an early morning walk ....

We recently stayed at the Colac Colac Caravan Park near Corryong. Whilst there we did a few short walks, one of them being to the Nariel Creek Bridge on the Murray Valley Highway. Its a very short stroll from the caravan park, but something to do on a lazy day!

Nariel Creek on the Benambra - Corryong Road in Victoria is a locality about 300km east-northeast of Melbourne and is at an altitude of about 426m above sea level.

The creek is also well known for fishing as seen in this article from Explore Australia. It's a small to medium sized stream that flows from the Mountains near the Alpine National Park to join the Murray River below Towong.  It is known as the Corryong Creek downstream of the Colac Colac caravan park and the Jerimal Creek (mainly by locals) downstream from Corryong.  It is an excellent trout stream, with a mixture of deep pools and gravel runs. 

Nariel Creek is also known to have Australia's longest continuous Folk Festival of traditional folk music and dance.  Held on the banks of the creek from Boxing Day to New Year's Day each year.

below: images around and under the Nariel Creek bridge (over the Murray Valley Highway) area, including the rest area below the bridge.

Certainly a pleasant little walk to stretch the legs after a lazy day around the camp site!

 

Further blog posts will be uploaded over the next few days on our visit to NE Victoria.

Previous blog posts on the drive from Ballan to Corryong via the Hume Freeway and the Murray Valley Highway is HERE and our camping experience at the Colac Colac Caravan Park is HERE.

I appreciate the helpful advice that is available on the following websites:


Old Tallangatta

Colac Colac Caravan Park

Tallangatta (Sydney Morning Herald)

The Mitta Mitta River (DPI)

Lake Hume (Wikipedia)

Huon Reserve Rest Area (Caravan.com)

Explore Australia

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up the Wallaby Track ....

The Central Highlands and Goldfields area of Victoria provide ideal cycling and walking conditions. There are some fantastic hill and bush tracks for mountain bikers as well as great options for tourers.

Whatever transport you use to get around the Goldfields area, you will find walking is ideal. The network of National and State Parks all have walks ranging from short loops around the picnic grounds to overnight expeditions like the 18klm Pyrenees Walking Track in the Pyrenees State Forest or the 21 klm Beeripmo Walk in the Mt Buangor State Park.

The premier walk - the Great Dividing Trail, also called the Goldfields Track - traverses the Goldfields from Bendigo to Daylesford where it splits into two legs: from Daylesford to Ballarat and from Daylesford to Bacchus Marsh.

magic scenery wherever you look!

Located in central Victoria, west of Melbourne, this 270 kilometer trail passes through what was once the richest gold mining area of the world. The trail design itself is very unusual as it has three arms, which meet at the historic town of Daylesford. This means that if you walk this as a through track, you will only complete two of the arms.

Smaller sections are also designed to be accessible to day trippers.

The Goldfields Trail - is a multi-use track through the historical Goldfields region of Victoria to the north-west and west of Melbourne. The trail passes along the southern most parts of Australia's Great Dividing Range. The trail combines goldrush heritage and natural beauty. Its a pathway to the Goldfields hidden treasures!

The community managed trail has four major tracks, each of which is in turn separated into thermic walks that can be easily accessed for a day or shorter walks. Many sections of the trail are suitable for the casual stroller and there are some very rugged parts as well, such as the Lerderderg section.


The Wallaby Track (92klm) formerly known as Federation Track, runs from Buninyong, via Ballarat, Creswick and Mollongghip to Daylesford.

so much to see! so much to do!

 

most of the above information comes from the above book as well as the following URL's:

1. The Goldfields Track - Wallaby Track

2. The Goldfields Track - Wallaby Track

for maps and guides click HERE

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where is Mount Bonan Yowing?

Last weekend we drove from Ballan to Mt Buninyong (Victoria, Australia) via Mt Egerton and Yendon as seen in the following blog posts:

Ballan to Mt Egerton

Mt Egerton to Yendon

Our destination was Mount Bonan Yowing or better known as Mt Buninyong, an extinct volcano that rises to 719 metres (2,359 ft) above sea level. We had not been here for many years and we were anxious to explore this area again.

The views are still magnificent, the weather in winter is still as cold as ever, though I must admit, we were lucky.  Even though the day was cold, we had no rain at all.  It often snows here in July, so it is worth noting to keep away from there over the next few weeks!

