Fri, 19th Dec, 2014 Lower Liffey Reserve (Liffey Falls & Bush Heritage walks)

As we expected it got very cold during the night. It was 6.7 degrees in the van at 6am and only 9 degrees by 8am. I put on the heater so it would get to 10 degrees so that Steve would get out of bed. He said “that’s what his parents do, wait till it reaches 10!”

The sun is out but there are still clouds going over but it looks like it should be a nice day. Made some pikelets for morning tea then we headed off to Liffey Falls.

As we were walking to the info board a young lady jogged down the track towards us and turned round and headed back up. We felt funny as she was in shorts & singlet and we had long sleeve shirts and jumpers, jeans, boots, bum bag and walking sticks – were we over dressed for the walk!! It is still quite cold so I’m not changing!!!

Read the information board about the World Heritage area. William Page opened the first sawmill here in the early 1900s and by the end of WW2 there were three sawmills operating here. Logging continued at Liffey Falls until the 1960s. The track to Liffey Falls closely follows the original logging tramway. Liffey Falls was included in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area in 1989.

Lovely walk through the changing landscape as we followed the Liffey River upstream. A few boardwalks along the way and a couple of bridges.

Crossing the first bridge we spotted a trout.

Spotted one of those bell flowers that I saw in a garden at Deloraine.

Picturesque walk through the ferns and treeferns and easy going so far.

As we came to a clearing it was full of the flowers.

Across another bridge and it looks like Wonga Mick from Maytown way has been here. Lots of rock piles like he does on the North Palmer River.

Through more changing vegetation.

A few huge trees have fallen down along the way.

Now we start to climb upwards.

Reached the intersection – down to the falls or up to the cascades and the top carpark.

The trees cleared and we could look across the valley to Drys Bluff.

Down to the bottom and the falls are lovely. The water (collected on the Great Western Tiers) has eroded away the softer sediments and exposed the sandstone steps.

 Walked further downstream to get some better photos.

Shame the tree was hanging down though!!

Walked up the boardwalk further and onto a platform just to the left of the falls.

 Where did this rock come from?

We walked back up to the intersection and then continued up to check out the three cascades. Steve said we need to carry a rag and water so we can clean all these dirty information signs.

At the top cascade there were interesting rock formations – Rick doing stampcrete again! Then the water falls over the edge and onto another shelf.

Looked down in the pool below the cascade and we counted about 10 trout. Zoomed in for photos. Got some just as he came to the surface and took a video too.  Mightn’t get to catch one but I can catch them on my camera.

  

Walking further on, we looked down on the top of the third cascade. All the water is channelled over the other side.

 The water was hitting something and churning backwards.

Further down to another lookout we could see there was a big log rammed in the mouth of the falls which was causing the water to go backwards.

Looking back up the shelf before the falls you could see where the water had made a holes in the rocks. Looked amazing, great little spa pools or ice pools as I put my hand in and I think it outdoes Millaa falls temperature wise.

A bit further down we could hear the roar of Liffey Falls far below us. This is the very top bit, a small fall before it goes over the edge to the actual falls. We couldn’t see the actual falls from where we were on the walk down.

Great view through to Drys Bluff, zoomed in for a close up look.   

 Some amazing rocks on the edge.

Headed off back down the track again to our van. Had lunch sitting by the river enjoying the view.

Decided to do the other track straight away in case the weather changed again. It is called the Liffey River Reserve. Bob Brown bought the land and gifted it in 1990 to the Bush Heritage Australia (which he created) which now protects these 105 hectares of riparian rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest and the animals that dwell here.

The track started off following an old logging road.

Found our first info board which will tell us the story of Bob Brown’s dream and the Bush Heritage story.” During a walk in this valley on a sunny day in 1990, environmentalist and politician Bob Brown, made a decision that started the organisation we now know as Bush Heritage Australia. He saw that two beautiful bush blocks were up for sale not far from his home at Oura Oura, a few kilometres from here. He knew that if he didn’t take action, they might be bought by logging companies and cleared, so he went to the bank and into debt to buy this special piece of land. A year later, convinced that Australians would join in his vision to protect the bush they loved, he founded Bush Heritage, an organisation dedicated to protecting Australia’s  unique landscapes, plants and animals.”

We will follow the Pages Creek along for a while and then climb the hillside and back down to follow the Liffey River back to camp.

We worked out the difference between the Sassafras and Myrtle Beech. We crushed the leaf of the Sassafras and it does have a lovely peppery sweet scent. The leaves are glossy green on the top side and a paler, dull green on the underside.

The Myrtle Beech has a lot smaller little leaves and no scent.

Found an old chimney and remains of a building.

We crossed Pages Creek using the stepping stones.

Into an open area with a board about bird watching and a timber seat to sit on to watch them.

Unfortunately we didn’t see any birds except for some feathers scattered on the ground. Obviously it isn’t only humans that “watch” the birds here.

