1st Feb 10 am: Walkers link up with cyclists at White Woman's Waterhole. Tents were erected. Which was just as well, because it rained in the afternoon.
Day 1 walk: Old Railway Track, White Woman’s Forest and a loop of the waterhole. 6kms.
Heading away from the campsite north west along Napier Road to pick up the Old Railway Track. This is a small section of what was once the final stage of the Great Southern Railway [Won Wron to Woodside]. We could see the route of the trail along the old raised bed of the railway but had to make a number of diversions to negotiate fallen trees and overgrown vegetation. Towards the end of the old railway trail the raised rail bed had been washed away leaving a large crater. However it was easy to circumvent. On Napier Road returning to the campsite the group became ‘ploggers’ collecting a large amount of litter. Why this part of Napier Road is so popular with litter bugs is a mystery.
After a rain burst and completion of the local walks, dinner was prepared by each individual at a central picnic table. This was followed by a convivial evening around the campfire and Katie ejecting a frog from her tent before retiring. During the night there were two male koalas grunting to/at each other from opposite sides of the campsite. Yes it is the mating season but these two boys were not lucky on this evening. Unfortunately we did not get to see them.
Day 2 tour and walk: Historic tour of Mullungdung State Forest followed by a short walk into Port Albert. Up to 10kms
The initial idea to walk in the Mullungdung area was shelved when it was found that all the routes are wide gravel fire tracks with long distances between juctions. So we settled for a 4x4 tour of the lowland forest. There are no large trees left in the forest ; it is secondary growth of Manna Gum, Grey Gum, Swamp Paper Bark, Yellow Stringy Bark, Black She-Oak with an understorey of grasses and ferns. Most of the historic locations had sucumbed to the forest and there was not much to see. The Big Tower was an impressive sight. We stood and gazed up at this 100ft tall wooden stucture, in awe of the constructors who in 1941 built it using very heavy large long wooden beams with no mechanical assistance. Although it did seem somewhat ironic that the fire tower was constructed of wood! On to the Goodwood township, which in its day was quite substantial with a hall, school, church and company store. In 1920 the timber mill closed and all the building were transported to Woodside, Yarram and Noojee. Nothing was left and we had trouble even imagining that any dwelling could have been in this location.
After the tour we packed up camp and drove in convoy to Port Albert, even joining a slow funeral procession of classic cars through Yarram on route. Then a short walk concluding with lunch at the Port Albert Wharf Fish and Chip Restaurant. It was good to see that it is under new ownership and now open every day.
In conclusion: The primary objective of ‘trying-out’ new camping kit and walking apparel for up coming overnight hikes was met. All kit was found to be ‘fit for purpose’. White Woman’s Waterhole is an excellent site for a base-camp. There are no significant walks nearby but possibly we could try further afield on another occasion. Thanks to Kerry for arranging the base-camp and inviting the multi-day hikers to join the cyclists.
Particpants:Judy Speedy, Kate Senko, Fangfah Lam, Frithjof Arp, Graham Talmage, Ken Moulton
