October 2 - Errinundra Old Growth forest walk

Someone said recently that they’d like to go Walkabout with me, this particular day would probably NOT have been one you’d have chosen! 7-8 kms through amazing bush but it was very challenging in parts - the uppy-downy bits mainly, man oh man! We were walking the old growth forest trail in the Errinundra National Park. 

This NP protects Victoria’s largest remaining stand of cool temperate rainforest and ancient tall eucalypt forests; some Shining Gums are believed to be over 600 years old.  

Hard water-fern 





This vagrant frond was turning its underside to the light. The brown spots are spores - lots of new tree ferns there. 

It was quite magical walking along what was once a network of ancient Aboriginal ridgeline travel routes, routes that countless previous generations of the Moreno people traversed to visit or attend special places or events or to access seasonal foods, for example, to and from the high country for Bogong moth feasts. Many aboriginal quartz artefacts have been found in the area some of which are believed to have been made as much as 5000 years ago: it is a registered site of aboriginal significance and the artefacts are protected. I didn’t look for these but found lots of strange coloured earth. 

Tree and bracken fern shoots at edible and make a nourishing salad I believe. When we were in Far East Russia the locals told us that they collected the ferns in summer and froze what they couldn’t eat. 

Geebung or Persoonia levis Bren fruits are edible once they are ripe; they ripen after they have fallen. 

Mountain Correa

I saw lots of fascinating trees and bushes - Gippsland Waratah, Mountain Correa, Forest gebung, Mountain pepper and ferns including Hard Water ferns which I rather like.  But we saw little wildlife apart from birds and a few lizards; evidently there are resident owls, gliders and tiger quolls.

Patient Lindsay waiting for me to catch up - I make so many stops to take pix and inspect the plants. 

When I say track well it’s over this tree root! Lindsay is standing on the track. 

This too is the track! Fallen branches everywhere. My knight sat in the branch so I could climb over. 

It was slow going not only because often it was a bit eeny-meeny-miny deciding where the track actually went, but I was checking out ALL the plants and fruits I found - no I didn’t try any, this time! And we were always on the look out for Joe Blakes, it was that kind of day. 

Sometimes it was good to sit down for a spell .....

.... and sometimes it would have been nice to sit down!

‘They’ said the walk was 2.5km in to the giant trees and elevated boardwalk in the valley but at 2.5km we were still walking with no boardwalk in sight and we were still plunging down into the valley where those giant trees and elevated boardwalk were said to be lurking. I couldn’t see where the trail might possibly end and given ‘what goes down’ etc I wimped out at 3km and propped on an old seat (thankfully it was there) while champ Lindsay kept plunging on down. It was so peaceful sitting there with the sounds of the forest and the birds all around. About 30 mins later poor Lins came struggling and panting back up the track - that killer effort was at least 1 Km. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so wiped out, poor darling - it was a veeery steep climb.

We got back to the car almost 4 hours later rather bushed. Then we took the long way home over the Errinundra Saddle and followed the Combienbar River road south through Club Terrace, an old mining settlement, to emerge onto Highway 1 someway east of Bemm River. 

Bright everlasting daisies dotted the side of the road 

I call these wild hyacinth but they are actually Stackhousia monogyna. Not a pretty name. 

We skirted around many fallen trees but this one on a track out to a lookout was impassable. 

It was a marvellous drive through fascinating isolated country where once gold was mined. We saw lots of forest regeneration but the clean up looks like slow going with some fallen trees still across tracks. Lots of flowers snatched at my eyes as we passed - bright everlasting daisies and pretty stalks of what looked like hyacinths. I even saw a female lyrebird career across the road. The sun was slipping behind the mountains however so we didn’t dilly dally to look at all the lovelies but we will definitely be back to explore another day.

August - one last bite! Philip Island wetlands and bird sanctuaries.

Conservation Hill and Rhyll inlet on Western Port. 

