Category: Activity Report

Clean Up Australia Day

For the Grampians Gariwerd our Clean Up Australia Day occurred six days after the national event but the delay was a sensible choice to avoid crowds of tourists who flood the national park on the Labour Day long weekend.

FOGG members totalling half a dozen plus one community member gathered at Halls Gap with our Parks Vic leader Joy to be briefed on the task for the day. McKenzie Falls was to be our destination and we were most grateful for the youth of Waverly Christian College who also joined the Working Bee. Clearly the youthful legs of year 11 and 12 students were more appropriate to descend and ascend the steps to the bottom of the falls.

After an acknowledgment to the traditional owners of the land of our national park and an OH&S briefing, the short convoy set off for the Falls car park. On arrival there was … Read the rest

Mystery Mounds In The Mud

One of our favourite areas in the region is the open forests east of Gariwerd. Over the years Di and I became increasingly intrigued by numerous round earth mounds we were seeing in these magnificent Red Gum forests. Our son, Tom and partner Matilda regularly join us on our walks and have helped us to map and record our observations.

Over the last year we have drawn on the insights of our local archaeologist Ben Gunn, and Jake Goodes from Parks Victoria who have been assisting us to better understand the mounds. Apparently, the “donut” shaped mounds are similar to the remains of Aboriginal dwellings found elsewhere in Victoria.

An invitation from Ben and Leigh provided us with the opportunity to take a stroll in one area of Red Gum forest between Halls Gap and Stawell, with 22 FOGGS members, to talk about the earth structures.

On 10 April our … Read the rest

Installation Of Seat At Fish Falls

After a long break with no activities, because of Covid 19, we were able to have a working bee. On a very pleasant Saturday 10th October

Committee had finally been able to organise with Parks, the purchase and installation of the seat to be installed on the Fish Falls walk. Back in 2017 we had picked out and proposed to Parks a couple of spots along the track which we thought would be suitable sites for the seat. However with changes to Parks staff and changing of FOGGs committee members it has taken a while to all fall into place.

We met at Zumsteins picnic ground and Hanna our Parks contact joined us. After an OH&S briefing and a reminder of the Covid rules we got started. Hanna had brought along a motorized track barrow to carry the seat and quick set cement into the site. As there were … Read the rest

Woohlpooer Excursion (20/10/2019)

Last October we had a fascinating day wandering in the Woohlpooer State Forest with Roger Edwards. Roger ran the Cavendish office for State Forests, and developed a deep affinity with, and knowledge of, Woohlpooer over many years. As well, he is a noted wildlife artist. We joined with Hamilton Field Nats for this, and it was lovely to see old friends/colleagues as well as meet others.

Woohlpooer is a Plains Grassy Woodland; only 3% are left throughout Victoria on public land.

Orchids were the stars of the day, and Roger knew where to find dense patches of these.

We drove to a few different sites within the forest, and had time to explore at leisure. Distance wandered may not have been great at each stop, especially when Dave Munro came in contact with fungi (!) but the excitement of discovery and learning ran high, aided amply by expertise among our … Read the rest

Another Woohlpooer Day

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend the FOGG excursion to Woohlpooer but soon after (Nov 1) I went with the Grampians Australian Plant society to nearby Woorndoo to look at work to protect the rare grasslands on the roadsides and on private property. Fascinating.

We started with looking at  beautiful grassland flowers on two sites alongside the roadside,

We then moved back to the hall to hear speakers present on why these grasslands are so important. Neville Walsh from the Melbourne  Botanic Garden introduced “The forgotten flora of the volcanic plains” . We learnt how rare indeed they are, and some of the reasons for this.  These plains were quickly settled for grazing, and the paucity of classic Australian groups like Grevillea, banksia, Acacia, Epacris meant they were not seen as worth protecting. So now remnants are mainly limited to railway lines and road reserves. And recent management of these … Read the rest

FOGG’s Clean Up Australia 2020

Some of us helped clean up Australia on 1st March, organised and helped by Hannah. We concentrated on Wonderland car park, and then Reid Lookout. For a small group, a lot of rubbish was collected! Most, and most disappointing, was tissues used for toilet paper. Thank goodness for gloves and the pick-up tongs.

We had some positive discussions with tourists, some of whom even assisted by taking bags with them on their walks.

A barbeque donated by Parks and cooked by Rod (thanks Rodney) was a pleasant finale.

Thank you all, especially Hannah, who organised, motivated and took part in such a large amount of cleaning by various groups during the week. Very inspirational, Hannah – thank you!

Leigh Douglas.… Read the rest

Rescuing our Wildlife

A few of us living locally were privileged to get a last minute invitation from Derek Sandow to hear from a group of scientists on where they are currently with working with endangered species in two states . Derek is the Co-ordinator of the Grampians Ark Project.

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The first talk was an update on the Brushtailed Rock Wallaby by Ms Shannon Kleeman (Bsc Hons), University Adelaide, S.A. Shannon has just completed her honours on ‘Non-invasive monitoring and reintroduction biology of brush-tailed rock wallabies in the Grampians National Park’

In the Grampians From 2008 – 2012, 39 were released and only 7 survived. Mortality from predation by foxes actually increased due to people coming in to do monitoring and supplementary feeding. Camera monitoring was introduced in 2014 to minimise disturbance to rock-wallabies and as a more cost-effective option and from the camera data, it was estimated in 2019 that there … Read the rest

WAMA Botanic Garden

There are two exciting developments at the WAMA site between Halls Gap and Pomonal which I think will be of interest to FOGG members.

WAMA is planning to build an art gallery on the site, but are starting with developing the site. They have just completed a fence to keep feral animals out of much of the site, and currently have two exciting projects underway.  The first is to install a grassland area. For a couple of years now Jallukar Landcare has been assisting collecting seed of many local grassland plants, under the guidance of Jess Gardner. Now they have cleared the topsoil away to get rid of most of the weeds (similar to what is described in the Woorndoo article on p 6) and have just this week scattered the seed.

In addition they have received a $48,000 grant from DELWP as part of the department’s Growing Victoria’s Botanic … Read the rest

Golton Gorge

The Walking Track Support Group have now finished their work on the Golton Gorge track. It was to have had an official opening, but it was cancelled due to it being a total fire ban that day. Another opening was planned, but then the virus restrictions came in. But when the Park is reopened that walk will also be open. Several FOGG members have worked with the Walking Track Support Group.… Read the rest

Golton Gorge Track

The Walking Track Support Group have now finished their work on the Golton Gorge track. It was to have had an official opening, but it was cancelled due to it being a total fire ban that day. Another opening was planned, but then the virus restrictions came in. The walk is now open to the public but there is still no word on an official opening. Several FOGG members have worked with the Walking Track Support Group.… Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd