The belated launch of a 500-kilogram statue of a monotreme on Tuesday has given Queanbeyan a unique "billboard" proclaiming its unique distinction as one of the best platypus spotting spots in NSW.
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The artwork, the creation of local sculptor Neil Dickinson, is on the banks of the Queanbeyan River and just down from the Isabella Street footbridge.
Appropriately named "Queany", Neil's platypus basks serenely on a rock surrounding by a mosaic of waves that are significantly more pristine than the river they are meant to represent.
The mosaic was created last year by Queanbeyan volunteers working with Sydney sculptor and mosaic artist Freya Jobbins.
Canberra Times columnist Tim the Yowie Man and Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch Facilitator Woo O'Reilly both welcomed the latest addition to the city's riverbank art collection.
"Anything the Queanbeyan council can do to promote [awareness of] the presence of platypuses is excellent," she said.
"The river is a centrepiece of the town and, while it is often associated with [abandoned] shopping trolleys, it is an excellent place to see a platypus. I have never made the trip to Queanbeyan and not seen one."
During an early winter morning visit to the site with Tim the Yowie Man in 2013 Woo spotted three of the creatures in less than an hour.
The temperature was minus 5 degrees and this played a big part in the expedition's success.
Platypus need to eat a third of their body weight in little water bugs a day to survive and the numbers of their prey drop off in winter. This means they have to spend more time hunting and, as a result, are easier to spot.
Woo said although the river passed right through the heart of Queanbeyan the water quality was surprisingly good. "It [the water] is coming straight down from Googong Dam," she said.
"[Platypus] numbers dropped a bit after the 2011 flood but they have started to recover since then."
Woo said she was drawn to the platypus because it was just such a unique animal.
"You can understand why the English scientists who saw the first [dead] specimens sent back from Australia [in the 18th century] thought they were being hoaxed," she said.
"That bill is an amazing instrument. They close their eyes and ears and dive to the bottom of the river. They can pick up the electronic discharge given off by the bugs and they are very sensitive to movement."
Other good spots to see a platypus in the region are along the Molonglo Gorge, Molonglo Reach, the soft-banked areas of Lake Burley Griffin and downstream from Scrivener Dam.
The Tharwa Sandwash, Point Hut Crossing, Kambah Pools, Casuarina Sands and Uriarra Crossing, all on the Murrumbidgee River, are all worth a visit.
Congratulations are certainly due to Canberra volunteer firefighter and ACT Parks and Conservation Service worker Michelle Jenkins for completing her 660 kilometre walk along the Australian Alps Walking Track just after lunch on Tuesday afternoon.
Michelle, who was accompanied every step of the way by her friend Jean Hammond, left Walhalla in Victoria on February 1.
She was walking to raise awareness of the impact post traumatic stress disorder has on emergency service workers, soldiers, police and other first responders.
Katie Tonacia, the co-founder and chief executive of PTSD awareness and support agency Picking Up The Peaces, said there had been a strong turnout of emergency workers to welcome Michelle and Jean home.
