One of the most superb - and most-visited - national parks in Australia rises from the western plains of Victoria. Gariwerd was renamed the Grampians after the Scottish range by the now infamous surveyor/explorer Thomas Mitchell in 1836, but now both names are used together. In the 1990s a Victorian premier, in an act of astonishing political perversity, abolished the original Indigenous names that had been jointly reinstated but sense and decency has since apparently been restored in this matter.
Gariwerd lies approximately at the end of the red arrow in the south-east corner of the map. |
Stoney Creek, a delightful short walk from the tourist hub of Hall's Gap. |
In addition the ranges supported a logging industry, a hugely destructive wattle bark industry (for tannins for leather-tanning), gold mining, stone quarrying and stock grazing. Not only was this environmentally detrimental, but had (as everywhere) catastrophic imlications for the Djab Wurrung and Jardwardjali people, whose descendants help manage the park today. However their stories are not mine to tell, and I don't have the right or ability to do so.
Instead here are a few more scenes from walks along the stream lines, or to waterfalls. They also feature some of the magnificent rock formations which are such a feature of the park. Most of the geology features sediments - sandstones etc - which were laid down during the Devonian, between 415 and 425 million years ago, by rivers carrying material from higher ground into shallow estuaries. (There are also some younger granites, but not in the areas most people visit.)
Golton Gorge, off the road north to Mount Zero. Another easy pleasant walk to where the water slides over the rocks via a small fall into a pool. |
Mackenzie Falls, even from way above it was truly awesome (and I don't use that word lightly). |
Away from the wet gullies in the sheltered central eastern ranges near Hall's Gap, dry eucalypt forest with a heathy understorey is more the norm.
There are some truly grand views to be had at a couple of justifiably well-known lookouts (both of which can be pretty good for flowers too). Boroka Lookout is right above Hall's Gap (600 metres above it in fact) though it's reached by a 15km drive west along Mount Victory Road, then north a little to the well-marked lookout. The views west and south are superb.
The other famed vistas are from Reed's Lookout and along the adjacent one kilometre track to the Balconies (formerly widely known as the Jaws of Death, which was apparently deemed to require some tweaking for PR purposes, perhaps understandably). The carpark is by the Mount Victory Road, not far past the Boroka Lookout turnoff.
Moss bed on the rocks along the Balconies walking track, with Fairies' Aprons Utrichularia dichotoma and sundews Drosera spp. |
About 30 years ago you were able - indeed encouraged! - to clamber onto the lower 'balcony', high above the valley floor. Given that fact that the sandstone is gradually eroding away, this seems crazy now and there is fencing and signs in an attempt to deter people - but some people are hard to protect... I've even seen a photo from the 1940s of a party of 23 people posing on it, who collectively must have weighed close to two tonnes; that could have ended very badly indeed.
The Balconies from the newish adjacent lookout. The tree in the foreground partly obscures the lower shelf, so you can't really see how flimsy it looks. |
While we're admiring sandstone, here are a few more Gariwerd sandstone scenes to admire.
The view looking roughly north-east from Mount Zero in the far north of the park. |
Also in the far north, close to Mount Zero, is the Gulgum Manja art site (in an area also referred to as Hollow Mountain). There is a photo of some of the art above, but this is its setting. |
Along Rose's Gap Road, driving back from Mount Zero to Hall's Gap. I just had to stop and photograph these grand cliffs over the trees. |
As mentioned earlier, it is impossible not to be aware of the impact of fires in the past couple of decades, almost wherever you go in Gariwerd.
Epicormic buds beginning the tree's recovery along the Mount Victory Road. I think this was actually a management burn, being very recent and limited in area along the road. |
This is the same general area (not the same scene) three years later, in October 2022. Recovery is progressing well and the flowering this year was wonderful after three wet years. |
I keep teasing you with mention of flowering without really producing any. That's because there is far too much to squeeze into this post, and I'll be focussing on the flowers next time. However as an appetiser here are three of the 20 species found nowhere but Gariwerd, plus another which has only one other outlying population.
Grampians Thryptomene T. calycina. This lovely shrub is widespread in the park (but nowhere else) flowering right through winter and spring. |
Flame Grevillea G. dimorpha is widespread, but not abundant, but can't be missed when in flower, which also happens from late autumn to spring. I have read that it also occurs in the Pyrenees (!) near Ararat to the east, but the Flora of Victoria confirms that it's restricted to Gariwerd. |
Grampians Parrot-Pea Dillwynia oreodoxa is a Gariwerd endemic of rocky areas. |
If you're into wildflowers, come back in a fortnight - they're too good to have to wait three weeks for - when I'll present a range of lovely Gariwerd flora. If this post hasn't persuaded you to go there (or go back there) sometime soon, I'm hoping that the flowers can clinch it! Meantime, stay dry if you can, and enjoy the final weeks of spring in the Southern Hemisphere.
NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 10 NOVEMBER
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5 comments:
The Pyrenees?! Really...
I know! It makes me wince every time....
Beautiful park for sure!
Ian I was fascinated by these photos which reminded me of a trip I did there many decades ago. In particular the sandstone you described where people posed above the valley floor. I remember that well because there was a small sign that simply read 'Nerve Test'. I was young and fearless and wandered out to the very end, whilst dozens of other walkers looked on. But when I turned around at the end of the Nerve Test a sudden fear came over me now I realised the predicament I found myself in. I felt I could not simply walk back in my somehwat jittery state so instead leapt across the chasm to a rock platform on the other safe side.
I wonder why they got rid of the Nerve Test sign !
Cheers,
Richard
As someone with an aversion to heights, that story makes me feel ill from beginning to end Richard! But thanks for sharing it anyway... :-)
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