Reaching Traralgon , we turned for the south and could see a power station up ahead , to our surprise there was a lookout , we pulled in for a look . Well that was a surprise , the Loy Yang power station is over to the right and to the left & centre is the open cut coal mine that supplies the power station !!
Back out & the road lead us up the mountain , winding , twisting narrow roads that are used by timber jinkers , fortunately we didn't meet any . Another lookout showed how much plantation timber is grown down here - lots , both pine and eucalyptus . Fires had been through here in the past , dead trees were poking up everywhere .
There are 2 massive towers up on Mt Tassie , we didn't think we'd be able to get anywhere near them , but found a sign saying Observation Point , so up we went - straight under all the stay wires of the most northerly tower . Views were north over Traralgon to the high country - Mt Baw Baw etc , it was very smokey though so vision was a bit restricted .
Back to the road and climbing further , we reached the top and started going down the southern side . To my surprise , we headed into a Mountain Ash forest , the floor of which was covered in tree ferns . The trees were beautiful and plentiful , 50-60m tall and straight !!
A little further down the road was the visitors centre , where we had some lunch before heading out for a walk through the forest . The walks start here or at another carpark 1klm away , but they all loop round together to finish back here .
We chose to walk down to Corrigin's suspension bridge , then up & down Fern Gully , then back via the scenic loop , about 3klms all up . The bush is breathtaking , a special place to be , the paths meandering around the hills & gullies taking you through mother natures wonderland .
Some of the mountain ash are extremely tall , 7or8m round at the base , and still over a metre thick at the 30m mark - incredible , and did I mention straight !!
After a lot of looking up , we arrived above the suspension bridge . Some history - it was originally moved here in 1938 , but rebuilt by the army reserve in 1982 . It is in a sea of tree ferns .
Crossing the bridge , we turned left & headed up fern gully , where we walked along underneath most of the ferns - stunning !!
Back to the suspension bridge again , then along the scenic track winding our way up & down back to the visitor centre . As we left the majority of ferns behind , the mountain ash again dominated .
Anyone for a giant game of cricket ??
Here's Lyn beside one of the trees , just to give some scale to the trees .
It's not all trees & ferns , there are some flowers as well .
Back to the ute , we took another road, gravel as it turns out , to the south out of the National Park and through some more pine plantations .
Through some backroads we found our way back to Rosedale and then Sale to refuel . The fuel light came on before we got to Rosedale , not a big issue , we seem to have about 30 litres left when the light comes on .
That's our day done !! Here's a map link :- https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WMaE1r3sMk4msF0Dykeouc11jRE&usp=sharing
No comments:
Post a Comment