A well marked walking trail takes you through tranquil mangroves and mudflats, the destination for many migratory birds as well as resident birds such as the Great Egret, Royal Spoonbills and Pied Oystercatchers all watched over by the mighty White-bellied sea eagle. 

The boardwalk brings you close to mangrove trees and allows a great view of the life in the mudflats. 

We saw both Scrubby and Beaded glasswort

Some form of insect gall taking advantage of a comfortable albeit temporary nursery.  

Along the route we saw quite a few roos and wallabies and birds of course. And we had wonderful water views out over the inlet. 

I was inspecting this prickly wattle and out sprang this bold little spider to see who was twanging his web. I must have looked a bit large for him to take on so we just watched each other for a wee while.  

This vantage point offered great views over the escarpment. 

This escarpment is the site of the Diamond Dolly Quarry which was developed to give employment to farmers during the Great Depression. It was abandoned when the rock was found to be unsuitable for road making. Today the quarry site is a National Geological site of significance. The rock found there, known as Rhyll Arkose, is over 65 million years old and differs from all other forms in Western Port. Other rocky reefs like this run out into the Inlet. They are the extremities of basalt flows from vents further south on Phillip Island much like that which form the Forrest Caves we visited earlier. With ancient volcanic activity such as this it is no wonder Phillip Island is a fossickers dream. 

I love these flowers and they bordered part of our walk; Leptospermum, coastal tea tree, it is so fragrant. Captain James Cook named it the tea tree because he had observed the Bundjalung people of eastern Australia use the leaves to prepare a healing tea and it is reported that his men used the leaves first to make a tea and then to brew a type of beer

Oswin Roberts Reserve

Within this area of wetlands and bird sanctuaries is the Oswin Roberts Reserve. We took a trail through this after an already tiring walk so although it it was an easy albeit longish walk, it was a bit much that day. Nevertheless .....

The reserve comprises remnant  eucalypt woodland and is a sanctuary for wallabies which we saw, as well as echidna and bats which we didn’t see. 

Rather spectacular bloom

Many trees were festooned with this creeper the Pandorea pandorana – Wonga Wonga Vine 

Lichen and fungi provided splashes of vivid colour

Some tree were massive and were obviously old but still standing. Others were destined for the chop.  

Gnarled trees made a gallery of tangled art forms along the trail. 

August still! Phillip Island Scenic Estate Conservation Reserve

This doesn’t look like much when you approach it but it is precious and fragile land reclaimed after being used variously as a dairy farm, a housing subdivision, rubbish dump etc. It is now protected and the resilient indigenous flora came back of its own accord even though the land had been completely cleared and sown with pasture crops. 

Swamp scrub mainly Swamp Paperbark are well adapted to the brackish nature of the basin left here after sea levels fell over 100,000 years ago.

Lindsay spotted a brown ball on a side path from where we were walking - it was an echidna! We snuck up slowly and quietly to get a closer look. Usually they roll into a tight ball if you disturb them and burrow into the bush but this little guy simply stuck his head into the grass - “I can’t see you, you can’t see me”. But he got curious and after a little while he took a shy look to see what manner of creature we were. What a beautiful little face!  Neither of us had seen an echidna up so close 

Long- we were about 1.5 metre away, so it was a special experience. 

There was a large wetlands area with plonking frog calls and many aquatic plants. The grasslands are mainly coast tussock with other grass species including this coast saw-sedge. They say there are orchids in the Reserve but we didn’t see any perhaps because we weren’t looking  - you really have to look for orchids. 

Further along the trail we came to the shoreline of Western Port bay. A large part of this vast water way is designated as a Ramsar site for the protection of migratory wading birds. Its fringe of mudflats, rocky outcrops and pools, seagrass meadows, mangroves, salt marshes are all important in providing habitats for many different species of marine life as well as birds and are an essential stopping point for thousands of migratory water birds. 

Old Moonah trees (Melaleuca lanceolata) are a long-lived species, many of the larger ones are believed to be over 200 years old and here before Europeans settlers arrived. They have been twisted and sculpted by time and many are threatened along this cliff edge because of coastal erosion. As a result there is a program of replanting away from the cliff edges and also of trying to slow the erosion of the cliffs by planting more mangroves. 

