It's akin to Telstra Tower atop our Black Mountain, providing a welcoming beacon for many Canberrans returning from road trips. Having grown up in Bowral, Mt Gibraltar, or ''The Gib'' as it is affectionately known by locals, features fondly in my childhood memories.

I grafted out my first half-century on Bradman Oval and swam hundreds of pre-dawn kilometres in the town's icy pool under its watchful gaze. If you ask my mathematics teacher, he'll also confirm that if I'd spent as much time grappling with his quadratic equations instead of day dreaming, looking out the classroom window up at The Gib, my grades might have been a bit more respectable.

Sure, I'd noticed the significant scars on the side of the mountain, which rising 863 metres above sea level is the highest point between Canberra and Sydney, but never really thought much about their origins. An old neighbour once told me, "Oh, that's just part of a volcanic plug," while I vaguely recall a long-time local saying it was "a quarry of sorts".

However, for a kid growing up in Bowral in the late 1980s, these prominent pockmarks were just past of the landscape, and I never really thought much about their origins.

That was until earlier this month when I discovered that a polished piece of Mount Gibraltar Microsyenite (or MGM for short) was soon to be unveiled at the National Rock Garden in Canberra.

Surely a rock specimen from The Gib wasn't that important, that it should be honoured in such a lofty way?

A quick call to the rock gardens' chairman Brad Pillans revealed that MGM, unique to Mt Gibraltar, "is a small alkaline igneous intrusive body which was emplaced by the Triassic Hawkesbury Sandstone around 178 million years ago". He said it is "now exposed by erosion as an imposing mountain".

Pillans also confirmed that MGM was quarried on The Gib for just over a century, the last quarry closing in 1986, and that for more than a century was a very sought-after decorative building material.

"It was used as building blocks in some of our country's best-known manmade landmarks including the Queen Victoria Building, Art Gallery of NSW, Central Railway Station and even the balcony on the Byron Bay Lighthouse," says Pillans. "It was also exported to Australia House in London."

MGM also features in some of our country's best-known bridges, including Sydney's Pyrmont Bridge, the Hawkesbury Railway Bridge and the historic Hampden Bridge in Kangaroo Valley.

What's more, Canberra's very own Parliamentary Triangle just wouldn't look the same without MGM ornamental facings on The Treasury Building and rough cuts for the podium of The National Library.

Even the Canberra Foundation Stone, dating to the very birth of our great city in 1913, is carved from the MGM quarried from The Gib.

While the rock specimen to be unveiled this Sunday (March 25) at the National Rock Garden took only a few hours to uplift and transport to Canberra, transporting the very dense rock wasn't always so easy.

In the now out-of-print book titled The Gib (first published in 2007 by the Mt Gibraltar Landcare and Bushcare under the auspices of the Wingecarribee Shire Council) co-author Jane Lemann reveals that it once took a whole month to get a 12-tonne block from the quarry to the Bowral railyard (only a kilometre away) due to broken axles and the terrible rutted state of the road.

To mark the impending honour about to be bestowed on the Bowral rock, earlier this week I made a pilgrimage to my home town. Calling into Bradman Oval, I pulled up a pew and watched a few overs on the hallowed turf.

Still dominating the view from the pavilion is The Gib, its scars just as obvious as when a young Yowie Man would attempt to emulate Don Bradman on the same pitch more than three decades ago.

It made me wonder, Bowral is widely known for being home to arguably our country's greatest ever cricketer, but just how many Australians would be aware of the significant role rock quarried from The Gib played in the construction of many of our country's landmark buildings and monuments?

Not many, I suspect, however showcasing a piece of The Gib in the National Rock Garden may go a little way to changing that.

Take me there: Mt Gibraltar overlooks Bowral, a two-hour drive north of Canberra. In the heritage reserve, accessed from Cliff Street, are several short walks which highlight the natural and industrial history of The Gib.

