sunbaking shingleback at Molonglo Gorge which appeared in last week's column, Lenore Hale, of Wanniassa, asks if there's any truth to the old wives' tale, "that if there are shinglebacks around there won't be any snakes."
"My elderly uncle tells us this all the time as there are a lot of, as he calls them, 'black lizards', where he lives out near Bungendore," points out Hale.
SIMULACRA CORNER
Out of Africa
It seems that the southern white rhinoceros at the National Zoo and Aquarium (March 11, p5) isn't the only rhino roaming our region. While recently walking on Mt Ainslie, Matthew Higgins stumbled upon an old stump which he reckons "resembles the head of a rhinoceros", while a rocky cousin to the Mt Ainslie specimen was spotted by Mal Murdoch hanging-out on coastal cliffs near Bermagui.
SPOTTED
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Too many teddies?
Phill Sledge, of Kaleen, wonders if there is currently a record number of soft toys adorning the cave at Pooh Bear corner on the Clyde Mountain. "I've never seen so many teddies," says Sledge who has been keeping an eye on soft toy numbers at the infamous hairpin corner for several decades. "There are now well over 100!"
WHERE IN THE REGION
Cryptic Clue: A wayward large white bull.
Degree of difficulty: Medium – Hard.
Last week: Congratulations to Peter Semczuk, of Florey, who was first to correctly identify last week's photo, as remnants of the unfinished Kingston to Civic railway line on the Cunningham Street southern road verge, opposite Parbery Street in Kingston. Semczuk just beat a number of train buffs to the prize, including David Foote, of Fadden, Guy Cannon, of Weston and Greg Royal, of Red Hill, to the prize. Earlier this month the ACT Heritage Council recognised with provisional registration on the ACT Heritage Register, this short section of track, which, along with an avenue of trees at the back of the Reid CIT and the easement in the median of 'The Causeway' are the only remaining evidence of the historic line.
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday March 18, 2017 with the correct answer wins a double pass to Dendy cinemas.
CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie Street, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns online.