LOCAL SECRET

Is this 1982 edition of GEO the oldest magazine floating around in local waiting rooms?

While recently visiting a Deakin health centre—Alison Thomson, of Braddon, stumbled on an old Geo -Australian Geographic. The magazine was dated September 1982. Is that a record? Are the any other medical practitioners around town with magazines in their waiting room that pre-date Alison's find? However, it wasn't only the ancient date that caught Alison's attention. She also noticed it featured an article on Ginninderra Falls - an area which this column has recently been pushing to become a national park. Alison went beyond the call of duty by asking the receptionist if she could borrow the magazine in order to make a copy of the article and send to this column. No doubt realising that a 29-year run is a decent effort for a waiting room magazine, the receptionist kindly told Alison that she could keep it. I'm glad she did as the article recalls some fascinating history of the area, including that it was once home to a deer-breeding station where velvety skin from the deer antlers were harvested for export "to many South-East Asian countries for its medicinal value". The article also examined reports of a "bunyip or kianpratelas the local Aboriginals called it" around the falls - a topic I plan on investigating further this summer - so stay tuned.