National Rock Garden: Celebrates Australia's rich geological heritage in a parkland setting at the corner of Barrenjoey and Lady Denman drives, (opposite the National Arboretum, Canberra) with a permanent display showcasing the diversity of the rocks and minerals that contribute so significantly to the nation's landscapes, heritage and prosperity. The MGM will be unveiled this Sunday (March 25) at 2pm.

Did You Know? The National Rock Garden is a work in progress and the MGM is the 10th rock to be put on permanent display, but there are plans for hundreds more from all over the country, including offshore outposts like Macquarie Island and Australian Antarctic Territory. To view the master plan, check-out: www.nationalrockgarden.org.au/

Gavin Smith of ACT Snake Removals recently received a call to remove what the owner believed was a very large tiger snake curled up against the back of a fridge in a Queanbeyan garage.

"The owner reported it at almost seven-foot in length which is as big as they get, so on arrival I was on high alert expecting an encounter with a large venomous snake enclosed in a confined space," reports Smith, a seasoned snake catcher.

However, Smith was surprised when the snake poked its head out from behind the fridge and he was able to identify it as a non-venomous Centralian Carpet Python (Morelia spilota bredli); and which after some careful manoeuvres, he managed to successfully catch.

"It weighed an absolute tonne," exclaims Smith. As its name suggests, the Bredli is not native to our region, and according to Smith this means "it is either a formally licensed reptile that escaped; an unlicensed reptile that escaped or that was released as it was getting too big, too much work or cranky; or, and much less likely, it had somehow hitched a ride here from somewhere else."

Smith further reports that "the python was sequestered by Wildcare Queanbeyan," adding "if the owner is not identified it will go to a closed auction for those snake owners in NSW registered with a license to keep such pythons."

Meanwhile, Alex Borg of Canberra Snake Catchers recently removed a corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) from a Calwell yard. Corn snakes are native to the United States and their presence in our environment poses a serious biosecurity risk. Particularly alarming was that after posting the snake's photo on social media, Borg received numerous anonymous calls from reptile collectors claiming it was theirs.

"Because it's exotic and highly illegal, corn snakes have that 'wow' factor and are often traded on the black market," reports Borg, who promptly handed the snake to ACT wildlife authorities.

Given the spike in recent exotic snakes found in our region, it sounds like our reptile import and licensing systems need an overhaul. If you find an exotic or native snake that needs removing, you can call Alex Borg on 0421 281439 or Gavin Smith on 0450 210090. Both Borg and Smith recommend that anyone who finds a snake on their property and require it to be relocated stay calm and keep a vigilant watch over the creature's whereabouts until the snake catcher arrives.

While recently on a walk to Corang Cascades in Morton National Park, prolific geocacher Thomas ''tankengine'' Schulze stumbled upon this termite mound which he promptly photographed and cleverly captioned: "Was doing fine until I hit a tree".

The walk to the cascades is one this column is yet to step out along, but according to Schulze, "It's fantastic, about 9 kilometres (each way) on a marked track starting from the Wog Wog camping area."

You can probably guess where I'll be camping this Easter.

Cryptic Clue: If there were any British broadcasters here, they'd probably speak with a Scottish accent.

Degree of difficulty: Medium-Hard

Congratulations to Josefina Watson of Kambah who was the first reader to correctly identify last week's photo as an old tank at the Canberra City Farm (CCF), located near the Jerrabomberra Wetlands.

The farmer sitting on the old tank is Global Worming managing director Cid Riley who has teamed up with CCF to spread the word on the benefits of recycling food waste. There are also several worm farms at the site which showcase large-scale worm farming using food waste from many offices and schools around Canberra.

Apart from their partnership with Global Worming, since 2015, the CCF has developed community garden plots, herb spiral gardens, bee hives, and helped with the renovation of adjacent vineyard and orchards. They also host regular events and workshops with the next big event the ACT Permaculture Festival on Sunday, April 15.

As to the tank, Riley says "although its likely linked to one of several dairies which operated in the area, due to its unusual split metallic top, no one seems to know its exact purpose". Someone must know?

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday March, 24, 2018 will win a double pass to Dendy.