Oh YEH!
Summer Thunderstorms boomed all around me as i swung gently in the hammock under a clear evening sky. Clear sky? you ask! I was watching the storms roll up over the Main range and explode on the Alps. Living in the rain shadow makes for excellent storm watching, however my garden wishes we were nearer the rain clouds!
I could see the storm unleashing its distant deluge. The lightning seemingly repeatedly striking the same place, the rain front clearly visible and the thunder shaking the sky itself. Nothing beats a thunderstorm rolling up the Thredbo Valley.
Tomorrow would be a fantastic day to walk the Waterfall Track with my son, Jarrah. Surely this rain has caused a momentary peak in the river and besides bush walking with my five year old is FUN!
The Waterfall Track begins at Sawpit Creek, just beyond the National Park Gates on the Perisher Road. It is an easy to moderate walk of 6km and at about halfway it passes over the creek at lovely little waterfall. It travels through montane forest, open damp sites, steep sided gullies and finally winding down through amazing massive granite tors on dry ridge tops. Quite a wide variety of ecosystems in such an easy walk.
We set off and quickly recognised signs of the previous nights downpour. The trail had flood debris washed along it, across it and all around it! It was a real eyeopener as to the difference even a small track can make in a forest. Channelling water unnaturally, collecting forest litter haphazardly and don’t even start me on habitat fragmentation!
The forest smelled fresh and seemed to sparkle as we wandered along the riverbank which was filled with Woolly Tea-Tree (Leptospermum lanigerum) almost in flower. There were a few early bloomers but for the full show I say wait until the full moon! Jarrah pointed out the oh-so-lovely Grass Trigger Plant (Stylidium granimifolium) and then we spotted an awesome bouquet of Snowgum flowers (Eucalyptus pauciflora). The cool montane forest shade was most welcome and the herbs love it too. We spotted quite a few blooms including three Daisy species, the attention seeking purple of the Mountain Daisy (Brachyscome tenuiscapa) the optical white of the Hill Daisy (Brachycome aculeata) and the somewhat subdued Craspedia (sp?). Sharp eyes found the Alpine Ballart (Exocarpus nanus) in both flower and (false) fruit which look like bright red cherries dotted among leafless green branches. Eyes back to the ground and we soon delighted in the wagon wheel seed heads of the Australian Caraway (Oreomyrrhis eripoda) however, beware when admiring these one may run into some sticky seeds of the Biddy Biddy (Achena zelandiae), which we found growing close by! The lovely little Thyme Speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia) is so hairy you can imagine snuggling up amongst its leaves on a cold mountain night.
Above us we could hear kookaburras and one was obviously young, as its creaky voice gave away! We began scanning the trees to find the family and were rewarded with looking directly up at the nest just as the adult returned to feed the raucous youngster. Such a vocal event and one like I had never heard before, what a treat! We didn’t see the baby but the song and nest site were a gift! We will definitely return to watch the youngster grow!
The trail then headed out into an open section where the ground was damp. Here we saw the happiest flower of all, a Buttercup (Ranunculus sp). There were sedges and grasses with a few tea trees also. Crossing back into the forest we wound up and down a few small gullies stopping to admire the Alpine Speedwell (Derwent derwentiana) in the gullies and the and the Pale Vanilla Lily (Arthopodium milleflorum) along the track. In the cradle of a eucalypt trunk we saw a Potato Orchid (Gastrodia sesamoides) and growing below in the disturbed soil was the delightful Trailing Pratia (Pratia pedunculata).
As we approached the waterfall the vegetation became bushier the terrain steeper and the Alpine Ash towered above us. It was a cool moist gully and the plant life was abundant. The vivacious Golden Shaggy Pea (Oxylobium ellipticum) was a treat and the Tasman Flax lily (Dianella tasmanica) was awesome. The last vestiges of bloom on the Large Leaf Daisy Bush (Olearia megalophylla), were hugging the creek and growing alongside the ‘soon to bloom’ Woolly Tea Tree.
Now that we had walked 3km those five year old legs began to get weary and so, rather than tackle the hilly, though Glamorous, Granite tors we decided to return the way we had come….. in the hope of seeing a kookaburra or two…
With the Wind in your face and the Flies on your back i wish you all happy wanderings….
Marion.
alpinebloom.me 