John Simmons Flora & Fauna Sanctuary Walk, Living Desert State Park - December 2020

Dropping back down to the ute along the Cultural Trail.

Since Sam and I had last visited the Living Desert State Park up a Broken Hill it appears that the local council has been doing a bit of work. Back on our first visit up here there was really only the sculptures up on the hill to check out, however arriving this morning we found another walking track to check out. There is now a flora, fauna & cultural walk weaving through the surrounding hills. So pulling on my hiking Havaianas, I grabbed the GPS and we set off to check things out.

The Living Desert State Park - we weren't exactly crowded out on the way today.

There is some good information and track marking along this walk.

To get on this track Sam and I had to pass through a couple of electric fences which resembled an old Eastern European border crossing to my eyes. After passing through the fences we climbed a roughish track up a gully to reach a well signposted track junction. This walk is really two small loops with a short section of track connecting the two loops. We decided to do the short Flora Trail loop that heads off to west first, figuring that it wouldn't hurt to get a bit of a refresher on the local fauna before exploring further afield on the Cultural Trail.

Hmm... this looks serious.

There is shade shelter and a bench to share with old mate around twenty metres into the walk.

We climbed up a dry gully to arrive at this 4 way track junction. Sam and I did the Flora (Arboretum) Trail Loop first.

The Flora Trail loop swung over the top of a small hill before dropping slightly down its western slopes where the track meandered around taking us past the different plants. The information plaques telling me that I really only know the names of a small handful of these desert plants! With the track crossing the western slopes of the hill we had some great views down into the valley below, the red dirt and low hills baking under the Australian summer sun.

The Flora Trail meanders around the slopes of a small hill.

The view west from the Flora Trail.

The Flora Trail, Living Desert State Park.

The Flora Trail, Living Desert State Park.

After twenty minutes or so Sam and I had made it around the short Fauna Trail loop and arrived back at the signposted intersection. We now headed off to check out the longer Cultural Walk Trail. Not only was this loop a little longer but judging by the lookout I could see silhouetted against the blue sky on the hill above me, it looked like it would also involve a bit more climbing. Arriving at the loop section we headed off to the right and started climbing... the climb made easier due to the path being mostly sealed and also featuring steps where they were needed... although the Havaianas were still scrabbling for grip a bit!

That's the Living Desert Sculpture Symposium on top of the distant hill.

The Cultural Walk involved a little more climbing.

The Living Desert Cultural Trail.

I'm guessing that there is a lot of iron ore in these rocks, judging by the tinny sound they make when I banged them together, along with the hole in the rock - although geology isn't my forte!

The Living Desert State Park.

After taking a short trip out to check out a viewing hide (which gave us a view of the dry slopes of the adjacent hills - but no fauna) we climbed up to check out the Story Poles. We could see these Story Poles on the skyline for a lot of the walk so they worked out to be a handy navigation aid that help us to gauge our progress around the circuit. The Story Poles were created as part of an Indigenous studies course at the local tafe college and have indigenous themes that were important to their creators carved into them. So while they are not exactly native to the area they are still relevant and meaningful for the local aborigines. Leaving the Story Poles, Sam and I dropped into a saddle with a small shelter and water tank where Sam decided to wait for me while I made the short side trip up to the lookout.

After passing by the simulated Aboriginal Yapara...

... we climbed to check out the Story Poles.

Making the final summit push!

Sam decided, maybe wisely, to wait for me at the shade shelter.

I'm enjoying the view from the summit of Mt John Simmons in my ultra lite, zero drop Havaianas.

The new and the ancient - a modern wind farm on an ancient land make quite the juxtaposition.

The buildings of Broken Hill can be seen glinting in the bright summer sun from the lookout.

The lookout was the highest point on the stroll and allowed for views back towards Broken Hill and east towards Stephens Creek Reservoir as well as north towards the desert hills, many of them crowned by a distant wind farm. Dropping back down to meet Sam we continued on our loop, now dropping fairly gently to the east to check out an old flooded mine shaft before swinging around to the west and passing an indigenous Quartz Quarry. While this is predominantly Sandstone country up here there is the occasional band of Quartz around which the local aborigines used as sharp points on their tools and weapons back in the day.

Dropping back down towards the ute. I think that maybe the Stephens Creek Reservoir in the distant valley.

Peewee... I like it.

Most of the bigger wildlife was doing the sensible thing and snoozing in the shade today.

Sam and I were now heading back to complete the loop section of the Cultural Trail, after crossing a fairly steep gully we re-joined our outward track before retracing our walk back down to the ute. I haven't mentioned it yet however we walked this trail in summer - which isn't really the ideal time for it. We had a day that was pretty cool, only getting into the low 30˚ however it was still pretty warm up in the hills. The local council close this walk at 1:30 pm over summer due to the heat, so come early in the day and pick a cool day over summer (or give it a miss until the cooler months if you are particularly heat sensitive).

The hills were alive!

The local indigenous people used the Quartzite as the sharp points on their tools and weapons back in the day.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS we walked around 3.7 kilometres and climbed about 113 metres on this easy stroll.
Now if anyone stumbles across this post who maybe doesn't know me then when I call this walk easy that's coming from someone who has done a lot of walking over the years, if you are someone who only really walks around the local park or shops then you may find this walk harder than I've made it sound, the walking track does climb and descend a bit, can be rough in spots and is very exposed to the elements. To enter the Living Desert State Park there is a $ 6 entry fee (Dec 2020) which not only gives access to these two loops but also the nearby Sculpture Symposium for the day,  you can pick up a map at the pay station or at the tourist information centre in Broken Hill. I used that map along with my GPS topos.

Relevant Posts.

The Living Desert Sculpture Symposium Walk, 2020.

Silverton Walk, 2020.

We crossed a few steep gullies on the way back to the ute however for the most part it was downhill.

Arriving back at the carpark - things were still pretty quiet.

Warramate Hills Walk, Warramate Hills Nature Conservation Reserve - February 2021

The more things change...the more things stay the f%#king same!

This walk gave me some nice views down to the Yarra Valley.

I've mentioned my finger injury on my blog before, however as I publish my posts in a fairly random order then it may not be public knowledge yet. Yes, for the last year I've not only been dealing with our Covid issues in Melbourne but I've also had a wound on my right hand that just refused to heal. Anyway after many courses of antibiotics, GP and emergency department visits, I finally got into a plastic surgeon a couple of weeks ago. After much hacking and stitching and a week in pressure bandage I went back to the surgeon today to see how it was going, and apart from only having 70 % of the finger nail left everything was looking pretty good. Sweet I thought, now I can finally get out and do a few harder walks again.

That was at lunchtime on the 12th February, by the time I'd got home from the surgeon my plans for some decent time in the bush had already been scuppered - yes, Melbourne was going into Covid Lockdown number 3, fuuuuck me! Anyway after screaming at the telly (it helped) I settled down a bit, like last year we were going to be limited to a 5 kilometre radius from home with a generous two hours allowed outside for exercise, yep I was pretty well fucked again I was thinking. Sitting there watching the press conference drag on I had a flicker of an idea, I didn't have to be locked up until midnight... I still had 9 hours to drive somewhere, go for a stroll and then get home again. So anyway that's how I found myself locking the ute and setting off into the Warramate Hills Nature Conservation Reserve late this afternoon.

There's room for a few vehicles at the trail head.

I've been to this reserve once before, quite a few years ago, and from what I can recall the walk to the top of Steel Hill was a reasonably solid walk so that's where I set off for this afternoon. Somewhat counter intuitively my route actually dropped a little to start with as the old 4wd track descended to follow the fairly substantial Woori Yallock Creek downstream for awhile. This section of walk is quite damp and features probably the most substantially sized trees along the stroll. As I've already eluded too Woori Yallock Creek s quite a substantial creek here and for a minute I thought that I was looking at the Yarra River, although a quick look at my map told me that Woori Yallock Creek and the Yarra River actually intersect a 100 metres or so further downstream. 

You have to like your trees if you walk here.

Almost immediately my 4wd track dropped down towards Woori Yallock Creek.

The Manna Gums (I think) down by the creek are the most substantial trees on the walk.

Woori Yallock Creek had a healthy flow this afternoon.

My track stayed close to the creek for around a kilometre before starting a solid climb.

Arriving at the point where my route left the creek I was faced with crux of my days stroll, my route now climbing a steep gravel 4wd track up a fairly grassy spur. The grassy bit is relevant here because the open slopes on the climb allowed for my first good views of the day down across the Yarra Valley. Eventually the climb eased off a bit and my route swung around to start following the Warramate Hills Ridgeline. The forest up here is a bit drier and more open so I was able to get a few more glimpses as I shuffled my way along the ridge. After avoiding the track heading for Briarty Hill the walk along the ridge was more or less flat until I had to sweat up the last short pitch to the trig on the 395 metre Steel Hill.

This looks like a five photo climb.

Thankfully there were a few things to stop and photograph.

Looking across the Yarra Valley toward Mt Donna Buang.

Third photo stop - progress was still being made.

Once up on the ridge line between Briarty Hill and Steel Hill the walking was very nice.

The trees block out most of the views from Steel Hill.

Steel Hill Trig, it was time for a break.

Steel Hill was the spot where I'd turn around and start my journey back to the ute tonight however before setting off I enjoyed a quick break on the freshly mowed grass beneath a shady eucalyptus. Savouring the feeling, smells and sights tonight I was filled with anxiety and apprehension again, I hadn't fared well last year being locked up for so many months and here we were going back into lockdown again. Maybe my Melbourne friends will understand where I'm coming from...? All good things come to an end though and unless I wanted to be night hiking (and I did consider it!) I figured that I'd better get my fat arse into gear and make a mile back to the ute. To liven things up a bit on my return journey I decided to take a bit of exploratory route. After retracing the ridge line back past the Briarty Hill turnoff the track arrived at a bit of an open grassy clearing to the right of the track (there was a small telecommunication post around here when I went through). Leaving my outward route I headed across to the open area where not only could I get some more Yarra Valley views but also I was able to pick up and old, slightly overgrown 4wd track dropping steeply down a spur to the south-east. The old track got progressively rougher and more overgrown as I descended however it also featured a lot of views across towards the Dandenong Ranges so life was pretty good really. 

I enjoyed my peaceful interlude up here tonight.

By the time I set off back down the sun was getting fairly low...

... which made for some nice views.

Open forest on the slopes of Briarty Hill.

A small clearing and this dead tree provide a good reference point for the spot I left my ascent route and started to freelance a bit.

I got some nice views south as I dropped down the overgrown track.

My alternative actually provided the most floral diversity on the walk.

By the time I reached the bottom of the spur my pad was very faint.

I was dropping down hoping to pick up a grassy 4wd track that I'd seen heading off into the scrub when I was on my way up a couple of hours ago, the thing is not a lot was mapped and nothing was signposted so I was working on assumptions a bit now, my first assumption was that I'd intersect with the grassy 4wd track before the track that I was dropping down had completely disappeared... and it was touch and go really. By time I dropped down and met the track the one I was descending was really just a rough, intermittent bushwalking pad... at best. Meeting the grassy track I swung right and followed the mostly contouring track south thinking that I'd meet my earlier route at the spot where that track dropped down to meet Woori Yallock Creek - and somewhat surprisingly I emerged from the scrub at the spot that I'd anticipated. How easy is this un-mapped exploratory walking caper hey? Once back in familiar territory I retraced my steps for ten minutes before arriving back at the ute and heading for home.

I hit this track and turned right.

Warramate Hills Nature Conservation Reserve.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 10.1 kilometres and climbed about 482 metres on what I'd call a medium grade stroll. The Warramate Hills are not really a destination that pops up on most walkers radar (something that I look for in a lot of my walks) however if you are looking for a decent walk that'll raise the heart rate a bit while still being very close to Melbourne then it's with considering this little park. There are a few things to think about before going for a stroll here, the first one is that from what I can see there is no track signage at all and along with that the mapping (both electronic and on paper) is a little hit and miss when it comes to the tracks here. Ironically enough the most accurate map that I found was one of Tyrone Thomas' mud maps out of his 150 Walks in Victoria book which dates back to the start of 2006. I followed Tyrones notes upon to the summit however freelanced a bit on the way down today. I also used my GPS topos which were handy on what turned into almost an off piste stroll on my descent.

Relevant Posts.

Mt Lofty Walk, Warrandyte State Park, 2017.

Sugarloaf Reservoir Circuit Walk, 2019.

Alright... time to head home into lockdown 3.0