Sassafras Creek - October 2015

Hey hey its time for another hardcore edition of goin' feral, yeah once again I spent my Saturday morning drinking coffee over breakfast and reading the paper, so by the time I actually headed off  for the walk it was already after twelve. I'm a one man recession buster for the cafes in my area, my Sunday morning haunt actually has the coffee on the table before we even make it up to the counter to order, that's service for you, thanks Chelsea! So anyway seeing as I only had half a day I figured that I'd better not travel to far afield, after consulting my library of guide books I decided on an old favourite up at Kallista in the Dandenong Ranges, the walk I planned had the added advantage in my eyes of being relatively short, perfect for my current unfit state!

Climbing up the Old Sherbrooke Road easement out of Kallista.

Parking at Kallista at my usual start time of around 2pm I immediately pulled on the boots and headed straight out of town, the walk climbs up to the north east along an old road easement, Old Sherbrook Road before meeting the current Sherbrook Road near the entrance of George Tindale Memorial Garden. One of the features of this walk is the fine public and private gardens that the route passes. With the weather a bit overcast I decided to head into the gardens to get a bit of colour in my photos as it didn't look like I was going to get much blue sky. The George Tindale Memorial Gardens really demand more than the fifteen minutes or so I spent wandering around, they would be a great place for a picnic on a hot day.

George Tindale Memorial Gardens.

The Chilean Monkey Tree in the George Tindale Memorial Gardens.

Leaving the George Tindale Gardens I now headed along the foot path that runs beside Sherbrooke Road, the walking along here is better than may be expected with towering Mountain Ash on the left side of the road for a lot of journey and fine exotic gardens on the right side of the road. Around twenty minutes along Sherbrooke Road I headed to the right down the gravel Nobles Lane, initially passing some more grand homes with their immaculate gardens before eventually the lane turned into an easement as it plunged down into the valley of Sassafras Creek. Near the bottom I rejoined Nobles Lane and passed through the fence on my left into the second public gardens of the day, the Alfred Nicholas Gardens. Like the George Tindale Gardens, the Alfred Nicholas Gardens were beautifully maintained and provided quite a contrast to the towering Mountain Ash and messy temperate forest surrounding them. 

Walking along Sherbrooke Road past the private gardens.

One of the stunning homes off Nobles Lane.

The Alfred Nicholas Garden.

Another couple of minutes walk down Nobles Lane and I arrived at Sassafras Creek and met up with the old Dandenong Ranges Walking Track. This was my favourite part of todays stroll, the damp ferny DRWT follows Sassafras Creek downstream, benched into the hillside a few metres above the creek, the native forest vegetation along here is stunning, a hot bushfire hasn't come through here for a long time and the ferns and trees are magnificent, it was quite a contrast to the manicured exotic gardens that I'd passed earlier. All to soon I arrived at the Beagleys Bridge Picnic Ground and my creek side walking was finished for today, after trying to get a half decent shot of Sassafras Creek I headed off towards Kallista.

Back in the native bush along Sassafras Creek.

Mountain Ash.

Part of the long(ish) distance Dandenong Ranges Walking Track.

Sassafras Creek near Beagleys Bridge.

On leaving the picnic ground I also left the long distance DRWT and headed along bitumen roads back up towards town, firstly the quiet Sassafras Road before lastly the main Kallista to Monbulk Road. Climbing up into Kallista I passed the old tea rooms that Sam and I used to frequent when we were living in Belgrave, these tea rooms used to be the spot to bring visitors from overseas to see some native birds however it looks like they have removed the feeding stations so I'm not sure what the go is now. I headed a little further up into town to Kallista Deli for a coffee and some cake and can thoroughly recommend it if your looking for something to eat in the area. After topping up my caffeine levels I crossed the road and arrived back at the ute, finishing a very nice walk.

The Kallista Tea Rooms used to be the spot to go to see native birds up close, although I'm not so sure now.

When in Kallista the feral walker re caffeinates at the Kallista Deli.

The Dirt.

Like I mentioned at the start  I've done this walk before so I knew what I was involved, its a great little walk though with something for everyone I reckon, great exotic gardens, stunning native bush, a nice little creek, some fine old houses to sticky beak at, at finally a great cafe to finish your walk at...what more could you want? The route basically heads in a north westerly loop out of Kallista in the Dandenong Ranges, dropping in and out of the Dandenong Ranges National Park along the way. I walked about 7.75 kilometres and climbed 189 metres on this stroll. The walk was written up years ago by Tyrone Thomas in his book '40 Bushland & Park Walks in Metropolitan Melbourne'. The book is long ago out of print and I think Tyrone is now retired, if anyone wants more detailed notes get in contact with me and I'll see what I can do.