There are no shortage of Grass Trees on this walk.
With our latest Covid travel restrictions easing a bit my leg rope has been extended to reach country Victoria this week. Now normally when the five and a bit million Melburnians are released from our latest travel restrictions it results in a mad scramble as everybody wants to head to their own favourite piece of rural paradise. For someone who was social distancing before it became de rigueur that creates a bit of a dilemma for me, with all our more well known walks likely to be crawling with punters desperate for some solitude of their own I decided the best idea would be to drop off the radar a bit today.
Things were pretty quiet when I pulled up in the car park at lunchtime - and that situation didn't change all afternoon.
Pulling up at close to lunch time in the deserted car park in the old ghost town of Graytown it was pretty obvious that my cunning plan had paid off. I'd driven through some fairly consistent and heavy rain on my way up here this morning although once I crossed the Great Dividing Range the rain had dissipated a bit and while the ground was pretty sodden it looked like I'd just be dealing with some passing showers this afternoon. After resetting the GPS I grabbed my pack and meandered off into the Heathcote-Graytown National Park to see what I could see... and about thirty seconds later I arrived at the ruins of an old World War 2 Prisoner of War Camp.
Heading off I passed through an old WW2 Prisoner of War Camp.
Heathcote-Graytown National Park.
European history would feature prominently on this stroll and after leaving the old Prisoner of War Camp I headed off to the next point of interest, passing through the old Nardoo Gold Diggings to arrive at the historical Graytown Cemetery. This lonely old cemetery is well hidden in the bush although it looks like someone is maintaining the site as the graves seem mostly well loved. There is a short marked walk around this cemetery which is worth spending a few minutes completing. The graves here mostly date back to the 1800's gold mining days and, as is pretty common, there is also a section of the cemetery where there are a lot of unmarked Chinese graves.
The old bush cemetery at Graytown is very well maintained...
.... although the long drop requires a bit of work!
Some of these graves have been here for awhile.
Most of the graves date back to the gold rush in the 1800's.
Leaving the old cemetery I continued on, still dealing with the occasional shower passing through. I was now heading for Melvilles Lookout and my route required quite a lot of navigation. It wasn't always that there was no tracks, in a lot of cases it was that there were actually too many un-signposted tracks. Still, after keeping a close eye on my old mud map along with with my GPS I successfully navigated my way north west until I could see Bobs Bluff looming above me through the light forest. After picking a likely looking spot I left the 4wd track that I'd been following, dropped down to cross a dry gully and then started a reasonable climb up towards the ridge crest that would eventually lead my to Melvilles Lookout.
Leaving the cemetery I followed series of 4wd tracks for awhile.
Easy walking in Heathcote-Graytown National Park.
Climbing, off track now, up to meet the ridge that runs to Melvilles Lookout.
I used every bit of lens that I had to get this photo - Mum was standing close by and keeping a wary eye on me!
Climbing higher I was starting to get some decent views.
Once on the crest of the ridge the walking was beautiful.
The scenery wasn't bad either.
Looking north west from Bobs Bluff.
I'm about to emerge from the scrub onto the Melville Lookout Access Road.
Melville Lookout.
I was now dropping steeply into the grassy saddle separating Bobs Bluff and Mt Black.
There is an old quarry in the saddle.
Leaving the saddle I climbed a 4wd track for a few metres before striking off across country towards the main spur climbing Mt Black.
This was a solid climb.
Looking over my shoulder back towards Bobs Bluff (Melvilles Lookout).
Things are getting a bit easier now on my climb of Mt Black.
The trig on Mt Black is looking a little second hand.
Suitably refreshed after my break up on Mt Black I followed my ascent spur all the way down to meet the dirt Mt Black Road a few hundred metres north of the Quarry Picnic Area. Once on the Mt Black Road I followed it south for a few minutes before branching off west along g the sign posted Melville Lookout Road. This was the other end of the road that I'd used to drop off Melvilles Lookout an hour or so ago and it made for some easy walking as it contoured along the base of Bobs Bluff. After following the Melvilles Lookout access road for fifteen minutes or so I picked up a rougher short cut track that climbed steeply through an area that featured a profusion of Grass Trees to once again meet the access track, this time on a ridge crest. Instead of turning onto the Melvillle Lookout Track again though I crossed straight over and started to drop down off piste again into a dry gully. Once I was in the gully the navigation was pretty strait forward for awhile as I followed it west for ten minutes or so before I arrived at a 4wd track.
I'm thinking that the summit of Mt Black would make for a nice bush camp... one day.
Mt Black.
Emerging from the scrub again - this time onto Mt Black Road.
I followed the Melville Lookout Access Road along the base of Bobs Bluff.
Veering left I left the access track and climbed steeply up to the ridge crest.
Once on the ridge crest I headed west off track again...
... aiming for a gully.
Once in the gully the walking was pretty easy again.
Leaving the dry gully on the 4wd track I followed the track south a bit as it mostly contoured in and out of a few gullies before eventually I picked up another old 4wd track heading west again. This track only lasted for a few minutes before it returned to nature and while another long off track section was doable I was starting to get a bit worried that I was going to run out of daylight (the winter solstice was only a couple of days away). So instead of striking off west along a low ridge off piste, I headed south, crossed a shallow gully and picked up the more major Surface Hill Dam Road. After a quick visit to what I'm guessing is Surface Hill Dam I followed the dirt road south to re-join my outward route. Somewhat ironically seeing that it was almost time for sunset I walked the last couple of kilometres back to the ute with the sun lighting up the tops of the trees around me, what had been a fairly grey and overcast day out finished with a bit of a flourish.
Leaving the gully I picked up a 4wd track that headed south to eventually meet Surface Hill Dam Road.
There are a lot of old mines around here.
The sun even made an appearance as I trudged along Surface Hill Dam Road.
I'm assuming that this is Surface Hill Dam...?
The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked around 17 kilometres and climbed about 483 metres on what I'd call a medium grade days walking. Now while the topography isn't too tough there is a lot of navigation involved on this stroll, and it's not only the off piste sections that require concentration either as the numerous 4wd tracks that I followed were mostly un-signposted and I needed to keep a close eye on my map. I used a set of Tyrone Thomas' old notes for this walk out of his 2007 book 150 Walks in Victoria along with my GPS topos. If anyone out there is looking for some socially distanced walking then this is one to consider I'm thinking. Now while it's a good walk for social distancing it's not a great walk for serenity - I spent most of the walk listening to what I thought was a busy quarry nearby, with big explosions and what sounded like some fairly heavy duty jackhammers going flat out for hours. It was only as I was walking back to the ute just on dark reflecting on the fact that the quarry wasn't even letting the fading light stop them, when the penny dropped. Yes there were big explosions alright, military ordinance actually - and my jackhammers were actually machine guns! Yes, I'd been walking on land adjacent to the Puckapunyal Army Training Base!
Relevant Posts.
Re-joining my outward route I shuffled my way back to the ute in the late afternoon light.
The setting sun was now kissing the tops of the trees.
Heathcote-Graytown National Park.
Back at the WW2 Prisoner of War Camp I exposed a few more of the old ruins...
... before jumping into the ute and heading off on the long drive home.
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