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BELAIR : VALLEY TRACK Time : 1 hour 30 minutes, Distance : 6 km |
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VALLEY
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• 1 We find a free car park just inside the main gate, and discover this new entry building with a toll gate for cars wishing to drive further into the Park. I am happy to walk, and quickly pick up the end of the Lorikeet Track (marked by a parrot sign), just south of the car park.
• 2 This track is not spectacular and I have walked it before, so what to record? There are always the sweet peas!
• 3 In fact, making a photographic record opens my eyes to all sorts of beauty which would otherwise have been overlooked. Like these grass seed heads ...
• 4 ... and these. Beautiful creations.
• 5 A scruffy cockatoo encourages us along our way with some raucous squawking.
• 6 Coming to the road, we leave the Lorikeet Track and branch off to the right along the Valley Loop (Frog) Track.
• 7 The track follows along above the road. I am pleased to find a wood duck family.
• 8 These tall spikes of yellow flowers are spectacular.
• 9 I come to the giant sequoias, recorded on a previous walk. Seen from the right angle, these are even more spectacular.
• 10 After 50 minutes and 3 kilometres, we reach the fork in the road which is marked Long Gully. Here the Frog Track runs back along the northern side of the creek. I find this to be one of the prettiest trails I have discovered in Belair: green, lush and closing in on the walker.
• 11 It is strange to find these (wild?) roses along the way.
• 12 And what caused this? The trees all still seem to be growing, but I can’t imagine a prevailing southerly which would cause this. In fact there were a couple of trees across the track, but not just here.
• 13 While I’m doing a photographic study of grasses ... !
• 14 How lovely this trail is!
• 15 Now we come alongside the Railway Dam.
• 16 This was built in the 1800s to provide a water supply for the steam trains that passed through the Park.
• 17 After the steam engines were phased out, the lake and its surrounds were bought back for inclusion in the Park.
• 18 Ah! There was a warning sign about this ... . At great personal risk I tread warily around the edge.
• 19 Here is a tribute to a band of lady volunteers. What good work volunteers do in our community.
Finally we rejoin the Lorikeet Trail and retrace our steps. Looking at the map, I discover that today we have traversed almost exactly half the width of the Belair Park.
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VALLEY
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