Category: Articles

April 24 meeting with Dave Roberts for an update on what was happening in the Park

Flood recovery work after 2 ½ years is nearly complete. Last to be finished will be the Zumsteins area hopefully in time for a spring opening. The footbridge damaged at McKenzie falls during the floods will be air lifted out in the next week or two and it is hoped the walk from Zumsteins to McKenzies Falls will be open in 2 months time. Venus Baths and Splitters Falls will be open to the public in the next couple of weeks.

 

Recent fires in Victoria Valley. These fires took 5 weeks to get under control. There were some areas of intense fire and some areas where prior planned burns 8 months prior had moderated the fire. The area has been gated off and as areas are assessed and deemed safe some roads will be opened soon. There is only funding to rehabilitate the dozer lines, money for all other … Read the rest

FOGG DATES FOR THIS QUARTER:

 

Please bear in mind that changes may need to be made, and some dates couldn’t be settled before going to print.. Always ring the listed contact person to find out any changes and to let them know you are coming.

 

July 4: Bioscan report at 5.30 Mural room , Parks Office Halls Gap. Ryan Duffy, Team Leaser Natural values will talk to us about the recent Bioscan, and projects arising from it. This is in the school holidays and we plan to advertise it to the public. Contact Margo. (5356 4524 or 0429 201139 or ).

 

 

July : Fungi Frolic (date yet to be fixed after it had to be postponed ). We are planning to combine with Jallukar Landcare for an afternoon excursion led by Bruce Fuehrer, followed by a meal then a talk with photos. If you wish to be informed as to … Read the rest

ART ACTIVITIES IN THE GRAMPIANS

 

Did you know there is a group working towards building a Wildlife Art gallery in Halls Gap. More information is on their website: http://www.wama.net.au/

We have also received flyers for workshops to be held in Halls Gap.

 

Grampians Brushes 7-12 September

 

“a unique opportunity for artists to develop their passion of expression in one of Australia’s most beautiful natural environments”. For more information: www.grampiansbrushes.com.au

 

or ring 0428 825 971

 

 … Read the rest

REFURBISHMENT OF SWIMMING AREA AT LAKE BELLFIELD

 

 

Halls Gap Tourism have approached GWMWater seeking permission to reinstate the swimming area near the toilets at Lake Bellfield, opposite Silverband Falls Rd. Before the long drought it was very popular. But then the water receded and, as it did so, trees (mainly wirilda) colonised the bank. Then as the dam refilled, the trees all died. GWM asked the HG group to check what we thought, and your committee had no objections.

 … Read the rest

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF ZUMSTEINS – 22 SEPTEMBER 2013

The 100 Year celebration of Zumsteins will be held on Sunday 22 September 2013 at Zumsteins Picnic Ground in the Grampians National Park. The day will be also a celebration for the restoration works that has happened since the 2011 flood and storm event.

A small group have come together from the local community, the Horsham Historical Society, Wartook Tourism Association and Parks Victoria to plan for this special day. They would like to invite anybody who has enjoyed or has a strong association to the area, to come and celebrate this much-loved place created over one hundred years ago by Walter Zumstein. The celebrations begin at 10.30am with a number of speakers and displays bringing to life the many memories of the area, and of Walter Zumstein and his family. There will also be many activities such as a community bike ride from Rosebrook, a community picnic and children’s … Read the rest

FLOOD RECOVERY UPDATES

Fish Falls Walking Track Reopens for the June Long Weekend

In a significant milestone for the Grampians Flood Recovery Program, Parks Victoria advises that the MacKenzie River Walk between Zumsteins Picnic Area and Fish Falls has re-opened.

 This walk sustained extensive damage during the January 2011 floods that impacted the Grampians region. Works have been completed along the entire length of the track to reduce ongoing maintenance and improve the experience for visitors.  

 While the restoration of Zumsteins Picnic Area continues, visitors are advised to park in the car park at the western end of the picnic area and following the directional signs. These signs will guide visitors across the MacKenzie River, past the three Pise Cottages and along a new section of walking track before linking with the original MacKenzie River Walk.

 The section of walking track between Fish Falls and MacKenzie Falls will be open in late … Read the rest

April 13: Rock Art activity

A good turn-out on a cool autumn to walk into the wilds and try to find some rock shelters with Aboriginal art. Despite getting lost on the way in … purely because the old fire line from 30 years ago, that somebody said you could drive a Corolla along, was now completely overgrown … we found ourselves together again and we met up at one of the sites. Crowded around a small overhang where nobody could see anything, a bearded bloke said we were looking at Aboriginal rock art. Where? …but when we looked, sure enough there were a few red marks….Yes, and possibly even stick figures. Hard to see but, although it looked as if some of them could fall off any minute, we were assured it had been like that for that same 30 years. Stained into the rock, it had been there for nobody knows how long, … Read the rest

FLOOD RECOVERY UPDATES

 

Fish Falls Walking Track Reopens for the June Long Weekend

In a significant milestone for the Grampians Flood Recovery Program, Parks Victoria advises that the MacKenzie River Walk between Zumsteins Picnic Area and Fish Falls has re-opened. This walk sustained extensive damage during the January 2011 floods that impacted the Grampians region. Works have been completed along the entire length of the track to reduce ongoing maintenance and improve the experience for visitors.

While the restoration of Zumsteins Picnic Area continues, visitors are advised to park in the car park at the western end of the picnic area and following the directional signs. These signs will guide visitors across the MacKenzie River, past the three Pise Cottages and along a new section of walking track before linking with the original MacKenzie River Walk.

The section of walking track between Fish Falls and MacKenzie Falls will be open in … Read the rest

THE BURNING ISSUE

 

After the discussion at the two advisory group meetings, I wrote the letter below to several local politicians, with copies to DSE and Parks. I sent it as an individual, not as Advisory group nor as a Foggie.

I am writing to you over my deep concern as to some unforeseen consequences of the burn targets set after the Bushfire Royal Commission. I am not at this point commenting on the targets themselves, but on how wildfires and different suppression activities are not taken into account.

The recent fire in the Grampians highlights the problem. The fire burnt through 28,920 hectares, almost one fifth of the park’s 168,110 hectares, of which 15,000 hectares was planned to be burnt this year. And this only 7 years after the Mt Lubra fires, so that now only one third of the Park’s vegetation is more than 7 years old. Yet under the … Read the rest

The missing fauna of the Grampians – Quolls By Mike Stevens with Eric Barber

 

Official wildlife database records are poor when attempting to understand the historic habitat ranges of many wildlife species. This creates difficulties when investigating the potential for large-scale fauna restoration opportunities across landscapes such as the Grampians. Common questions arise; What species used to occur in the landscape? How abundant were they? What was there habitat preference? Why did they go extinct?

My search started when comparing the data of previous small mammal captures by Seebeck1 in the 1970’s, or Cockburn2 in the 1980’s with recent small mammal trapping in the Grampians3. It is clear that species such as Long Nosed Potoroo, Southern Brown Bandicoot and Smokey Mouse have declined. This is in addition to the species already locally extinct such as White Footed Rabbit Rat, Southern Bettong, Western Barred Bandicoot and New Holland Mouse found by Wakefield4 in the 1960’s in Grampians cave deposits … Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd