Boar Gully, Brisbane Ranges, Saturday 4th, August

We met in Bacchus Marsh in bright sunshine, after a wet drive, and drove
to Boar Gully Campground in the Brisbane Ranges National Park. After a
bit of stumbling around trying to find a path which had vanished in two
weeks, we set off to explore the North East corner of the park. 

We walked Farm Track, Spring Creek Track, Loop Track and on Hare Track,
where we met a furry friend (not a hare - see photo). 

Not a hare!

Then onto Bluff Tk, with kangaroos bounding off through the forest
and a wedge-tailed eagle circling low overhead, inspecting us.

Back to Loop Track, with a large stand of grass trees (see photo)

Grass tree

 

and onto Glider Track, with wattles whose bright yellows stood out amongst
the brown stringy barks (see photo of Acacia pycnantha - of Australia's floral emblem).

Acacia pycnantha amongst stringy barks

Close up of Acacia pycnantha

These tracks all run along the edge of the Spring Creek gorge, with views
across to distant hills. At a little dam on Loop Track, we had lunch
(see photo of one member of the group).

A Walkabouter!

Walkabouter's Picnic Point

Back across Reids Rd and down Pea Track to Aeroplane Rd, where we talked about the air force pilot who crashed here in Dec 1936, was badly injured
but was rescued and recovered after months in hospital. 

Then onto Oblique Tk, where the leader gave the compulsory botany talk, this one on the different types of eucalyptus bark, at a spot where a number of species
(stringy bark, box and ironbark ) grow together.

The track

We speculated as to whether the track
was named after the asymmetrical leaves of the messmate stringy bark, a
sample of which just happened to be lying on the track. Then on to Old
Thompson Rd and back to Boar Gully for a cup of tea. The total walk was
about 16km of relatively flat terrain.

Walkabouters Club of Victoria Inc.

A0019863A