Bowral rally reaffirms community's opposition to shooting in National Parks.

This is a direct lift from the ABC website.
It is such good coverage I can't resist it.

Thanks to Nick Rheinberger of the ABC Illawarra Morning Show on 97.3FM. He is a good bloke (and a good interviewer) and knows I care passionately about the bush.  Thanks to Ainslie Drewitt-Smith who put together the News report for ABC Illawarra.

The No Hunting in National Parks Rally
in Bowral was organised by the
Southern Highlands Greens
but many non-aligned groups were also represented.
National Parks Association
Public Service Association
(the Union representing the NPWS Rangers)
And the Australasian Native Orchid Society.

Bowral rally reaffirms community's opposition to shooting in National Parks.

By Ainslie Drewitt-Smith

Over two hundred Southern Highlands and Illawarra residents have staged a protest in Bowral against the State Government's plan to allow amateur shooters into National Parks.

The rally focused on the impact the proposed legislation could have on the local use of Morton National Park.
Amateur naturalist, Robertson resident and member of the Australasian Native Orchids Society Dennis Wilson addressed the crowd on Sunday, along with NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge, local council representatives and members of the National Parks Association.
Mr Wilson used his speech to outline his concerns with the plan including problems it may cause for local tourism.
"If they close the national park [for shooting] what's it going to do to the economy of Bundanoon."
Mr Wilson said the nature of his own visits to local national parks could leave him at risk of being shot.
"I hobble around using a walking stick these days and I crawl around on the ground taking photographs of plants that are three inches high.
"I'm more likely to be perceived as just something causing movement down in the shrubbery."
Speaking at the meeting in Bowral, Greens MP David Shoebridge said the plan, which would allow amateur shooters in National Parks to cull feral animal numbers, wouldn't work.
"They might knock off half a dozen rabbits, a fox, the odd pig, the odd wild goat, but because these feral pest species have such high reproductive rates sending a few amateurs in an knocking out even half a dozen, has no impact on the numbers that you'll have in the forest or the National Park, the next year."
Mr Shoebridge said a risk test of the plan conducted by the Office of Environment and heritage has revealed the proposal could see someone killed.
"Their analysis says there is a high risk of someone being killed if you have unsupervised amateurs or in fact, amateurs, out in National Parks.
"People will inevitably - if this program gets rolled out - will be sharing their national parks with untrained amateurs highly armed, dangerous, untrained amateurs."
Mr Wilson said the community expressed a strong opposition to the idea and brushed off any argument the proposal would help decrease the number of feral animals in forests and national parks.
"Absolutely everyone was in agreement that is was a crazy idea.
"If they want to spend $18 million solving the problem of feral animals in National Parks [the State Government] should fund the rangers properly."

Related Photos

Morton National Park
(from ABC website report)
(Skeggsky - Flickr.com)

Under a proposal by the NSW government, parts of Morton National Park on the NSW South Coast and Southern Highlands could be opened to amateur shooters to help control feral animal numbers.

Not Happy Barry - No Hunting in National Parks

Today we gathered to hear a talk by Kevin Evans, CEO of National Parks Association of NSW, about the current status of the legislation to permit hunting in National Parks.

Some of the Southern Highlands people
who attended a talk
about hunting in National Parks.
We gathered outside
Fitzroy Falls Visitor Centre.

A single message
Not Happy Barry - No Hunting in National Parks

This was despite the repeated statements by Barry O'Farrell that he would not allow hunting in National Parks. But the Government "did a deal" with the Shooters and Fishers Party to gain their support for the passage of legislation to sell the Electricity Generator facilities.

Gardens of Stone Rally

Yesterday, 120 people from numerous environmental and heritage groups assembled at a remote location on Gardiners Gap Fire Trail, in the Blue Mountains, to declare that the Gardens of Stone deserve to be protected from coal Mining.


The main organisations represented in this rally included the Nature Conservation Council, the Blue Mountains Conservation Society, the Colong Foundation for Wilderness, Rivers SOS, and The Wilderness Society,. 
There were many members of other groups also present, including the National Parks Association (NSW) Australian Water Campaigners, The National Trust of Australia (NSW), and the Australian Plants Society (NSW) Several members of the Southern Highlands Photographic Society came along for the opportunity to support this event, as well as to photograph the unique landscape.


We were there to draw attention to this unique piece of landscape and national heritage. We can but hope that the Rally might help provoke Government into acting to protect the Gardens of Stone from Coal Mining.

A set of natural Stone Pagodas in the Gardens of Stone

Some of the supporters of the Gardens of Stone

Pepe Clark of NCC, Justin, Cate Faehrmann MLC, Prof. Brian Marshall

Keith Muir of Colong Foundation, holding the far end of the banner at the Gardens of Stone Rally

Prof. Brian Marshall (right), of BMCS, one of the main groups campaigning for Gardens of Stone

Cameras galore record the Gardens of Stone Rally

Colliery visible below the Gardens of Stone

"Invincible" Colliery is creating an unconscionable blight on the landscape

Ecopella is a dedicated band of singers who, under the leadership of Miguel Heatwole, perform for environmental groups, or at special events such as the Gardens of Stone Rally. Their theme is "Save-the-World Music".

