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Western Victoria and the Grampians in Spring
Pat and Ross Carlton
This trip began in October 2003 with visits to family in Sydney and Canberra. While in Canberra, we naturally visited Floriade with its great displays of tulips, irises, violas, etc. Also, no visit to Canberra is complete without popping into the National Botanic Gardens. At this time of year the wattles were just marvellous.
Heading west, we visited the Wagga Botanic Gardens but were a bit disappointed. The native section, in particular, is very poor. It is somewhat made up for by the walk-in aviary, which has a good collection of parrots, finches, pigeons, etc, many of them nesting.
The Riverina was a picture. The beautifully green bumper wheat crop was half a metre high and interspersed with paddocks of brilliant yellow canola. The roadsides and pastures were bright with the purple of Pattersons Curse and the yellow of Capeweed. Although both these introduced weeds are pests, it can't be denied that they make for a beautiful landscape. Further west, on the plains, there were carpets of native daisies as far as the eye could see.
Western Victoria
Our first destination was Murray-Sunset National Park, a bit south of Mildura. This is sandy, semi-desert country, with mallee and spinifex, but again there was a fair bit of colour from yellow and blue native flowers (unknown to us). We camped beside the Pink Lakes, which certainly lived up to their name. The "pink" is due to an algae and the colour varies with the light.
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The Pink Lakes in western Victoria
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River Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) can be found along all watercourses of inland Australia |
A bit further south is Wyperfeld National Park, another intrusion of sand dune country into the mainly wheat growing area of the Wimmera. There are 450 species of native plants in Wyperfeld NP. The Parks Victoria people here have done a good job with information on the local vegetation, identifying the particular species of acacias, sennas, leptospermum, olearia and dodonea etc. Of particular note was the marked contrast between adjacent areas of mallee and pine. The mallee, of which there were three species, had a fairly bare understory, dotted with spinifex and occasional flowering shrubs. The ground was littered with fallen branches and great strings of bark trailed from the trees, giving the whole a very messy, untidy look. Suddenly, without any transition, we would find ourselves in a golf-course-like landscape of grassy slopes, dotted with neat cypress pines (Callitris gracilis). The golf course appearance was even enhanced by the occasional small patch of bare sand. When the wind blew, which it did most of me time, clouds of spores drifted like smoke from the pines.
The Wimmera River rises in the mountains to the south-east and flows into Lake Hindmarsh, a popular spot for water sports. When this lake overflowed, which it did naturally on about a twenty year cycle, the floodwaters flowed down a stream known as Outlet Creek, filling Lake Albacutya and then on via a dozen or so smaller lakes, to finish in Lake Agnes, a shallow 40 square kilometre lake in the middle of what is now Wyperfeld NP. The creek and the edges of all these ephemeral lakes are lined with river red gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), with black box on the slightly higher ground. With the extraction of water from the river for irrigation and urban use, this natural cycle has been disrupted. The last time Lake Agnes filled was in 1901. In the park information centre there was a series of diagrams showing how the floods have become progressively smaller, penetrating less and less far down the creek. Lake Albacutya, which has been declared a Ramsar site because of the thousands of water birds and waders, which used to inhabit it, last filled in 1974. At the time of our visit, it was a puddle about twice the size of our dam at home, inhabited by two Pied Stilts and three red-capped Dotterels. As a result of this reduction in flooding, combined with a rising water table and increased salinity, many of the magnificent old river gums are dead or dying.
In addition to its fascinating geology and vegetation, Wyperfield turned out to be a great place for birds. We were surprised to see Rainbow bee-eaters in the sand dunes, having associated them more with rivers. There were also Red-capped Robin, Splendid Wren, Banded Lapwing, Masked Wood-swallow, Southern Whiteface, Striped Honeyeater, Black-eared Cuckoo and others.
Further south again is the Little Desert, the third intrusion of sand into the Wimmera. The national park stretches for 60 km from east to west and covers a range of vegetation types. There are 670 species of native plants there. In the east is the Wimmera River, lined with river red gums. Away from the river, the mallee here is taller than in other areas, being about 7 or 8 metres. There are also large areas of Banksia marginata heath, one to two metres high. Other areas in the mallee are dotted with many species of hibbertia and Calytrix alpestris, the latter being a deep pink variety. Here, we saw three new birds; the Southern Scrub Robin, the Shy Heath-wren and Gilbert's Whistler.
In the far south-west of Victoria is the Lower Glenelg National Park which protects a long stretch of the Gleneig River, including a gorge cut through limestone country. Here the native plants total 700 species, with 50 species of orchids. This is eucalypt forest with an understorey of Kunzia parvifolia, a few patches of the local grevillea (G.confertifolia) and several types of hibbertia. Another new bird was added to the list here; the rare Rufous Bristle Bird.
The Great South West Walk is a 250 km walking track which traces a loop from Portland, on the coast, through the forest (5 days) then along the river, including the gorge section, to re-join the coast at Nelson, only 3 or 4 kms from the South Australian border. The track then returns along the coast through beach dunes (hard going), past coastal lakes and over spectacular headlands with great views. It climbs over the highest coastal cliffs in Victoria, passes a seal colony, a rookery of 6000 gannets and an aluminium smelter before returning to Portland.
