Walking Screw Creek Trail

Destined to be cleared for housing, thanks to a massive community effort, this bushland is now a wildlife refuge
and Bass Coast’s newest walking trail.

By Linda Cuttriss
 
IT’S a beautiful sunny morning and I’ve come to walk the new Screw Creek Trail at Inverloch. The trail is a two-kilometre, natural-surface interpretive trail that winds through lowland forest adjacent to Screw Creek.
 
Directional bollards guide you along the trail and 14 of them have QR codes that link to short videos about the history, environment and wildlife of the Screw Creek Nature Conservation Reserve and a trail map to show your location.
 
Screw Creek Trail is a project of South Gippsland Conservation Society co-ordinated by the Society’s Project Convenor and long-term volunteer John Cuttriss. Terry Melvin’s videography and editing capture many perspectives of the reserve and enhance the trail experience.

---

The trail is an extension of the popular Screw Creek Nature Walk so I arrive at the Inverloch Foreshore Camping Reserve car park and set out along the path through the coastal tea-tree. I cross the footbridge over Screw Creek, take the spur track to the left towards the fishing platform and follow the boardwalk to the start of Screw Creek Trail at Gate 1.
 
From the entrance gate, the boardwalk slopes gently down to a path that leads through swamp paperbark trees filled with bird sounds. The ground is mainly covered with pasture grasses from when the Reserve was partly cleared farmland used for cattle grazing.

I soon come to a fork in the path at Bollard 1 where a QR code links to a video of the Old Rock Ford that travellers used to cross Screw Creek at low tide before a bridge was built. I follow the left path down to the creek bank. It is mid-tide and the old rock ford is submerged but the mangrove roots are exposed and a white-faced heron stalks for prey on the muddy banks.

Visit Screw Creek Trail for more information about the trail, the trail map and to view the videos.

I return to the main path and continue along to Bollard 2 where Anne Looney describes the Swamp Scrub vegetation that surrounds me and gives an interesting account of George Augustus Robinson’s thoughts when his expedition passed through here in 1844.
 
At Bollard 4, a depression in the ground remains from decades ago and here local historian Eulalie Brewster gives her intriguing account of The Mystery of Nicholson’s Treasure.
 
From here the path opens out of the scrub into lowland forest with eucalypt trees, bracken fern and hop goodenia displaying their bright yellow flowers. Mistletoe droops down from eucalypt branches with flashes of red flowers shifting in the breeze.

The trail keeps a short distance from the water to protect the banks from damage but glimpses of the mangrove-fringed creek are visible. At Bollard 5, Steve Dunn shows us rarely seen footage of life Under the Surface of Screw Creek and discusses the fish, crabs and eels that live here and the seagrass and mangrove habitats.
 
Further along, a spiny headed matt-rush is nestled among mosses and fallen logs. Long dark-green leaves of thatch-saw sedge catch the morning sunlight.
 
Loud carolling of a pair of magpies rings through the forest. A fantail flits through overhead branches. Two eastern rosellas zoom between the trees. A grey shrike thrush sings its melodious song.

​The trail leads through a tunnel of sweet bursaria to a cherry ballart with lichen-covered branches at Bollard 7 where Aileen Vening explains the significance of the Mangroves and Saltmarsh that fringe the banks of Screw Creek.

I continue on to Bollard 8 at the tributary bridge where Ed Thexton details how The Riparian Zone is such a rich environment and explains why this small tributary of Screw Creek is unique.
 
Sunlight shimmers through the delicate foliage as I make my way along the narrow path into a clearing at Bollard 13 where Professor Dick Wettenhall reveals the World of Orchids and their pollinators.
 
At Bollard 16 Dallas Wyatt, who has been surveying the Birds of the Screw Creek Reserve for many years, describes the bird species that live and visit throughout the year while Geoff Glare’s stunning images bring them into vivid focus.
 
The trail leads up through an open area flanked by mature eucalypts and flowering shrubs to Bollard 18 where Brendon Casey tells us about the Wildlife of the Screw Creek Reserve and the significance of the reserve as a wildlife refuge.
 
As the trail curves around, the creek becomes visible through the trees. At Bollard 21, I tell the story of the Sinking of the Lizzie in 1915 tracing the vessel’s links to early transport in the district and its connection to my family history at nearby Townsend Bluff.
 
Further along, beneath a stand of cherry ballart trees is Bollard 22. Here, Aunty Sonia Weston shares knowledge and language of the First People and this rich estuarine area known as Barbinora and shows how her ancestor’s stories will always be here.
 
The trail passes through an area of bracken fern and into the forest where the sprawling limbs of old messmate eucalypts are silhouetted against the sky. Here at Bollard 25, Sally McNiece describes the complex mosaic of plants in this Lowland Forest and the importance of protecting and expanding our remaining bushland.
 
I take a moment to stop, listen and look around me. I breathe in the clean, oxygen-filled air. I notice the colours, textures and layers of the forest. A kookaburra laughs loudly. I smile and continue on my way.
 
I reach an open area of remnant pasture where at Bollard 27 Alison Brewster explains how South Gippsland Conservation Society volunteers have been Caring for the Reserve to protect and improve wildlife habitat and encourage natural regeneration of the bush.

​A short distance along is Bollard 29 where John Cuttriss tells The Story of the Reserve, how community input into local planning helped exclude this 15-hectares of bushland from becoming a housing estate, and how it is now preserved as a crucial wildlife refuge and for people to enjoy.

I continue ahead to Bollard 30 and soon come upon two magnificent messmate trees with girths wider than my arms can reach. Thankfully, they are still standing here in the forest and have not become lonely giants in someone’s backyard or worse still, felled because they were in the way.
 
The trail skirts the edge of the forest and loops back around to Bollard 18. As I return along the narrow path I see how the trail’s natural surface gives a sense of being immersed in the bush while protecting the plants and animals that live here.
 
Walking through this precious remnant of lowland forest with the creek flowing close by is a rare and special experience in Bass Coast. The many years of community involvement in the Reserve and more recently in the creation of this trail makes it even more special.
 
Screw Creek Trail is a community driven project made possible by a team of dedicated volunteers with support from the Lord Mayors Charitable Foundation, Heath Cosgrove Charitable Fund, Bass Coast Shire Council and Inverloch Rotary.
 
Screw Creek Trail will give enjoyment to residents and visitors for years to come. It is a wonderful example of the importance of organisations such as South Gippsland Conservation Society and shows what can be achieved when community and local council work together.
 
Linda Cuttriss developed the interpretive content for the Screw Creek Trail. This essay was first published in the South Gippsland Conservation Society newsletter.​

Over 30 people involved in the trail construction and videos attended the official opening last week and enjoyed a walk along the trail. Above: Bass Coast Mayor Rochelle Halstead, John Cuttriss (Project Co-ordinator), Ed Thexton (President, South Gippsland Conservation Society), Bryony Cosgrove and Philip Heath (Heath Cosgrove Charitable Fund) launch the new Screw Creek Trail.