Ecopella has a Facebook Gallery, with their own photos. 

Not sure of non-FB people can visit the gallery or not.

Crowd listening to ECOPELLA singing on a "Stone Pagoda"

ECOPELLA singing for Gardens of Stone

National Trust members 'Showing the Flag" for Gardens of Stone

Photo of me by Toni Valentine (she was standing behind Cate F.)

Photo of me (in foreground) - by Caroline Graham

A lone photographer had ventured onto the next outcropping Stone Pagoda

If anyone knows who the mystery photographer is, please contact me.

Do it Yourself Mapping tool

Here is an incredibly powerful tool anyone can use. It is perfect for persons of outdoors interests of just about any specialisation. 

It is built by the Federal Government to map Australia's mineral resources and Mines, (operational and old ones).

However, it has an interesting alternative use.

You can simply hit the topography button (which blanks out the mine mapping options) and zoom in (use the + symbol and click back on the the map, repeatedly) to map any area of Australia and convert it to a printable small scale PDF map and print off any area in Australia you are interested in.

Australia Mines Atlas

Bingo: Do it yourself small scale - topographical maps of any part of Australia - free of charge.

Who says the Federal Government doesn't have its uses?

Here is an example of Granite Falls and Tianjara Falls district (the subject of my previous postings).

More rare plants from Mt Rae forest

Readers will recall that I have a friend, Mark Selmes, who is campaigning to protect the forests of Mt Rae, near Taralga (north-east of Goulburn).
Mark had been promising me to let me know as soon as the rare Diuris aequalis (the Buttercup Doubletail Orchid) started to flower.

These plants are a lovely colour of clear golden yellow.
By contrast with Diuris sulphurea
which was also in flower on the same day,
these flowers were distinctly golden, not lemon yellow.
Even the lovely yellow D. chryseopsis had a different colour,
and grows out in the open grasslands
and has very different shaped "ears".

This plant is listed on the NSW Threatened Species list.
It is endangered because of the threat from clearing of the Wet sclerophyll forests (grassy sub-formation).
Anyway, Mark was as good as his word. I went there on Monday and we saw only 5 of these plants, but that's just the start of the season. Hopefully many more of these plants will be seen and their locations recorded before the season ends for them.

You can clearly see the labellum of the flower,
the beautifully rounded dorsal sepal (above the column).
You can clearly see the two callus ridges
divergent, at the top of the labellum.
The labellum itself has a prominent ridge towards the lower edge.

But it is less pronounced than some other species of Diuris.

It is worth remembering that these plants grow only amongst grasses and bracken ferns on the floor of the forest. But the forest needs to be there, for the plants to survive. These plants are not found in open cleared areas close by. They grow only under the canopy of the forest.

That is why Mark Selmes's campaigning to protect the Mt Rae forests is important - for these rare, threatened plants to survive.

Note how tightly the lateral sepals
(the so-called "double-tails")

are tightly held under the flower.

Mark Selmes will be the guest speaker at the forthcoming meeting of the National Parks Association, (Southern Highlands Branch) on Wednesday, 18 November, at the Moss Vale CWA Hall (adjacent to the Wingecarribee Shire Council chambers) at 7:30 PM.

Fitzroy Falls "East Rim" Walk

Today I led a walk along the Fitzroy Falls East Rim trail. The walk went off well, with 13 people, mostly NPA members, participating.
As with all my walks I made it clear the objective was to observe the "little things". We started of well with a Yellow Robin having a bath in the creek just near the bridge, accompanied by a Brown Thornbill in the long grass beside the creek and a White-browed Scrubwren hopping along a dirt track. Across the creek and past the bridge, we saw some bright red Boletus fungi (white pores underneath). We continued, with discussion of the protective bark of two different species of Persoonias (Geebungs).

In the dry heath country, we examined some of the prolific Lambertia formosa ("Mountain Devil" flowers.The towering Eucalypt trees in the gully were very impressive in the clear morning light, with their bark still damp from overnight dew. The ferns in the deep gullies were glowing beautifully. We even discussed the formation of the "croziers" (the fronds) and noted the patterns (as described in the mathematical theory of "fractals") in which the entire frond unfolds, but that each smaller level of sub-frond, also replicates the pattern, as each unfolds.

We noticed how much scratching of the wet forest floor had taken place - a signs of Lyrebirds.

A few flowers of the "Lesser Flannel Flower" (Actinotus minor) were examined under 10 power hand lenses. Always fascinating.

