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By Terri Allen
SOUTH and west Wonthaggi – what a wonderland of natural bush, revegetated sites, roadside bush and wildlife corridors – all praise to those hard working naturalists and volunteers who monitor, map, weed, plant …
As a child I tramped through and explored these areas, following in the footsteps of my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. That's how we learnt to identify and appreciate. I remember a letter from my mother, who was thrilled at last to identify a particular flower – she had watched the rounded leaves for years and at last found one in flower, a Redbeak. Some of her ashes are now in this patch, as will be mine one day.
SOUTH and west Wonthaggi – what a wonderland of natural bush, revegetated sites, roadside bush and wildlife corridors – all praise to those hard working naturalists and volunteers who monitor, map, weed, plant …
As a child I tramped through and explored these areas, following in the footsteps of my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. That's how we learnt to identify and appreciate. I remember a letter from my mother, who was thrilled at last to identify a particular flower – she had watched the rounded leaves for years and at last found one in flower, a Redbeak. Some of her ashes are now in this patch, as will be mine one day.
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By Terri Allen
IT IS said that when the swamp paperbark is in bloom, the snapper are on the bite. They must be biting now because it has been magnificent this spring.
It flowered early this year, and we don’t yet know whether its pollinators were around to set the seed. My seed collectors group will be keeping an eye to see if the seed is viable. Swamp paperbark is so prolific that we don’t usually sow the seed, though we do include it in some direct seeding mixtures. We used it on the Rifle Range Reserve, of course.
I have long thought it should be Wonthaggi’s floral emblem. Wonthaggi was once a vast paperbark swamp interspersed with sheets of water and sand hills vegetated with heaths and eucalypts.
IT IS said that when the swamp paperbark is in bloom, the snapper are on the bite. They must be biting now because it has been magnificent this spring.
It flowered early this year, and we don’t yet know whether its pollinators were around to set the seed. My seed collectors group will be keeping an eye to see if the seed is viable. Swamp paperbark is so prolific that we don’t usually sow the seed, though we do include it in some direct seeding mixtures. We used it on the Rifle Range Reserve, of course.
I have long thought it should be Wonthaggi’s floral emblem. Wonthaggi was once a vast paperbark swamp interspersed with sheets of water and sand hills vegetated with heaths and eucalypts.
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Tank Hill working bee in maskless (pre-Covid) times. Terri Allen is in the centre of the front row.
By Terri Allen
I ONCE read that to improve our well-being we needed four things: meeting with like minds, continued learning, outdoor exercise and volunteering. All of these are met by my Monday morning seed collecting group.
But what about during lockdown? We are lucky in South Gippsland to have so many areas of beach and bushland. Our limited walks can provide “continued learning” and “outdoor exercise”. I birdwatch, search for insects, name plants, note changes (for example, so many plants are flowering early this year).
I ONCE read that to improve our well-being we needed four things: meeting with like minds, continued learning, outdoor exercise and volunteering. All of these are met by my Monday morning seed collecting group.
But what about during lockdown? We are lucky in South Gippsland to have so many areas of beach and bushland. Our limited walks can provide “continued learning” and “outdoor exercise”. I birdwatch, search for insects, name plants, note changes (for example, so many plants are flowering early this year).
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By Terri Allen
ONE of the best ways to spend a day in our childhood was to go out to the Back Beach. Unimpeded by adults, we would set off from the end of Broome Crescent, across the paddocks to the Rifle Range gate. We crossed the undulations in these paddocks made for market gardening during the war.
Any other time we would be re-enacting things seen at the Saturday arvo flicks (These would involve inching along the furrows, whooping, shooting from cover, playing cowboys and Indians.) but now we had a different agenda – the beach. We cut across more paddocks, skirted tannin-stained swamps, hunted for Wonthaggi Monster tracks, passed the Southern Tunnel airshafts, skirted Lake Lister, breasted the dunes – Bass Strait, here we come!
ONE of the best ways to spend a day in our childhood was to go out to the Back Beach. Unimpeded by adults, we would set off from the end of Broome Crescent, across the paddocks to the Rifle Range gate. We crossed the undulations in these paddocks made for market gardening during the war.
Any other time we would be re-enacting things seen at the Saturday arvo flicks (These would involve inching along the furrows, whooping, shooting from cover, playing cowboys and Indians.) but now we had a different agenda – the beach. We cut across more paddocks, skirted tannin-stained swamps, hunted for Wonthaggi Monster tracks, passed the Southern Tunnel airshafts, skirted Lake Lister, breasted the dunes – Bass Strait, here we come!
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By Terri Allen
TWO friends of the Wonthaggi Rifle Range Wetlands, recently departed, will be remembered by us all.
Bill Berry, adjoining farmer, was part of the team which revegetated the Rifle Range in 2005. Bill Slade, park ranger, helped with the project and monitored the area over the years.
Together they moved out cattle which had escaped into the area through kangaroo-damaged fences. Their last meeting was on such a venture.
Today they have plaques on a seat overlooking the site.
Vale the Bills.
TWO friends of the Wonthaggi Rifle Range Wetlands, recently departed, will be remembered by us all.
Bill Berry, adjoining farmer, was part of the team which revegetated the Rifle Range in 2005. Bill Slade, park ranger, helped with the project and monitored the area over the years.
Together they moved out cattle which had escaped into the area through kangaroo-damaged fences. Their last meeting was on such a venture.
Today they have plaques on a seat overlooking the site.
Vale the Bills.
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By Terri Allen
AT LAST the achievements of Inverloch’s living treasure Eulalie (Eulie) Brewster have been recognised, with the award of a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day honours.
EuIalie turns 94 in August, but her inquiring mind, ability to connect with all age groups, extensive reading, quick grasp of situations, willingness to tackle any job, outward-looking nature and encyclopaedic memory make her a living treasure.
She is an asset to the conservation movement, an example to all who meet her.
I knew Eulie’s friend Ellen Linden first. They used to go bush walking together. Ellen said to me, “When I’m gone, you’ll have to go to Eulie at Inverloch.” So I always say Eulie was bequeathed to me. She’s been a great source of knowledge and a wonderful friend.
AT LAST the achievements of Inverloch’s living treasure Eulalie (Eulie) Brewster have been recognised, with the award of a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day honours.
EuIalie turns 94 in August, but her inquiring mind, ability to connect with all age groups, extensive reading, quick grasp of situations, willingness to tackle any job, outward-looking nature and encyclopaedic memory make her a living treasure.
She is an asset to the conservation movement, an example to all who meet her.
I knew Eulie’s friend Ellen Linden first. They used to go bush walking together. Ellen said to me, “When I’m gone, you’ll have to go to Eulie at Inverloch.” So I always say Eulie was bequeathed to me. She’s been a great source of knowledge and a wonderful friend.
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By Terri Allen
BILL Slade, who died tragically while fighting fires in the Omeo region on January 11, was a kind personable man, extremely proud of his family, considerate of the public and a hard working Parks Victoria ranger in the Wonthaggi depot.
He had worked for Parks Victoria for 40 years, so knew our area intimately, from fox baiting on Phillip Island, manning controlled burns in our parks and reserves, monitoring our coastline and working on the George Bass Walk from Punchbowl to Kilcunda.
BILL Slade, who died tragically while fighting fires in the Omeo region on January 11, was a kind personable man, extremely proud of his family, considerate of the public and a hard working Parks Victoria ranger in the Wonthaggi depot.
He had worked for Parks Victoria for 40 years, so knew our area intimately, from fox baiting on Phillip Island, manning controlled burns in our parks and reserves, monitoring our coastline and working on the George Bass Walk from Punchbowl to Kilcunda.
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Lake Lister was a magical place - until the day two miners decided to deepen it with a few sticks of gelignite.
By Terri Allen
LAKE Lister has always been a magnet, drawing foragers, adventurers and naturalists. A large freshwater lagoon, spring-fed, it nestles between the coastal dunes and cleared farmland (once paperbark flats and heathy undulations) west of Wonthaggi on private land.
By Terri Allen
LAKE Lister has always been a magnet, drawing foragers, adventurers and naturalists. A large freshwater lagoon, spring-fed, it nestles between the coastal dunes and cleared farmland (once paperbark flats and heathy undulations) west of Wonthaggi on private land.
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By Terri Allen
THE older settled areas of Wonthaggi have a veritable treasure trove, a maze of back lanes. These narrow lanes flanking our back yards hold a wealth of stories, beckon us to explore.
THE older settled areas of Wonthaggi have a veritable treasure trove, a maze of back lanes. These narrow lanes flanking our back yards hold a wealth of stories, beckon us to explore.
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Terri Allen finds the hood can be a dangerous place.
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A young eucalypt at the State Coal Mine commemorates the first European explorer to venture overland to the Wonthaggi plains. Terri Allen reports.
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In 2005, it was a paddock with a single tree. Now the Wonthaggi Rifle Range wetlands is home to an amazing variety of wildlife.
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By Terri Allen
Disa bracteata, formerly Monadenia bracteata, was found in January 2005 on regenerating heathland abutting the coastal reserve at the Wonthaggi Heathland.
The weed-orchid from South Africa was first found in Albany, WA in 1944, thought to be brought in sacking covering goods at the port. It spread northwards to Geraldton, eastwards to Esperance and to the edge of the wheat belt. It is now naturalised in WA, SA and Victoria.
Disa bracteata, formerly Monadenia bracteata, was found in January 2005 on regenerating heathland abutting the coastal reserve at the Wonthaggi Heathland.
The weed-orchid from South Africa was first found in Albany, WA in 1944, thought to be brought in sacking covering goods at the port. It spread northwards to Geraldton, eastwards to Esperance and to the edge of the wheat belt. It is now naturalised in WA, SA and Victoria.
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Planting of the Wonthaggi Rifle Range wetlands just over 10 years ago was a massive community effort.
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By Catherine Watson
A SURVEY of the Tank Hill Conservation Reserve nine months after fire swept through much of it reveals some rich and unexpected botanical treasures.
A SURVEY of the Tank Hill Conservation Reserve nine months after fire swept through much of it reveals some rich and unexpected botanical treasures.
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By Terri Allen
THE summer sound of jingling in the bush heralds seed time for bursaria. Bursaria spinosa, an attractive drak green shrub to eight-metre tree, goes by a variety of names: sweet bursaria, blackthorn, native box, kurwan, Tupy or Christmas tree (the Tasmanian name as it flowers profusely on dry rocky hills at Christmas time).
THE summer sound of jingling in the bush heralds seed time for bursaria. Bursaria spinosa, an attractive drak green shrub to eight-metre tree, goes by a variety of names: sweet bursaria, blackthorn, native box, kurwan, Tupy or Christmas tree (the Tasmanian name as it flowers profusely on dry rocky hills at Christmas time).
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With the quarter-acre block a threatened species, Terri Allen celebrates the big backyard of her childhood.
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By Terri Allen
A TREASURE on the western edge of Wonthaggi, the Campbell Street bush is tucked between Campbell Street and West Area Road from Brown Street to Chisholm Road.
A TREASURE on the western edge of Wonthaggi, the Campbell Street bush is tucked between Campbell Street and West Area Road from Brown Street to Chisholm Road.
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By Terri Allen
ONCE cottage gardeners espoused a yellow-flowered shrub as a hedge plant or garden specimen; this shrub Montpellier broom, Genista monspessulana, originated in Europe.
ONCE cottage gardeners espoused a yellow-flowered shrub as a hedge plant or garden specimen; this shrub Montpellier broom, Genista monspessulana, originated in Europe.