There are many species of native trees in the reserve. This is a Sticky Hop-bush - the leaves are sticky. 

Spiky hedge wattle have gorgeous bright yellow flowers but as the name suggests there are loads of spikes to catch the unwary. 

The August rewind - and still exploring Phillip Island.

I know! the order of these posts is taking on the appearance of a maze but then this is me!

As well as tracing some of the coastline we spent time wandering through wetlands, bushland and conservation reserves further inland, some reclaimed grazing land. 

Tucked in close to the short-tailed shearwaters (mutton bird) rookeries and the Penguin Reserve is Swan Lake - minus the ballerinas!  It is the only freshwater lake on Phillip Island and an important haven for birds, reptiles, mammals and yes, insects. With food and other survival necessaries in abundance, it was once a popular campsite for the local Boonwurrung people, but early settlers spoilt all that by turning it into grazing land. Thankfully it is now protected and has boardwalks in some areas to protect the fragile dunes where the short-tailed shearwaters nest. 

Out on the grassy dunes Cape Barron geese and black swans grazed, many with their chicks in tow. 

But we were also able to watch quite a variety of water birds from the bird hides by the edge of the water sitting as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the tranquility of the lake.

Swan Lake trail wound through scrubby land complete with curious wallabies - those lovely creatures plus the abundance of birds would have provided good bush tucker.  The land provided. For the people of the land with knowledge of the land, plants also provided food, building materials and medicinal aids, for example the milk from the bracken fern stem was used to soothe insect stings - note to self after a day being bombed by mozzies! 

September - Phillip Island, an arm’s reach from Tassie, almost!

Ten days later we were back to explore further along the coast where a crashing waves roll in from

Bass Strait, this time along the cliff edge from Pyramid rock, one of the island’s most southerly points, to Berrys Beach via Red Bluff and Storm Bay. 

Storm Bay where we stood for ages watching the waves thundering in only to dash themselves to churning froth on the rocks.

Red Bluff. Wind swept and so isolated. Glorious. 

Looking back towards Pyramid Rock

The weather was glorious and the sea glittering pewter and blue decorated with frothing lace - lovely but treacherous. 

Just over the horizon is Tasmania and over the next horizon Antarctica. This was a place to dream but ......

..... the stunning coastal landscapes, the beauty of this place is being marred by ugly monstrosities like this gathering along the cliffs - they were all humongous.  Everyone wants a piece of paradise - their own piece not to be shared. Those that can afford it! 

However one could turn one’s face to the sea and blot out the creeping greed.

We walked along grassy cliff tops with a few short paths like this but mostly through  grassland being regenerated by the local Landcare team. Here and there we were watched by kangaroos and kestrels and serenaded by fluttering Eurasian skylarks. 

It was a delightful walk and easy going but we were pleased to get back to the car and food. 

Highly recommended but not on a very hot day as it’s very exposed. 

September - Phillip Island revisited

I want to backtrack a bit and revisit Phillip Island. Having walked through the State Fauna Reserve of Cape Woolamai we were keen to explore more of Phillip Island’s wild southern coast. 

Along the coast sweeping west from Cape Woolamai are Forrest caves. 

To access the caves you walk half km along a wild windswept thundering surf beach.  And of course there a big climb to get to the beach, and back, over a towering sand dune - man oh man! These dunes became unstable due to past grazing. Hairy spinifex and other native grasses have been planted to stabilise them. 

The rocks were thickly studded with glistening jet - clusters of young mussels. 

Rock formed millions of years ago from ash spewed out from volcanic vents nearby that over time has been eroded by wave and wind action forming the sea caves we see today. They are only accessible at low tide - we barely made it! 

The rocks are iron rich and even include some Jasper if that’s possible. In fact a number of Phillip Island’s beaches are a fossicker’s dream with sapphires, agates, chalcedony and more. 

And the ubiquitous lichen.