Walk Report August 29

 

What a fabulous walk this was! 15 of us assembled at the Surface Point picnic area, in the Enfield State Forest. This was the site of the old Chinese Camp, beside Mount Misery Creek. This was once a small, thriving town with dwellings, stores and other enterprises, supported by gold and market gardens. A single tombstone at the start of the walk is dedicated to the Chinese community.

The Mount Misery area was extensively mined and the evidence is everywhere. White quartz is scattered over the ground in the pock marked terrain and washed away stream beds with eroded banks are indications ofdredge mining in search of alluvial gold. The remains of stone structures and a dam wall are also present.

This was a real bush walk, along single file tracks beside water races and up and down steep hills and gullies. It was certainly testing at times but everyone rose to the challenge. We all enjoyed the “banana” break in the sunshine, out of the wind.

The bush was fairly dry and comments were made about the lack of White Heath, that should be prolific in the area at this time. There was some Pink Heath, Prickly Moses Acacia, Prickly Acacia/Kangaroo Thorn, and other acacias, beautifully off set by the complimentary, vibrant, purple of the trailing  Hardenbergia. A  most pleasant surprise, in a dry exposed area track side, was a patch of Nodding Greenhood orchids, with a few Tall ones nearby.

At the completion of the nearly 8km. Long Gully loop, we settled down for lunch at the picnic ground before heading back to Sebastopol – tired, but with big smiles on our faces. Thank you, Jean, for a wonderful walk. We all appreciated the effort that went into its organisation, including the information relative to the Mount Misery Creek area. Thanks also to our Whip, Chris, who stepped in for Graeme, who was unwell. 

 

Helen Mc.