After the Fire

It’s been pointed out that I’ve been a bit slack updating the blog. In my defence it’s been pretty busy up here and then to top it off I got a rotten cold.

The bushfire may be out but the real work is just starting. The fire burnt 48% of the Grampians National Park including the areas most frequented by tourists. The Parks Victoria team in Halls Gap has been reorganised to better manage the repair of the park – put toilets back, clear the walking trails of burnt trees, repair the track where steps and roots have burnt out under the track, etc. This has meant that the team has been supplemented by other Parks Victoria employees on temporary assignment and by local tour operators and the like who are doing things like walking track assessments. Hopefully the new works will look a little better than this effort at Mackenzie Falls :-)



The road to Dunkeld has been open for a while and the road up to Mt William was opened at the same time. Ironically, the communications equipment on the top of Mt William saved a lot of the vegetation up there. In order that communications during the fire wasn’t disrupted, the area was water bombed. This has left an area on the top of Mt William with vegetation but the surrounding area is well burnt. The view from up there (above) is still quite stunning – maybe just a little blacker than normal.


Just a week or so ago the road across to Wartook was opened. The road to Boroka Lookout was opened at the same time. There are 2 pictures showing the view from Boroka. The first picture (above) is the day the fire took off (21st Jan) – the fire started at Mt Lubra which is in the top right of the picture. You can see how much smoke there was drifting down the valley and over Halls Gap (bottom left). The second picture from Boroka (below) shows where the fire burnt out. You can see burnt areas in the foreground, the right hand side of the valley above Halls Gap, patches on Boronia Peak (left hand side of the valley) and over the far side of the Boronia Peak towards Pomonal and Moyston.


Reeds Lookout is open as well. The view from Reeds (below) clearly shows green patches which are areas that were burnt in previous years.


Frank and I took a photographer out behind the locked gates a few weekends ago so he could record some of the results of the fire. He was saying that his brief from the paper he works for is that a picture has to be either happy or sad. Despite the destruction of the fire he felt that he was recording happy pictures. For instance, the grass trees already have growth on them.


Other happy pictures include the epicormic growth on burnt trees.


And finding a Jacky Lizard on the hunt in a burnt out area.


The news for rock climbers is not so good. While we were out with him we took a look at some of the favourite spots used by climbers. The trees are still falling near Assess Ears – just 10 minutes before this picture was taken a tree came down 30 meters from where we were standing. You can see the walking track quite clearly from the road. Usually it is hidden in the trees.


Eastern Wall area was burnt from the road right up the hill. The swimming hole at the bottom of the track is no longer in amongst greenery.


As for the walking track up the hill – it has disappeared. We could only find the start of it because we built a cairn there just before Christmas.


Bundaleer – the track can only be identified because of the steps at the start. After that it just disappears into fallen trees and ash. You can actually see the rock from the road it has been cleared so effectively.


The Mt Rosea campground toilets have been flattened.


And in case you were wondering about the rock itself – there is every chance Mother Nature has reset some routes. The heat was so intense that it has fractured this rock we found. We haven’t been allowed to walk up to Bundaleer, Mt Rosea, Asses Ears, etc because it is too dangerous but it is probable that the heat has had the same effect on some of the climbs – not to mention any bolts in the area. (We actually walked past this rock again yesterday and it looks like even more of it has fractured!)


Frank was up for this weekend. He came out with me on Saturday to look at some water infrastructure over the other side of the Park behind Mt William, and then today Frank helped when the Borya Recovery Team went to the Borya site for a visit. We took some Jute matting up there to try and stabilize the soil. It was very hot despite aiming for an early start.

Tomorrow Frank heads back to Melbourne and then to Washington for a three day course. I have 5 days off starting Thursday – but of course Frank won’t be here for the first three days but at least we’ll have two non work days together. We’ve been having a bit of a look at property, more of a potential investment opportunity than anything else. We saw a great place with awesome views but possibly more land than we really want/need, and another place with great views but not very many trees.

Not sure if I mentioned that Matt and Erin have a puppy now, Daphne the Boston terrier. Matt has to keep his boot on for another 5 weeks and then go back to see Mr Pianta again. We’re off to Daylesford on April 22nd to check out a possible venue for Matt and Erin’s wedding reception, and we’ll spend the night in my friend Julie’s new acquisition which she rents out as holiday accommodation at the moment.


Phil and Jane are well, and Phil is taking a well-earned rest before starting his PhD in May. He and Jane are off to New Zealand for a couple of weeks at the end of April, Well I think that’s all the news for now.