Gariwerd/Grampians National Park; one of the best

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.

The central section of Gariwerd from the east, some 25km away. The range (or series
of ranges) is 90km long from north to south, and half that at its widest point,
covering an impressive 167,000 hectares, though astonishingly it wasn't declared
national park until 1984. It is surrounded by farmland, formerly woodland.

Gariwerd lies approximately at the end of the red arrow in the
south-east corner of the map.

A low-res map of the park, courtesy of Parks Victoria. You'll probably need to
click on it to see it at all clearly. Halls Gap (HG) is in the middle of the eastern edge of the
range - look for the white on blue i (for Information). The main areas covered by the
photos are Mount Zero and Gulgum Manja Shelter in the far north; Heatherlie Quarry
about halfway between HG and Mount Zero; Boroka Lookout, just north-west
of HG; Balconies, west of HG; Victoria Valley, south-west of HG.

There are roads through the park but it is not fragmented by them and much of the park is only accessible by foot. Accordingly, most visitors see only a tiny area of the park, though this is still pretty satisfactory. My guess is that most visitors never leave the small area around Hall's Gap, a busy village in the centre of the eastern edge of the range; from here there are walks along the delightful Stoney Creek and a short circular drive to other creek and waterfall walks.

 

Stoney Creek, a delightful short walk from the tourist hub of Hall's Gap.

These sheltered walks along ferny stream lines, often leading to a waterfall, are probably the most popular in the park (though not least because most of them are close to Hall's Gap).

Another scene on Stoney Creek; this is near the pool known as Venus' Bath. These awfully
twee names make me wince, but they are rife in areas favoured by 19th and early 20th
century tourists. And our forebears were dedicated and determined tourists!

People were coming to the Grampians (as they were then universally known in English) from Melbourne from the middle of the 19th century, taking advantage of the trains to Stawell in particular. In 1868, Thomas' Guide for Excursionists from Melbourne was published to promote the Grampians. The return rail fare from Melbourne was £5. "To him who likes to escape a while from the conventionalities and to be brought for a while face-face with nature in her solemn grand and eternal beauty, we say: Try the Grampians" Unfortunately he then went on to recommend the pleasures of shooting the wallabies (probably the Brush-tailed Rock-Wallaby, now Critically Endangered in Victoria)...

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.

Gulgum Manja art site, in the far north of the park. This is a well-publicised site,
protected by a mesh and interpreted. There are several such sites in the areas (as well,
I imagine, as many others not advertised); more information on them can be found at
Brambuk Cultural Centre in Hall's Gap.

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.

Turret Falls, in the Wonderland area (see previous comments on
twee 19th century names), in the Hall's Gap area. This photo, and the couple of
Stoney Creek earlier,  were taken in September 2019 after prolonged drought,
just before the current series of inundating La Niñas began.

The next two were taken in early October 2022 after a wet week, but before the devastating rains of the past week (I am writing on 27 October 2022) which have submerged so much of New South Wales and northern Victoria. The results at the waterfalls were spectacular (and I can't imagine what they look like now).

Mackenzie Falls, even from way above it was truly awesome
(and I don't use that word lightly).

Silverband Falls - and as you can see from the spots on the lens it was still
raining. The big eucalypt on the left had been washed off the hillside opposite,
and the roar of the water was overwhelming.

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.

The track into Heatherlie Quarry where the flowering in spring is spectacular.

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.

South from Goroka Lookout. The sandstone layers in the foreground and the tilted planes of
the Wonderland Range behind must delight a geologist's eyes; they certainly do mine.
Far beyond is the Serra Range. To the left is Lake Bellfield, created by a dam on Fyans Creek
in 1966 to provide water (and recreation) for Hall's Gap, which is to the left of the photo.

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.

Looking south into the Glenelg River headwaters valley (generally referred to as
Victoria Valley), with Moora Moora Reservoir in the distance. It was planned in
the 1880s but only completed in 1934, to divert water to Horsham - which I have to
say seems a long way in the wrong direction, way back over our left shoulder
as we're looking at it!

Moora Moora Reservoir (while we're talking about it), which is a lovely tranquil
place now, though in the 1890s there were up to 80 people in a small village here
logging ancient River Red Gums for railway sleepers. It's worth recalling too that
prior to the dam being built it was a doubtless rich and fascinating wetland.
Across the water the effects of bushfires can be seen in the trees; since 2006 there have
been three major fires in Gariwerd which have together burnt some 85% of the park.
The effects can be seen everywhere.

