Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

We were treated to spring sunshine as we followed paths and tracks on the south side of
Castlemaine. The remains of the Ajax gold mine were evident in the first section of the walk. Standing at the entrance to a tunnel, a draft of cool air and darkness provided a sense of the scale of tunnelling in pursuit of gold along major quartz seams. On the surface of the ground, tall mullock heaps stood out with their rocky pyramid profiles. With care, we walked along a razorback style track where an enormous rocky canyon dropped off steeply, another sign of the diggings for gold.
Not to be outdone by the mining infrastructure, a good display of a range of wildflowers was present along the sides of tracks and water channels. Chocolate lilies, sticky everlastings, peas and yam daisies. A solo bearded orchid was also observed! It was worth the effort of walking up a gradual incline to arrive at Poverty Gully Reservoir. This water feature was a pleasant stop for lunch and much discussion occurred about where water would have come from and where it then flowed. After lunch, it was a gentle descent to return to the peri urban area where we were treated to a view of Victoria Gully and the work that the local neighbourhood Landcare group has done. Refer to  A potted history of Victoria Gully by Barb Gruen. Castlemaine has many ‘gems’ of nature close to town, and this is one of them. Thanks to Kevin Cato for planning the walking route, and the assistance from Barb and Lionel Gruen on the walk, who shared their local knowledge.
Gen Blades

Members of the Victoria Gully Group don’t necessarily live next to the gully, but want to
improve its environmental value. We started in 2012 working with Parks Victoria in the
Clinkers Hill Conservation reserve (south end of the Gully) to remove rubbish including 2 car bodies, then weed gorse, broom and blackberry. We’ve had many “broom-pulls” over the years.
The degraded main Gully was more than our group could handle so we developed a
management plan and DELWP responded to the community interest, making the gully more pedestrian-friendly by gorse and thistle removal and slashing. Since then DELWP / DEECA and Connecting Country have provided advice, plants and guards, fencing, help with grant applications and occasional work crews such as CVA and Green Army who tackled the dense woody weeds upstream. More recently a (fairly) new member has removed rubbish, planted, created permeable dams and cut a foot pad to the narrow upper end of the gully where it hits private land.
There are four exclosure plots all north of where the track-crosses the Gully.
The first two plots (2013) had low fences. The theory which proved correct was that
kangaroos will not jump into small areas (about 5 metres square). These plots are now
maturing. The “frog ponds” exclosure (2016) follows a drainage line (not the actual creek).
The mixed clays and gravels of old alluvial workings haven’t supported standing water, but
our planting has produced a shady swampy area, and we do get frogs. DELWP built a
large exclosure plot at the north end of the gully to eventually fill the canopy gap. Notably,
Silver Banksia, once common but now nearly extinct, is doing brilliantly in the worked alluvial gravels.
We’re now concentrating on planting the creek banks which are generally ignored by the
large resident kangaroo mob so do not require fencing.

Barb Guerin

For the final walk this year, Kevin Cato has put together an interesting circuit exploring the south side of Castlemaine. The walk will start at the top end of McKendry St Castlemaine and follow Campbells Creek Channel to the Ajax mine where there are impressive granite remains of the associated Stamper battery. We will continue up Ajax Lane to view a ‘man-made’ canyon, then access the goldfields track and walk to the Poverty Gully Reservoir for views towards Leanganook.  There are wildflowers still on display. On the return, we will visit the work of the Victoria Gully Landcare group. 

Distance is just under 8kms following gravel vehicle tracks and water channels.

Meet at Community House at 9.30am

or 24 McKendry Street at 9.45am. 

Enquiries: phone

Gen Blades 0431 371 065