Bits and pieces.
Just what it says!
Early days.
Standing
on Little Ben, en route to Ben Cruachan, circa 1948. My first
serious bushwalk, and the start of my association with the
mountain. Rocky Knob and Ben in the right background. My most
vivid memory of this trip is of the Whipbirds' nests in the scrub
along the bridle path by the Avon River. They were just high
enough to look in comfortably to see the mottled eggs. Recently
while reading an account of a walk to Mt. Wellington in 1930, by
the late Eric Coles, a noted local bushman, he wrote of the same
pack track,
"Coachwhip birds make the whine and crack of a whip, while
other birds flit about and chirp." Obviously, the Eastern
Whipbird was very abundant along the Avon in days gone by. The
story of this track is an important part of local history which some may find interesting.
Ben Cruachan also gives its name to a local club, the Ben Cruachan Walking Club was formed by a few keen bushwalkers from Heyfield, and I joined in the early 60s. On one walk with a couple of mates, high on the divide north of Mt Skene, we went astray in thick fog, and followed a ridge which eventually landed us on the Jamieson logging road. What made our mistake memorable however, was the sight of magnificent Lyrebirds, appearing out of the fog on the left hand side of the ridge, crossing in front of us, with their tails streaming out behind, to disappear into the gloom on the right. They seemed to appear every one to two hundred yards, and I regret now that I didn't count them.
Plants.
One of the standout plants of the high country is the Grass Trigger Plant, Stylidium graminifolium. Years ago I was sitting having a spell up on the Divide between Mt. Howitt and King Billy, and was idly activating the triggers of the flowers by tickling with a piece of grass. I noticed that one trigger, the style of the flower, was moving slightly. On close examination I saw that it was in fact a tiny caterpillar, which had apparently eaten the original style and had positioned itself in its place. Checking a few more flowers turned up more of the little impostors, and I have often wondered if this example of insect adaptation has ever been recorded before.
New plants are still being recorded in the mountains in the north of the Shire. On a bushwalk in the Moroka Gorge, I collected specimens of a plant which I recognised as a Zieria, and which in fact turned out to be Zieria robusta, the first record for Victoria. Two colonies of the plant grow on the rocky banks above the river. A geebung, Persoonia asperula, is a recent discovery, the specific name means rough, in reference to the foliage. It has a limited range in Victoria but the Moroka country seems to be a stronghold. I recently saw it near Neilson Crag, also known as the Watchtower. Another species which turned up on a trip was Prostanthera incana, the Velvet Mintbush, which we found on the McDonald Gap Track below Castle Hill, this was another first for Victoria.
A couple of the plants to be found on Ben Cruachan are Olearia adenophora, or Scented Daisy Bush, with beautiful lilac flowers, and Boronia anemonifolia, which grows in profusion on the summit, and has four petalled pink flowers.
The Avon River gorges also hold a great variety of interesting plants, including a mauve flowered Callistemon, which grows at a place called The Channel. This narrow gorge is a sight to see in time of flood. Downstream from here, a surprising number of Pomaderris species line the banks, with other attractive plants such as Calytrix, and two species of Philotheca, (formerly Eriostemon) or Waxflower. Perhaps the most interesting species found here is Hakea microcarpa, normally found above the snowline, which has found the river banks to its liking. Another high country species, Persoonia chamaepeuce, also grows close by, to add to the puzzle.