The following images show just how beautiful the scenery is from the Mt Buninyong Road:

... and did you know that Mt Buninyong was originally named Mount Bonan Yowing? It is said to derive from an Aboriginal word meaning a man lying on his back with his knee raised. It was from the peak that Thomas Learmonth and a group of squatters first viewed the Ballarat area in 1837.

The road is quite safe, it is narrow and only 'one way', but do take it slowly as there are many walkers and tourists in the area, especially over the weekends.

 

Mount Buninyong, located in Buninyong is one of the more recognizable landmarks in the entire Goldfields region and is used as an antenna site for radio, TV and telephone equipment. The summit has been a minor tourist destination and picnic spot for over 140 years. The major part of the mountain was cleared for agriculture or housing, but widespread protests during the 1980s led to the preservation of native forest cover on much of the upper portion.

When visiting Mt Buninyong or walking the trails, do keep your eyes open for the 'hidden beauty' as seen in the images above. Be it fungi, dead gum nuts, a leaf, a branch of a gum tree or moss on a fallen branch .... there is beauty all around us and we can only see this when our eyes are open.

“You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut.” 

 ― Dr. Seuss

Mt Buninyong is also part of the Ballarat Cycle Classic - Mt Buninyong Classic Challenge of 60 km and in January (usually) the Cycling Australia Road National Championships are held. Though do check Cycling Australia's website for "up to date" events as the Buninyong Cycling website is often out of date.

The following are a few URL's that maybe of interest:

Mt Buninyong

Walks on Mt Buninyong

Mt Buninyong Recreation Reserve

Mt Buninyong LandCare

Museum Victoria's images of Mt Buninyong

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exploring the area south of Ballan.

Today was a beautiful day to be out on the bike exploring the area where we live, as you can read in the previous blog post John rode Glenmore Road earlier today.

We left Ballan mid morning to do the circuit to Bacchus Marsh and back along the freeway - the M8 - to home.

all of the above images were taken along the Ballan-Geelong Road, between Ballan (E) and the turnoff to Glenmore Road. As seen in the greyed area on the following map:

Once we turned left into Glenmore Road, John rode the bike into Bacchus Marsh, see the previous blog post.

The scenery can be quite extreme along this part of Glenmore Road, as seen in the following images:

 

above: and it was here at this intersection that we needed to turn left to go towards Bacchus Marsh.

To explore this part of Moorabool, you can take the car along these quieter roads, so one does not need to ride a bike!
Blog post to follow on the next section of the ride into Bacchus Marsh.

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a winters walk ....

Here we are in the middle of winter, but every now and then we actually do get a nice day ... nice enough to put on a jacket and go for a walk that is.....

with the camera!

so here are a few captures of what I saw on yesterday's walk...

above: this is moss sitting in between the pavement.

  
above: tiny purple flowers outside the school

above: yellow flowers blowing in the breeze!

above: an old fence, full of this bush, hiding these tiny berries.

 

above: lovely colourful leaves and berries against a tin shed.

above: there are always daisies somewhere, dead and alive!

above: strange green shrub with white, furry bits on the leaves!

above: blue daisies

above: white daisies spreading out over the pathway!

above: I think I have captured every colour available in a daisy by now!

above: I did spy, high up above me, a flowering gum.

Now I thought they flowered about January / February and was surprised to see this example.

Then I found out there are probably more winter flowering gums in the southwest of the country where winter rainfall makes it the season of plenty, but winter flowerers occur all around Australia, in a myriad of colours.

At a conservative estimate, there are over 900 species and subspecies of eucalypts in Australia. They make up the very essence of 'the bush'. Generally the mass of olive foliage overpowers the distinct, star-like flowers of eucalypts.

But at certain times of the year, gum trees burst into vivid pink, red, yellow, orange, purple or white flowers. Many of them spread their colours in spring and summer, counting on attracting the fresh influx of insects brought by the warmer weather.

Insects also pollinate some late autumn and winter flowering species.

But come winter, there are fewer insects to transfer the pollen of eucalypts, and the winter flowerers turn instead to the birds, and the mammals.

With all this beautiful foliage around to brighten up the coldest winter walk, there's little excuse for not getting out and checking the winter flowers. After all, the birds and the bees do it, so why can't we?

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