Oaks Estate - although a place of much history - was officially established as a suburb in 1984, but actually predates the ACT by about 80 years. Less than 400 people live here.
Like last time, I started my walk at Gillespie Park in the centre of the suburb, but this time it looked even prettier in autumn colours.
Oaks Estate was not part of the Canberra plan and certainly feels completely different to the rest of the ACT. It is almost like a small country town albeit only 15 minutes from the rest of Canberra. It has a different feel to it and is just full of history...with many of its buildings dating from the mid 19th century. I was also pleased to see that its heritage listed bus stop is still standing :)
I decided to take a walk down and along the Queanbeyan and the Molonglo rivers...
At first I was a bit worried about what I was walking in to...
But I was glad I persevered....past the bridge over the Queanbeyan River. It was such a beautiful day to walk along the riverbank and I felt like I was in a completely different world.
And soon I found myself in a sea of brilliant yellows....
Heading back up the stairs from the river bank, it was like someone had rolled out a yellow carpet just for me.
Alas the actual old estate is private and out of bounds...
But I love that the locals seem proud of their history and strong in the face of clear neglect from the ACT government. I was pleased to see the new public toilets in Gillespie park since my last visit - but apparently even a federal government grant was required to build these.
In many ways, Oaks Estate really is a hidden and neglected world behind Queanbeyan train station...
But I do think that is what makes it kind of special....and the locals are certainly not giving up. The bottle shop is still there...and is now accompanied by an Indian takeaway food outlet. Plus there is lots of new colour and life everywhere :)
Maybe its not really Canberra - but its canberrability rating is high :)
