A trip down to the South Coast mountains today at the invite of friends. I have always wanted to poke around the area because of its proximity to Reidsdale which was originally a family holding. Today was all about Lilly Pillis. My friend studies native bush foods and I never miss the opportunity to go bush walking with him when I can.
Joseph Banks first recorded the tree at Botany Bay. I tried a few and found them very astringent. For want of a better word I would call them 'tart'.
(update 11 pm Email from my knowledgeable friend...)
"The only Lilly Pilly that I can find endemic to the area that has white fruit and the shiny leaves is Acmena hemilampra. Good indoor plant grown from seed."
The tree can grow to 30m in the wild and is classed as a rain forest species and the Buckenbowra Wilderness is a rain forest. The walk is very scenic. Rolling rain forest gullies with almost magical little waterfalls one must cross above the falls. We were about two hours slow walk into the bush when I heard the strangest noise.
The noise was repetitive and seemed to have a sort of rhythm. A tapering drumming sound that was neither wood nor rock and was simply too repetitive to be the cracking of a falling tree. The sound was very close and I literally spent 5 minutes trying to locate where the sound was coming from and then we saw it...
Down in the creek gully, 20M up a tree was a lone Gang gang Cockatoo plucking Lilli pilli fruits. The intermittent fruits the bird dropped were falling and bouncing on palm tree leaves below... a repetitious bouncing rhythm. Mystery solved. I was hoping for better photos but the one above was the best I could capture.
Two of us survived unscathed... my learned friend ended with a trouser leg soaked in blood.
I also noted several trees nearly ring barked by pig-tusk scraping so there is no shortage of Boars showing off. Signage tells me there is a dog and fox problem as well.
A wet moss rock garden
One thing I can comment on in the area is the variety of habitats over short distances. Everywhere is lush but the gullies are lusher and filled with palms and tree ferns. The forest areas can be impenetrably dense with understory or a bit more open broken only by a sea of ancient tree ferns.
I actually think there is still a lot left to discover in our ACT parks but I still enjoy visiting different National Parks because the variety is endless.
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Fabulous Dave, and gorgeous pics! I regularly go walking with a bunch of old nursing mates, but missed the Corn Trail outing... they still go on about it years later as it nearly killed them. Haha! Glad I missed it, but your walk sounds a lot better.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jude! lol I didn't do the whole track. I'd say your friends are spot on. There were some sections yesterday I puffed my way up but the scenery was worth it. legs a bit sore this morning :)
DeleteBeautiful looking area Dave. Thanks for the pics.
ReplyDeleteKeith.
Your welcome mate.
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