Waterfalls Nature Walk

Before you walk into the park, look at the trees near the picnic ground. Most are tall straight trees with dark trunks. Feel their rough and fibrous bark. These are mess mates, which are commonly found in the cooler, southern parts of Australia.

As you move into the gully, the Eucalyptus change to Southern Blue Gum, which has different bark from the mess mate. It is rough and dark at the base, smooth and pale further up the trunk, and often peels in long strips, leaving a greenish or bluish-grey surface. Their leaves can be anywhere up to 30cm long.

Along the creek there are two different species of tree fern. The Soft Tree-fern has soft, rusty colored hairs at the base of its fronds and is more common. Rough Tree ferns on the other hand, have have coarse brown matting between rasp like fronds. What's different? The air feels cool and damp, and an earthy scent permeates the gully

Fern Tree Falls is the lowest of the three sets of falls on Middle Creek. Notice the rock. It is a hard course grained igneous granite, formed when molten material deep beneath the earths crust slowly cooled. Over millions of years the overlying soil and rock have worn away, and left the granite exposed. Now the creek has worn it smooth and it is slowly cutting deeper into the granite. The vegetation changes as you leave the wet gully and and move up the drier slope. The air feels drier and warmer and the tall ferns disappear, but the hardier brackens and small maidenhair ferns hold on. The eucalyptus are also changing. Can you see the differences?

Look for the old stump on the uphill side of the track. It is a reminder that this forest has re-grown after it was logged in the 1890's.

The track branches here leading to the cascades where thin sheets of water flow over large granite slabs, wearing these hard rocks smooth with time. The track ends at the top of the cascades so return the way you walked.

At this point you can see the structure of the forest: A canopy of eucalyptus at the top Black woods and silver wattles in the middle, shrubs and ground covers at the base. Watch and listen to see what birds are searching for food. Thorn bills, fantails and honey eaters are usually found in the shrubs hunting for insects. Far above you may see kookaburras, cockatoos and currawongs, while tree creepers spiral up tree trunks pecking and scratching for insects.

Here we rejoin Middle Creek with its cool moist "microclimate" of the gully, where mosses carpet the rocks, and in summer insects are plentiful. Swamp rats and marsupial mice make their home among the jumble of rocks and branches washed down in floods. Take note of what you see.

This fern glade supports many varieties of fern. As well as Tree-fern, there are king, water, ground, coral necklace ,blanket ferns and bracken ferns. Some of these ferns can be difficult to tell apart.

The smooth whitish gums on this slope are Manna Gums. This is good for koalas to eat.

The blackened trunks and scars on some of the trees around here are from past fires. Many plants can cope with cool fires as some have thick bark, which acts as an insulator, while others re-shoot from lignotubers at the base of the tree. Some have seeds that are stimulated to germinate by fire, like the wattles which will re-grow even if the adult plant is killed.

The hollows in the limbs of trees are essential to the survival of many species of birds and animals especially parrots and possums. Can you see any evidence of occupancy. Even if these big old trees are dead they still provide safe, warm places for the birds and animals.