Category: Articles

For our poetry corner this time, I would like to print the poem Stan chose to be read at his funeral. FOGG members’ religious views vary greatly. Some of us are active members of Christian churches, others have little or no belief. But all of us, I hope, can appreciate the love of nature evidenced here.

bq. Oh! the place where I worship is the wide open spaces
Filled by the hand of the Lord
Where the trees of the forest are like pipes of an organ
And the breeze plays an amen chord. ==
==
Oh the stars are the candles and they light up the mountains –
Mountains are altars of God
Oh the place where I worship is the wide open spaces
Where the sun warms the peaceful sod ==
==
There’s a carpet of green, and the sky blue roof above
I’m welcome there alone or … Read the rest

We reported last year how the students at Halls Gap Primary School were seeking to have Mackey’s Peak renamed. Completely renaming it was not possible, but last week a new sign explaining the history of the name was unveiled at the foot of the steps to the Pinnacle. Here is an excerpt from the school newsletter:

bq. Students, parents, friends and community members gathered to celebrate the historical naming of Mackey’s Peak with the name well known to the community – ‘Cherub Peak’. Cherub Peak was named following the death of Agnes Folkes, the three month old daughter of John and Phoebe. Agnes became ill and it was not possible to take her to a doctor as all tracks were flooded. She was buried close to the family home at the base of a mountain. The locals began to refer to the mountain as Cherub Peak. It was later officially … Read the rest

_Geraldine and Geoff Harris_

Our walk to Golton Gorge took us twice as long this morning because we stopped frequently along the way to identify birds and look at flowering plants.

Our bird list included:

bq. Scarlet Robin, Superb Fairy Wren, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Crimson Rosella, Dusky Woodswallow, Emu (h), Striated Thornbill, White-throated Treecreeper, White-eared Honeyeater, Grey fantail, Spotted pardalote, Yellow Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, and Kookaburra. The Tawny- crowned Honeyeaters took us a while to identify despite good views of the long curved bill, white eyebrow and black mask curving down along the white breast but Graham Pizzy’s description of their “beautiful, liquid, metallic phrases” was the clue we were looking for.

The flowering plants we noted were:

bq. Silver Banksia Banksia marginata, Erect Guinea-flower Hibbertia riparia, Bundled Guinea-flower Hibbertia fasciculata ssp prostrata, Twiggy Guinea-flower Hibbertia virgata, Common Correa Correa reflex, Hairy Correa Correa aemula, Dusty Millar Spyridium parviflolium, Brown Stringybark … Read the rest

It was a small group who braved another wild and wet afternoon to hear Brendan Nugent present his research into this rare plant, Daviesia braevis. But we learned so much! Not just about this plant, but on the techniques of measuring fertility, the destructive behaviour of cockatoos and wallabies, the challenges of determining the age of Australian plants ( counting growth rings works far better for European and North American climates than for ours), and the concept of rare across time as distinct from rare geographically.

For more info you can contact Pauline 0437 463 378. … Read the rest

_Wendy Bedggood_

Saturday 10th July turned out to be a wild weather day and with warnings to “not shelter under trees’ this activity was shifted to the Wartook café. Ewen had a large board with lots of photos he had taken of fungi found in the local area, he also had several books, including the Fungimap book to which he contributed photos. Spore patterns can help with identification of fungi and Ewen had prepared some for us to look at. These were fungi which were placed gill side down on newsprint (which was black and white) then left overnight so the spores shed. The colour and pattern of the spores could easily be seen and quite fascinating to observe.

We also talked about lichens which took me back to the 70’s when I had a collection and was studying them as one of my projects. Lichens are formed by a … Read the rest

_David Witham_

‘Enthusiasm’ was the watchword for the day as around 26 members gathered in the mural room for an initial power point presentation by geologist Ross Cayley. The number in the audience was evidence of this, but it was more than matched by the daylong exuberance of our mentor, who is obviously totally absorbed in his subject and more than willing to enlighten the layman about its latest theories and conclusions.

Ross set about destroying the notion, with which many of us were familiar, that the Grampians sandstones had originally been something like 10 km thick, because the present eroded remnants of this huge pile do not evidence the characteristics to be expected from such pressure, and the increasingly benign climate over the last 400 million years could hardly have caused such an amount of erosion. This idea is backed by the results of modern techniques of magnetic and … Read the rest

The AG has met twice since the last newsletter.

In June we learnt that the park was to receive $1 million dollars for upgrades: Rosea Lookout and Redman’s Lookout top priority and then McKenzie Falls walk, from Fish Falls to Zumsteins. Visitor services have also received extra money for the replacement of toilet blocks and picnic tables. Buandik Campground is to receive a minor upgrade.

The Dunkeld walk over the June long weekend was very successful and may become an annual event. Heatherlie – A management plan for the site was completed a few years ago. Staff will be working with Janet Witham to look at future external funding.

We then travelled out along the Mt Zero Rd. At the edge of Halls Gap, Dave Handscombe provided an overview on the Halls Gap township protection plan, explaining the different fire protection techniques that DSE and PV are involved in. At … Read the rest

Along with our Fungi Frolic (see later) we held a committee meeting.

Briefly: we decided to make a donation of $1000 to the Poola Foundation (based in Hamilton & endorsed by VNPA) for Fire Ecology & Community Work. Poola Foundation has offered to match donations through VPNA. We also passed on a donation we had received to the Brush-tailed rock wallaby project, to assist in the cost of batteries for remote cameras etc.

It was agreed that Margo follow up the purchase of a ‘hard-drive’ storage space for FOGG files and also that we purchase appropriate office items for our room at GNP administration area. An amount of $500 was agreed upon.

Plans were discussed re gathering at Redgum walk for dedication of the new Red-gum table. National Parks staff who were involved in installing the new table will be invited, as well as some FOGG members and Stan Parfett’s … Read the rest

Mike Stevens has moved on, and will be greatly missed for his enthusiasm for protecting the Park’s biodiversity and the need for research. His position has been advertised, but there’s no news yet of a replacement. We wish him all the best in his new position – which is truly a new position as he is the first person in this role. I hope that once he is settled in he will be able to explain what it entails.

A note from Mike…

bq. Dear all, ==
==
I have accepted a position with Parks Victoria as Manager, land and seascape-scale conservation which presents an exciting opportunity for me to follow my passion in conservation across the state. After 8 years, my final day coordinating the Grampians Natural Values Management Program will be on Friday 25th June and I will take two weeks holiday before starting my new job on … Read the rest

Welcome to Jacinta Williamson who has been appointed as park planner (previously Sylvia’s position). Jacinta moved to Halls Gap from Melbourne in March this year and was previously working with DSE as a Policy Officer in the Parks and Protected Areas Unit. She worked with DSE for four years and commenced with Parks Victoria as Park Planner, Grampians in August. She has a background in applied science and is
passionate about the environment and looking forward to working with FOGG. As are we!… Read the rest