The next stage of the Bush Heritage story – “After our foundation in 1991, Bush Heritage gathered support, first from Tasmanians and soon after from other Australians, who loved the bush and wanted to see it protected forever. This support allowed Bush Heritage to purchase Fan Palm Reserve, Queensland, in 1993, to protect fast-disappearing coastal vine forests in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area; Tarcutta Reserve in New South Wales to support fragmented ecosystems in the grassy white box woodlands; and Kojonup Reserve in Western Australia to secure the largest area of wandoo woodlands left in a region almost completely devastated by clearing.”

Evidence of previous logging here.

Back onto the logging road as we head uphill.

Tall trees. Steve said these are the ones they were logging previously.

I like the gum tree’s smooth trunk.

Winding our way back down.

Our green carpet again – only seems to grow on the cleared areas.

Into drier bushland.

Another info board about the forests and Stringybark (Tassie Oak). Found out where my kitchen and wall unit timber came from.

The two types of trees beside each other.

Bush Heritage info – “By 2001, a significant number of Australians had begun to support Bush Heritage, allowing us to buy our first large scale property. The 59,000 hectare Carnarvon Station Reserve in central Queensland is a sweeping landscape of rugged sandstone hills, high escarpments, natural grasslands and springs. Here Bush Heritage initiated its first partnership with Indigenous owners, the Bidjara people, recognising the role of traditional owners in conservation. Ten years later in the Kimberly, Bush Heritage and the Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation would sign a ten-year agreement to work together to keep their country healthy – the first of its kind between a private conservation organisation and a traditional owner group.”

Heading down the hillside, lots of obstacles.

More logging evidence – someone has even put a plank into the slot.

Obviously this one has fallen since the last volunteer came and cleared the way.

Another info board.  “In 2002, Bush Heritage bought Chereninup Creek Reserve, Western Australia, in one of the world’s most biologically rich eco-regions. In doing so, we committed to protect this land forever, as we do for all our properties. Chereninup was one of the first properties purchased for Gondwana Link, a project in which Bush Heritage, along with other conservation organisations, plays a founding role. Together, we set out to repair years of devastating land clearance by reconnecting habitat from the state’s south-west forests to the woodlands on the edge of the Nullabor Plain. Just three years after planting began on the cleared land, honey possums, usually found only in the south-west heathlands, were already using restored habitat on Chereninup Reserve.

Good photo of Drys Bluff and the dolarite spires.

 Sandstone outcrops above us, before all the foliage grew up.

 What we can see now looking up to the sandstone outcrops now the foliage has regenerated. You can just make out the outcrop at the top.

A bit further down I got a better shot – looks like a good cave.

Winding our way down the hillslope. The Liffey River is below us.

Another fallen tree – I like the direction guide.

Bush Heritage – “In the first ten years of the new millennium, Bush Heritage continued to expand its conservation reach by purchasing many more precious pieces of Australia. These included Charles Darwin Reserve, Western Australia, which protects diverse woodlands and wildflower sand plains and Ethabuka Reserve, Queensland, which preserves desert wetlands of national significance and supports threatened desert marsupials like the mulgara and the kowari. With the help of our supporters, Bush Heritage was able to purchase properties that provide a safe haven for threatened species, including the endangered Tasmanian devil; Australia’s most threatened bird of prey, the red goshawk; and the world’s only population of the endangered red-finned blue-eye fish.

Arrived by the river, lovely little spot. We are further upstream from our camp where there is a house or shed on the other side. Still haven’t seen a platypus yet.

Bush Heritage – “In 2011, Bush Heritage supporters helped us celebrate our 20^th anniversary. Thanks to them, in our first twenty years we had protected 3.5 million hectares of precious land, including many hectares protected together with our indigenous partners. For our birthday, our founder, Bob Brown gave Bush Heritage and the Australian people the wonderful gift of his Tasmanian property and home, Oura Oura, just a few kilometres from where you stand. Bush Heritage continues to buy reserves of significant conservation value. While many of our Australian species, ecosystems and landscapes are now protected, so many more are still under threat. What could you do to protect them? To find out, please contact Bush Heritage and help us to save our natural places.” Well thanks to them we have this nice walk and it is free to enter which is wonderful.

Now I know the name of the gums – White Gums – I thought they might have been Tassie Snow Gums.

The other family said they had quolls coming into their camp at another place they stopped.

Back through the ferns.

Across a little side creek and back to our van.

Enjoyed our walks but glad to be putting our feet up for a cuppa and a few more pages of our books. Steve reading the book Brian gave him “Walk Across Australia”. He is enjoying it too!!

I started on my blog and Steve chopped the timber the other chap left for us (he had a chainsaw), so we have timber for our campfire Christmas lamb roast!!! Sounds good. Not sure exactly yet where we will be.

I got dinner ready then we sat by the fire listening to the river and all the birds. Kooka came and chortled as he had a nice big worm in his beak.

The clouds have cleared and I got a good photo of Drys Bluff from the campfire area.

The cold chased us in about 9pm (10 degrees).