Back to Reeds Lookout, from where the track to the Balconies passes through interesting areas of sheet sandstone with little mossy gardens, and with views to the north.

 

Moss bed on the rocks along the Balconies walking track, with Fairies' Aprons
Utrichularia dichotoma and sundews Drosera spp.

Looking north across the sandstone sheets to Lake Wartook in a valley of the Mount
Difficult Range. The park seems to have more than its share of reservoirs, though to
be fair they were all built before its late gazettal (but see below). It was another wetland,
which attracted pastoralists and the Cobb and Co. coaches for watering stock.
The first dam wall was built here in 1887, but was raised significantly in 1997 - ie well
after the park's gazettal. The water is released to the Mackenzie River, and then channelled
to the Wimmera River to provide Horsham's water supply.

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.

The north end of the park burned very severely in January 2014 and as far as I know that
was the last time, though I'm having trouble getting information on the third fire mentioned
above. This photo was taken in early September 2019, and the fact that it had been very
dry for some time explains the apparently slow recovery. The flowering was still
impressive however.

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.

Rock Banksia B. saxicola, here on Mount William on a misty day, is otherwise
found only at Wilsons Promontery on the coast on the other side of Melbourne.
It is not common, found only in some mountainside sites.

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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Lower Glenelg National Park, Victoria; a haven

Well it was a haven for us last week anyway. We set out on a Saturday morning, when it was still OK to do so, hoping to attend a family wedding in Adelaide. By Sunday everything was crumbling, and we realised the only responsible thing to do was to turn back. (If you're reading this in the future, and are puzzled by all this, I'm sure if I say just COVID-19 it will all come back to you!) However by then we'd arrived at Lower Glenelg in the far south-west of Victoria and reasoned that we might as well rest for a couple of days there as we'd booked and paid for our campsite. They closed the campground after we arrived so we had the place to ourselves for the three nights we were there - possibly the safest people in Australia! It was new to us, and a delight.

This is limestone country and the Glenelg River runs to the Southern Ocean just south of the park through a 40km
gorge cut into the soluble rock. There are caves here, as is usual with limestone, containing a skeletal treasure trove
of now extinct marsupial species (as well as more recent ones) which fell to their deaths in sink holes.

Approximate location (it's not actually in the ocean!) of Lower Glenelg NP.
It's actually a few kilometres inland, though we could hear the sea at night.
The cold Southern Ocean winds were often present too.

The vegetation in our section of the park mostly comprised Brown Stringybark Eucalyptus baxteri relatively dry open forest, with strips of Manna Gum E. viminalis forest along the river. The eastern end of the park, which we didn't visit, comprises botanically rich swampy heathland; I look forward to seeing it some spring when things are calmer in the world.

Brown Stringybark forest along one of the walking tracks.
This is a common tree across southern Victoria and into South Australia.

Manna Gum (or Ribbon Gum in our part of the world) grows near the river,
as it mostly seems to do everywhere.

Picnic ground dominated by remnant Brown Stringybark forest.
As you can see, the light was dull throughout our stay (though it didn't rain),
which neither I nor my camera could really overcome.

Our tranquil camp, also among the stringybarks.

One enjoyable 5km walk followed the river on the outward part of the loop, enabling memorable views of what is a very impressive and lovely river indeed.

The Glenelg River, here near the end of its journey to the sea.

Initially, after pressure from the vigorous Portland Field Naturalists Club from the 1940s, the Victorian Forests Commission responded to the Club's field surveys of the natural values of the area by offering to protect 'three chains' (about 60m) of vegetation along the river banks. They were probably thinking primarily in terms of recreation, as the river is popular with boaters. The Club pressed its claims however for a meaningful protected strip of at least a mile (1.6km) wide and in 1968 a 9,000 hectare park was declared. Five years later the Victorian government set up the ground-breaking Land Conservation Council to examine the state by regions, recommending areas necessary to protect a representative spread of habitats. By 1975 Lower Glenelg was expanded to its current size of 27,000ha, in line with the Portland Field Naturalists' original recommendations. (Basing land conservation on science seems a pretty radical concept now, sadly.)

Scented Paperbark Melaleuca squarrosa above the Glenelg River.

Lichens in the stringybark forest.

