Gallery Pick of the Week
Instead of just showing pretty pictures only, here we have space for contributors to discuss their images every week.
This is a great opportunity to get some insight from the original photographer and the content is entirely open. It could be anything from the personal feeling of the photographer about the image to any photographic techniques or location knowledge he/she would like to share with our visitors.
Gallery Pick of the Week > February 2011
 |
Alpine Transformation after Rain in 2010, 4/2/11, Barbara Bryan Mother Nature certainly knows how to capitalise on good rains, as was revealed this past spring and summer in many of Australia’s regions as we all know from the extensive media coverage. |
|---|
Barbara Bryan - Alpine Transformation after Rain in 2010, 4/2/11
Mother Nature certainly knows how to capitalise on good rains, as was revealed this past spring and summer in many of Australia’s regions as we all know from the extensive media coverage. So also the alpine region received more rain resulting in a profusion of wildflowers this summer. She put on a great show of alpine wildflowers - revealing countless acres of flora across many parts of the high country above the tree-line.
Alpine National Park wildflowers
These flowers are unique to the limited higher altitudes, with flowering at its peak in January which is the alpine springtime although mid summer in lower regions. I was fortunate to view this display whilst walking up in the Victorian Alpine National Park near Mt Nelse. Flowers seen included the Snow Daisy (in huge swathes), field daisy, alpine billy button, alpine trigger plant, egg and bacon plant, bogong daisy bush, purple daisy, paper daisy, Victorian buttercup, mint bush, ivy goodenia, rice flower, waxy bluebell.
White daisy, yellow buttons-close and trigger plant
However this delightful scene was marred by the constant reminder of the bushfire damage to the snowgums which point their bleached dead branches to the sky whilst the regrowth slowly pushes its way up from ground level – a very slow process with most regrowth only reaching to 1.5 metres eight years after the devastating bushfires of January 2003.
During my lovely day walk to Mt Nelse area, I also walked the side track to Edmondson’s Hut which is was built by cattlemen who had permits to graze their stock in the summer months until this practice was ceased in the late 1980s. This hut sits in a lovely glade amongst grand old snowgums which escaped the bushfires, and provide a delightful place for walkers to camp overnight.
Burnt snowgum regrowth and Edmondsons Hut
I enjoyed some delightful camping in one of the car camping sites along the High Plain Omeo Road but as these sites only offer a pit toilet, a few fireplaces and a few picnic tables campers need to be very self sufficient. Wildflowers were also in abundance around the campground and nearby.
Buckety Plains camp
The Alpine National Park in Victoria offers extensive outdoors experiences ranging from short hiking to extended pack walks, historic hut visits, mountain biking, kayaking on Rocky Valley Dam, fishing, photography, camping, nature study and of course Nordic skiing and snow shoeing in the winter months.
The nearby Falls Creek ski village offers basic grocery supplies all year round as well as a few cafes and restaurants and many accommodation options too.
More camping was enjoyed across the border in the NSW Kosciuszko NP with a delightful spot at Three Mile Dam near Kiandra, where there are basic camping sites like those in the Alpine NP. The lake is quite large so offers kayaking, canoeing and fishing opportunities as well as some good walks nearby.
Three Mile Dam