Dandenong Ranges National Park

The second day of our failed camping trip was intended to be spent hiking in Dandenong Ranges National Park, which is one of several parks that are within an hour drive of where we live. Having slept in our nice warm bed instead of in a freezing cold and wet tent, we were happy to get up bright and early yesterday to beat rush hour traffic on our way to the Dandenongs. In addition to finding a book about camping in Victoria last week, I found a book of day hikes in the state. I wanted a challenging hike with impressive views, so I picked the Mt. Dandenong circuit, deemed a medium-hard trail for a total of 15.5 km.

The start of our hike in Kalorama

Temperatures were quite chilly in the morning, but for the most part the weather cooperated yesterday. There were brief moments of rain and also moments of sunshine, though I would guess that we had cloud cover for the majority of the day. That really didn't matter, as we were in some sort of green fern-laden world during much of our hike! From the car park we started along a trail that was narrow and actually passed close to the homes of some local residents. After a few ups and downs, we ended up having to deviate off of the trail due to a closure (several "tracks" - the Aussie term commonly used for trails- seem to be closed from flooding in 2011 and some for downed trees or other improvements) at the Sky High Observatory. Cars pay $5 to enter, but luckily hikers can check out the viewing platform for free. Fortunately we had a map of the trail in our borrowed book, and Erik was able to navigate us back on track quite easily (even though I was insisting we were going the wrong way...I have absolutely horrible sense of direction!). Once we returned to the trail, the path was wide enough in many places for a vehicle. I later learned that these are fire management tracks to help facilitate fire fighting, as bush fires are regular events on the mountain.

Walking through the morning fog at the start of the hike.

View of the CBD from the Sky High Observatory

Ferns everywhere!

Fern tree or palm tree?!

I loved all of the lush green trees and bushes, even though I guess I was hoping deep down to see a few fall colors in the mix. I did spot a tree or two that had turned yellow or red, but nothing like what happens along the East Coast or in Minnesota during the fall months. We saw our first wallaby on this trail today, as it literally jumped right across the trail about 20 meters in front of us. It was too quick for the camera, so I have no cute animal pictures for you from this hike. :( There were many birds in the park and noisy ones at that, which is pretty typical for Melbourne (the birds here are always squawking at something, it seems). Overall, the trail was a decent pick in that it provided nice scenery and superb views of the CBD (which would have been spectacular on a clear day, no doubt!). It involved a lot of climbing, and also a lot of descending. There weren't many times along this hike where we were actually on level ground.

Can you spot the CBD?

6km to Montrose? We'll be there for dinner, Jill and Dan!

At the end of our hike, we drove to a different location to do a short walk to Sherbrooke Falls. This part of the park features more green ferns and also Mountain Ash trees, which apparently grew after severe forest fires in the 1920's. These trees grow up to 100 meters and can live up to 500 years. The Falls were unimpressive but it was a nice short walk, nonetheless. We will certainly head back to the Dandenongs for future hikes, hoping to see more wildlife and explore new areas of the park.

These birds know where to find food...in the picnic area near the parking lot!

We aren't sure which bright individual came up with the name of this "long" bridge!