Was it going to rain or would it hold off? We wondered as we gathered in the picnic area of Morwell National Park to listen to Jo, our leader, telling us about the tracks we would be walking on and giving us some history of the park. As is often the case we have those early 'Greenies', the Field Naturalists, to thank for preserving this patch of beautiful bush land for us to enjoy today. We set off up hill on the Stringy Bark track through bush land and to the edge of the park. This was where we had a beautiful view over the countryside and down to Hazelwood Pondage. From there we continued on a steady climb through mainly Stringybark and Messmate bushland until we reached a fork in the track. Here the type of bush changed and we spotted a young koala eating in a small tree by the track. When we reached the end of our loop track we ventured on to Fosters Gully which to me was the highlight of the walk. This is the section of the park where giant trees tower above tall tree ferns and lush undergrowth covered in lichens and moss. This is lyrebird country but unfortunately we were probably too noisy for any lyrebirds to make their presence known. We saw evidence of past logging in Lyndons clearing before we continued on back to the picnic area.
Here we managed to finish our picnic lunch before the first drops of rain started. And we were treated to Jo's home made mango fruit cake!
Overall we had a lovely walk in another beautiful part of 'our backyard'.
Thanks to Jo for leading (and for the cake) and to Wayne and Pat for their assistance.
Participants:
Nikki, Ellen, Joanne, Ann, Wayne, Lizzie, David, Peta, Sue M, Helen, Gayle, Graham, Catherine, JJ, Phillip, Katrina, Pili, Jenny, Pat
Author:
Gayle Mc Harg