The Grampians
When we decided to visit The Grampians, a mountain range in western Victoria, we weren't thinking particularly of wildflowers, it was simply a place we had never been. It was only when I began doing some homework on the area that I kept coming across references to wildflowers in the spring. But it was not until we were actually there that we realised what a wonderful place it is: in the same league as the south-west of Western Australia.
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The Grampians ranges arise out the the plains in western Victoria |
By sheer good luck, our arrival coincided with the annual wildflower display at Halls Gap, the principal town in the area. All the local species were on display and labelled and, in addition, we were able to purchase a cheap but extremely useful field guide (Wildflowers of the Grampians, published by the Community Association of Halls Gap, $9.95.) Thus educated and equipped, we were able to foray into the field with greatly increased confidence.
The range covers a distance of about 40 km north to south, by 10 to 15 km east to west and rises to a height of 720 m. We stopped first at a campground at the northern end and were amazed to find that about 1 hectare of the adjacent hillside was covered in Thryptomene calycina. Bushes up to 2.5 m tall in glorious flower, almost to the exclusion of everything else. From here we walked to Mt. Stapylton. Quickly leaving the thryptomene behind, we passed through an area burnt about two years ago and now regenerating. The dominant plant here was Grevillea aquifolium, the Holly grevillea, up to about 1 m tall and with red toothbrush flowers, but with a wide range of other flowering shrubs as well. These included Grevillea alpina, with red and yellow flowers (similar to G.montana) but brighter, Calytrix alpestris, pink in bud and white in flower and a white flowering leptospermum. Underneath were two orchids (Caladenia cameo) and the deep mauve wax-lip orchid (Glossodia major) with a vermillion Kennedia prostrata hugging the ground.
There was moss in the shaded areas with sundews (Drosera whittakeri) coming up through it, its flat leaves looking like red flowers on the bright green. Beyond the fire's reach was a damper area dominated by a wattle (Acacia mearnsii) similar to the Sydney golden wattle. Then, as we climbed the slope of the mountain it got even better. This was a woodland of stringybark and cypress, neither very tall nor very dense, with a kind of tall shrub understory. There were 2 more wattles, one with broad sickle leaves and the other with long thin leaves. Both bore golden balls. Thryptomene again, with hundreds of bushes of Hibbertia stricta as well as two other hibbertias. Masses of Prostanthera rotundifolia, up to 3m tall, as well as a smaller prostanthera. There was pale mauve solanum, Tetratheca ciliata with violet hanging bells that eventually open out flat, pimelia, two kinds of white hakea (H.nodosa and H.rostrata), Styphelia adscendens, (looking like two species with lemon and red flowers) and Epacris impressa, ranging from white to deep pink. There was some Hardenbergia violacea, a few large deep pink Correa reflexa and a few isopogons (a small clumpy one) and Banksia marginata, but these were past flowering.
In addition, there was a bewildering array of peas ranging from yellow to orange-red. One strange one, Sphaerolobium minus, had pink to orange-red flowers with thorns but no leaves. The book listed 4 dillwynias, 8 pulteneaeas, one viminaria, one phyllota, one goodia, one bossiaea, one eutaxia and one platylobium among the peas, but even armed with the local field guide it was usually beyond us to tell them apart. It was sufficient to admire and enjoy. Some of the peas closed up at night so that plants that appeared predominantly red in the morning before the sun reached them were yellow when returning along the same track later in the day.
The central section of the range is the most spectacular in terms of cliffs and canyons, rock formations, lookouts and waterfalls and again, the profusion of wildflowers comes as a bonus. The southern end is craggy mountains with broad valleys and swamps between and I am sure that exploration there would yield a different flora again.
We felt somewhat cheated by the weather. According to the book, we should have had, in October, a temperature range of about 7 to 21 degrees. In fact, we were getting zero to a maximum of about 16. One day, it even snowed on the higher peaks. The following day we went to the top of Mt William, the highest peak of all and found snow still lying, as well as great chunks of melting ice raining down from the microwave tower.
We visited the small botanic garden at Halls Gap but were somewhat disappointed. As so often happens, someone had started it with a burst of enthusiasm (and a government grant) but the task of maintaining it had proved beyond the ability of the small band of loyal volunteers. Also, as was pointed out to us later by a knowledgeable local, it is in the wrong place; an area not suited to the plants they are trying to grow.
However, on the other (western) side of the range we discovered the most wonderful private (open) garden. It boasts over 1000 species of native plants, including 95 hakeas and is an absolute must for anyone visiting the area. It is called Wartook Gardens and is run by Royce and Jeanne Raleigh, and costs $4 to enter. It is the best $4 worth in a long day's search. They also offer luxury B & B which sounded very attractive.
If you're silly, like us, there are local nurseries where you can purchase plants, which just might grow up here!
About 40 km west of the Grampians is Mt. Arapiles, a solitary pile rising abruptly out of the plain and much favoured by rock climbers. There is a sealed road to the summit and this was an absolute delight in terms of wildflowers. Again, masses of prostanthera, calytrix and wattles, with underneath, hibbertias, daisies, Stypandra glauca and lots of wonderful orchids, including Diuris corymbosa, the beautiful donkey orchid, and Diuris pardina, the leopard orchid.
These two areas deserve to be better known by those interested in native plants. They are absolute gems in a sea of wheat.
From 'Gumleaves', newsletter of the Hunter Valley Group of the Australian Plants Society (NSW).
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Australian Plants online - September 2004
Association of Societies for Growing Australian Plants
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