Category: Articles

From the Editor (also From the President)

Welcome to the Summer edition of the newsletter. Once again I am writing this summer newsletter with worrying news coming in of fires in our neighbourhood, including in our park yet again. The Moyston fire was scary with quite a lot of farmland burnt.  And the Rocklands/ Black Range fire was in that most important state park, under the management of our Grampians team and containing quite a few important cultural heritage sites. The change brought lightning strikes within our park, and a few small but worrying fires, but also rain. It has been a torrid start for the year for our Park staff and still several months of fire weather to go. For Stawell, the whole year was the fifth driest on record,and was the third successive year of below average rainfall, with a particularly dry Spring .

However visitor numbers have improved, and it is good to see … Read the rest

From the Park Desk

David Roberts

I hope all Friends of the Grampians Gariwerd had a wonderful, safe and rewarding Christmas period. The Grampians National Park lived up to its reputation as a great holiday destination with crowds flocking to the area and enjoying the best we can offer. The team here were kept busy servicing the facilities, responding to visitor enquiries, providing customer service and trying to manage the huge crowds particularly through the central corridor.

Over these periods we are fortunate to have 2 additional Rangers join our team to assist in the increased workload. As always, the Grampians have attracted 2 excellent Summer Rangers, Amelia Travers and Matthew White, who are invaluable over the December and January period. They work across the range of our teams functions, provide weekend capacity for customer service and business continuity during periods of extreme weather and bushfires. We thank them in advance for their tireless … Read the rest

Activity Survey Report

Wendy Bedggood

Last year I sent out a survey to help us better plan our activities. I would like to thank all those who responded, around 2/3 of our members which I was very pleased with. One third of our members live in Melbourne or other regional areas and 1 interstate member. Nearly half  the respondents indicated distance or lack of mobility meant  receiving the newsletter  was their priority. We will plan to have a mix of activities on both weekends and a few on weekdays as sometimes that is the best time for our guest leader or speakers. The ‘Nature walks’ was the most popular activity selected, so we will make sure we have several of these throughout the year.… Read the rest

Lunch at Deirdres

Wendy Bedggood

We had about 18 members and partners at our  last activity for the year which was a lunch at Laharum Grove an olive plantation with a restaurant ‘Deirdres’.  Deirdre uses mostly locally sourced, in season produce which was served on platters and we just grazed on each course as it came out. The Olive Grove was burnt during the fires in January and it was good to see many of the trees which are coming back but many have still not sprouted. We discussed some ideas for activities for the coming year and walk destinations.… Read the rest

Piccaninny Walk

Wendy Bedggood

The first Saturday in November, 18 of us met at the Piccaninny car park. As rain had been predicted for weeks with none showing up, I had predicted this day would be the same, not so. A heavy shower came down just as we were about to set off so we all hopped in the cars till it passed. We set off, a fairly easy walk and managed to spot a couple of orchids and a few other wildflowers notably a cute duck orchid and the bronze Caladenia, I had hoped we may have found more in that far southern part of the Grampians, but like the rest of the area the plants were suffering from lack of rain. We did however find some very interesting yellow worms which at first we thought were the single strands of telecom wire, only they moved when we went to pick … Read the rest

Update On The Grampians Peaks Trail March 2015

Margo Sietsma

Prior to the election both parties made firm commitments to the Trail, and it seems assured that the new government will honour the promise.

The plan is to start with upgrading and building in the popular area near Halls Gap. The first section of the walk starts by following Stony creek past Venus baths, with a new section linking to the Pinnacle track (so not going into the Wonderland Car Park). From the Pinnacle it heads towards Mt Rosea Carpark, with a hikers camp site about a kilometre before reaching the road and there will be a separate camp for groups on the other side of Siverband falls Rd.. The Advisory Group visited the site and I was most impressed. The setting is charming, in low forest with views across to the opposite range. All 12 sites are for a 2 person tent on an elevated timber pad … Read the rest

Round Table Report

Wendy Bedggood

The last Grampians Roundtable meeting for the year was in December. We reviewed the original purpose and role of the roundtable and decided it was still relevant and a worthwhile group to keep going.

It aims to:

  • Improve communication between stakeholders, land management agencies and the community
  • Develop a shared understanding of complex land management issues, including fire management
  • Provide information that can contribute to DEPI and Parks Victoria’s decision making procedures, practices in relation to land management in the Grampians
  • Provide information that can contribute to government policy without being an official or formal source of advice to government.

I represent FOGGs, other members of the group represented are Hamilton Field Nats, CFA, Landcare, Wine growers, Apiarists, tourism industry, rockclimbers, the VFF, CMA’s, councils and the indigenous community, some of these groups are not regular attendees and we will be looking at ways we can help improve … Read the rest

The status of Long Nosed Potoroo in the Grampians

Mike Stevens, Grampians Wildlife Trust

The Grampians is highly significant as it is the single inland population of Long Nosed Potoroo in Victoria1. Until 2003 there was thought to be only a single population on private property at Pomonal1 with oral history existing of Potoroo visiting peoples veranda’s along at Waterhole Road.  This population was found by John Seebeck during a Christmas field trip in 1970 by members of the Mammal Survey Group of the Field Naturalists Club of the Victoria2.

Yet, in the space of only 8 years , 5 new colonies were found.

The first, in the head waters of the Glenelg River (north of Syphon Road). The second (and only two weeks later), Wimmera Reserves Ranger-in-Charge John Harris picked up a road kill on Grampians Road in the button grass heath of the Wannon Divide.  In summer 2009, the first ever widespread … Read the rest

Thelma Argall

Dave Munro

The Grampians region has lost another long time, strong supporter of the natural environment.

Thelma Argall was farewelled at a graveside service at Redbank Cemetery on Monday 29 December. She died a few months after being diagnosed with cancer. Typically she refused to have any treatment and stoically faced her fate.

Thelma gave truth to the adage that behind every successful man is a woman. While Ian McCann, her partner of many years, was highly regarded as a nature photographer, author and field naturalist, it was Thelma who performed the role of manager and field assistant. She was proficient at finding that elusive orchid or fungus and there is no doubt that her powers of observation matched Ian’s. They were a true partnership. They were both selfless in their willingness to share their knowledge and passion for the bush.

Her life-long love of nature started as a young … Read the rest

History Corner

FOGG member Win Pietsch has sent us some extracts from the minutes of the Stawell Field Naturalist Club, of which she, Thelma and Ian were core members.

 July ’57: Over 300 koalas liberated in Halls Gap area

Feb ’58: Aboriginal caves discovered in the Billywing, Glenisla. A visit to them in March.

July ’60: Ian McCann discovered snow daisies Brachyscame nivalis, growing at the southern end of Major Mitchell Plateau, confirmed as the most westerly occurrence of this plant in Australia.

Aug ’63: Mr Wakefield camped in the Grampians and came to check the contents of an owl pellet deposit found in the Victoria range. He sieved through the contents and found bone fragments of up to 400 animals, including 21 native species.

Feb’ 77: A greater long eared bat found for the first time in the Asses Ears area. Bat trapping in the Victoria Valley captured … Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd