Bass Coast Post - Field Notes by Terri Allen

The lake that vanished

14/11/2019

Allen family barbecue, Lake Lister, c. 1956. From left, Glenda (a family friend), Leonie, Peter and Graeme.

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.

The allure of the back lane

1/8/2018

Photo: Leonie Smith

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.

A purler of a day

14/6/2018

Terri Allen gives thanks for a perfect winter’s day at the Mouth of the Powlett.

Backyard critters

2/2/2018

Black-headed Bull-Ant (Myrmecia nigriceps) Photo: patrickkavanagh

Terri Allen finds the hood can be a dangerous place.

The Hovell tree

2/2/2018

The original Hovell Tree in Albury

A young eucalypt at the State Coal Mine commemorates the first European explorer to venture overland to the Wonthaggi plains. Terri Allen reports.

Wet wonderland

14/11/2017

In 2005, it was a paddock with a single tree. Now the Wonthaggi Rifle Range wetlands is home to an amazing variety of wildlife.

Alien orchid on the march

19/11/2016

Disa bracteata. Photo: Leonie Smith

Disa bracteata. Photo: Leonie Smith

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.

Paperbark town

5/11/2016

By Terri Allen

WONTHAGGI was once a vast paperbark swamp interspersed with sheets of water and sand hills vegetated with heaths and eucalypts. Paperbark impeded the Bunurong tribe, early European explorers, run-holders, miners and, later, the residents of the town.

In the steps of our forebears

24/9/2016

Planting of the Wonthaggi Rifle Range wetlands just over 10 years ago was a massive community effort.

Out of the ashes

27/8/2016

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.

How sweet it is

30/7/2016

Sweet bursaria. Photo: Chris Lindorff

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).

Back of beyond

2/7/2016

With the quarter-acre block a threatened species, Terri Allen celebrates the big backyard of her childhood.

Scenic short cut

9/4/2016

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.

The yellow peril

12/3/2016

Montpellier broom infests a large part of the Five Brace site. Photo: Nature Share

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.

A green miracle

30/1/2016

Terri Allen charts the changing landscape in Tank Hill in the weeks since the reserve was ravaged by fire.

The barbarian of the bush

31/10/2015

Terri Allen confesses to a love-hate relationship with coast teatree.

A friend of the family

22/8/2015

TERRI ALLEN pays tribute to a majestic messmate that has been part of her life for as long as she can remember.

Caring for country

13/6/2015

The resident black-shouldered kites have shown great interest in the work. Photo: Geoff Glare

The resident black-shouldered kites have shown great interest in the work. Photo: Geoff Glare

Volunteers transforming a cleared coastal paddock near Wonthaggi enjoyed the company of their fellow planters and the local wildlife.

Marcia Brown, 1942-2015

16/5/2015

By Terri Allen

CLAD in black gumboots, windbreaker and woolly hat, the sturdy figure of Marcia Brown braved all weathers to botanise, birdwatch, seed collect, monitor burn sites and plant trees. This was the woman we met in the field.

The seed of an idea

9/5/2015

The Wonthaggi Seed Bank started with a few local farmers planting shelter belts. Today it's helping to revegetate hundreds of hectares of public land.

The hill that disappeared

14/4/2015

An aerial shot of Tank Hill after the hill had been quarried for sand.

An aerial shot of Tank Hill after the hill had been quarried for sand.

By Terri Allen

IN SOUTH Wonthaggi, the tallest sand ridge on Reed Crescent proved its worth in the town's infancy by providing good clean spring water and thus became known as Tank Hill.

Before the Lance Creek Reservoir, these springs filled a watercart which toured the streets supplying householders. A windmill on top of Tank Hill pumped water from a spring on the south side of the hill to a tank from which ran a pipe down Matthew Street. There was a tap at each intersection – it would take a long time to fill a billy on hot days.

December 13th, 2014

13/12/2014

Walking Wonthaggi’s Wetlands by Terri Gitsham Allen, Friends of Wonthaggi Heathland and Coastal Reserve Inc, 2014, $10 [proceeds from the sale of this book will go back into the environment].

Planting local, naturally

13/12/2014

By Terri Allen

IF YOU fancy local plants in your garden, vegetation suited to your soil and climate, look around, inquire, and see if you can add some of these plants to your garden.

Exquisite death

9/8/2014

Climbing Sundew Photo: Michal Rubeš

Photo: Michal Rubeš

By Terri Allen

WINTER is enlivened by the appearance on damp sandy soils of sundews (droseras), which in spring put forth minute white or pink blooms, becoming dormant in late summer. These small carnivorous perennials usually grow in nitrogen-deficient soil, so need to lure insects to supplement their diet.

The quintessential Aussie

19/7/2014

Banksia spinulosa, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, by JJ Harrison

We’re lucky to have five local banksia species, lighting up the bush with their candle-like blooms and providing food for birds, insects and mammals.