Some very impressive galls on a wattle bush. Insects from a wide array of groups inject the plant tissue,
especially leaves and stems, to cause a local 'cancer' of plant tissue growth into which she lays an
egg which develops with the double bonus of protection and a guaranteed food source.
The plants seem largely unaffected by the intrusion.

Other than that there was little obvious sign of insect life, though this lovely moth turned up in the bathroom block one morning.

Scioglyptis sp., probably Fuscous Bark Moth Scioglyptis canescaria (Geometridae).
(Identification courtesy Steve Holliday.)

However there certainly was a lot of small life on the ground and foliage, as small birds, especially Superb Fairywrens and White-browed Scrubwrens, swarmed everywhere.

Superb Fairywren Malurus cyaneus male which has almost finished his moult from his blue breeding finery
to his more discreet winter garb. For the next few months he doesn't need to impress the females,
so he might as well be less conspicuous to enemies for that time.
They were seemingly oblivious to us.

White-browed Scrubwrens Sericornis frontalis were also uninterested in us,
but only up to a point...

They had no qualms about hopping under and onto the table in search of any leavings.
This one is examining our gas stove to see what might have been overlooked by us.

Other campground birds were a little more discreet, though not by very much. 

Eastern Yellow Robins Eopsaltria australis are generally trusting and relaxed around people,
and these were no exception.

Male Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis, always a treat, though
his glorious song was quiet now breeding had finished.

Red-browed Finch Neochmia temporalis, one of a scattered flock feeding on the grass.

I'll come back to campground birds at the end, to save the best until last! The taps, with associated drinking containers for animals, attracted some takers, though not as many as they doubtless do when it's hot.

Grey Fantails Rhipidura albiscapa, are seemingly ubiquitous in moister temperate Australia,
and are consummate aerial insect catchers.

Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor. This is a truly lovely wallaby, and not closely related to any
of the other macropods. Below is one we encountered on the track.

By the grizzled muzzle and somewhat battered appearance, this one seems older
than the drinker - and with experience comes suspicion, it seems!

Here are some other animals we encountered while walking away from the camp.

This Koala - different days, different heights in the tree - seems to be resident in a couple of trees
by the entrance gate to the campground. An excellent 'meeter and greeter' for campers such as ourselves.

 

Common Bronzewing Phaps chalcoptera, a most attractive pigeon. Also present is the closely
related Brush Bronzewing, much less frequently seen and more colourful. We saw one
relatively close in dense foliage, but no photo possible, sadly.

Male Gang-gang Cockatoo Callocephalon fimbriatum in a feral pine tree - there are huge plantations
nearby, in Victoria and across the border in South Australia.

Another cockatoo which has taken to the pines - or at least their cones - is the striking big Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus. As we drove into the park a flock of at least 200 flew over us going to or from the pines. Here are a few, in very poor light.

Grey Currawong Strepera versicolor. This is a tricky part of the world for currawong identification. In most
places Grey and Pied Currawongs are readily distinguished; Greys are ashy grey with no white rump,
Pieds are glossy black with a broad white rump. However in south-west Victoria and adjacent South Australia
Greys are almost black and Pieds have only a narrow white band. No doubts about this one,
but they're not always so obliging in displaying their rump.

Little Wattlebird Anthochaera chrysoptera on Banksia marginata.
Not many appropriate flowers are out in autumn, so the wattlebirds and other large honeyeaters
are reliant on the banksias for nectar at this time of year.

Which brings us back to the campground, and two birds which made our stay there especially memorable. 

Olive Whistlers Pachycephala olivacea are perhaps not as scarce as they might seem (though this race,
hesperus, is regarded as Near Threatened) but they are generally shy and hard to see in the dense thickets
that they favour. This one briefly came right into the open just a couple of metres from us however.
Magic moment and the only decent photo I've ever managed of one.

Rufous Bristlebirds Dasyornis broadbenti are scarcer and shyer still, in the coastal heaths of
western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. (Though they are said to be less elusive
than the other two species.) While we saw them regularly scooting into bushes, this is
the sole photo that I managed to take in the entire time. Better than nothing!

In these strange and difficult times for us all, I think it's important to have such memories to sustain us until we can get out and refresh ourselves again. Your own memories are more important to you than mine are, but it's not a bad idea to see things through other eyes sometimes too. And when this is all over, you could do a lot worse than go and enjoy Lower Glenelg for yourself.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 16 APRIL.
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