Victorian interlude

On my way back north from Tassie I caught up with my Victorian sister Colleen at James Reserve, a free camp near Swanpool. It’s a pleasant grassy area beside this small burbling creek, and it has a short walk up the ridge behind it.

In the Strathbogie Ranges, its most notable feature are the huge granite boulders that have tumbled to stack, often incredibly balanced, sometimes nerve-wrackingly close to the path as you climb.

My sister took this shot of me, showing just how very big these boulders are.

Mossed and lichened, they are all eye-catching.

But when not goggling at them or watching where I put my feet, the sporadic glimpses of the range are constantly eclipsed by the trees of this forest.

The main trees are apparently Mountain Grey Gums and Peppermints, but as always it is the bark that draws my eye. Here it is the extremely vivid green of the lichen that decorates this shaggy trunk.

Or the twisted contortions that this big tree has undergone in its life.

The pick has to be the strange head that this tree has spawned, ears alert and gaping maw ready to frighten small children, as it lurches out from the main trunk.

The walk winds back down to the creek and the bush becomes more gentle, with trees taking over from the boulders.

An easy and rewarding walk, and so different from my Tassie walks that It helped me re-orient myself…