We then examined some tiny insects walking around in some of the gilled fungi we found on the track. I have photographed one of these before, and after seeking advice from Blogging colleagues, we concluded they are a form of "Springtail" (Collembola spp) some of the most prolific animals on the planet, yet seldom noticed by people, because they are so tiny.

We went out to several of the lookouts along the East Rim trail. One gave us this view back to the main Fitzroy Falls. Note the many tourists on the viewing platform beside the Falls.
As we were walking back out of the Gully on the East Rim Trail, we noticed a Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) just below the track, beside the creek. We all stopped, and watched in amazement as this bird, a male, came right up onto the track.
We were all quiet and the bird took virtually no notice of us. It was a special moment for us all.
This is a moment which the youngsters in our group will treasure forever, I dare to say.
The bird walked down along the track towards us, and then crossed over the path just a few metres in front of the kids, and then walked along beside our entire group.
I vividly remember my own introduction to bird watching and learning about tiny and frequently overlooked plants, on Field Naturalists' trips, in Victoria, when I was less than 8 years old. Those experiences have stayed with me, and I sincerely hope that these little girls gain the same inspiration from today's walk which I experienced as a child myself, all those years ago.

What a joyous end to a very pleasant walk.

Orchids and a Green Frog in Kangaloon, today.

On an Orchid Ramble today, in Kangaloon, our best find was a frog! Strange as that may sound!


We were all having a very interesting exploration, looking at Orchids, along the edge of Kirkland Road, in Kangaloon (not trespassing, folks) when a squeal of delight indicated that one of our little group had found something unusual. Indeed they had. Just one metre beside the road was a very fine specimen of the Small Tongue Orchid, and beside it was a tiny green frog.
Sorry about the quality of this second image, but it serves to show some diagnostic features. Close examination revealed it was a Tree Frog (pads on its toes). But it was such a little frog - barely more than an inch (25 mm in length). It had an eye stripe which was quite conspicuous, but a fine line, not a heavy one. From what I can work out, it is possibly a "Leaf Green Tree Frog" Litoria phyllochroa .

Evan, of "Liquid_Ghoul" Frog photos fame, advises me that it is likely to be Litoria nudidigita. These two frog species are apparently very similar (despite the dissimilar images on those hot-linked websites). His reason is that the second species has a more southerly distribution. Mind you, it seems these species have recently been "split". (That feels familiar, as an Orchid enthusiast!). If you look at Litoria phyllochroa on this other website, they show it as having a wide distribution. Maybe old records, prior to these species being re-classified? It is beyond my knowledge. The comforting thing is that both species are known by the same common name "Leaf Green Tree Frog".

*****

Thanks again to Evan who responded very quickly to my plea for help. His full photo set is found here. Lots of interesting photos of very varied subjects. You can search his photos using the "tags", if you are looking for particular subjects.

*****

After the exciting diversion of finding the little Frog, we got back to Orchid hunting. Once again another member of the group found these Tiny Greenhoods (which I had not seen in this locality previously). They are very tall and multi-flowered. (Editors note: DJW 28.3.08 - Remember I am talking about "Tiny Greenhoods" - so it is all relative. These plants were about 10 inches tall (lets guess about 25cm). Compare that with the little brown form of Tiny Greenhoods I have described previously, these plants (today) are twice their size (or more). Those plants average just 4 inches, or 10 cm.)

It is interesting to see the variation in colour which occurs on the same stem of one single plant.The flower on the left is the newest flower of the Tiny Greenhood (Speculantha parviflora). The centre flower is clearly a mature flower. On the right is an ageing flower (it was low down on the stem, and these plants open their flowers from the lowest flower, upwards, so lower flowers are older.) The flower at the top of the right-hand stem was the wide-open flower, which was clearly the newest flower in the group. It is the darkest of them all. (I had not positioned these flowers in "order of age, left to right originally. But I have fixed that now - DJW It was too late originally, I was tired and needed to go to bed.) So, the point is, the flowers start dark green, fade through light greenish yellow and then develop into a soft yellow-brown colour. All in the one plant colony, don't forget. Two plants gowing together, probably linked via underground stolons, and therefore almost certainly genetically identical. It is an ageing process, not genetic variation I am talking about.

And for some light relief, here is George's visiting Peacock, peering in through the windows in George's house. It strays down the road from the pretentiously named Fountaindale Grand Manor. It annoys George, but even he can acknowledge it is a beautiful thing. It is moulting at present, so I did not take a photo of its back, as it was not up to its normal gorgeousness. You can see that the crown feathers are just re-growing.

Odds and Sods in Kangaloon

Today was full of surprises for me as I shuffled around the quiet bushland in Kangaloon. I firstly found a green form of Chiloglottis seminuda. This is now the second green form of Chiloglottis which I have seen. Not rare, just unusual. Interesting anyway.
When I blew the images up to their maximum I could see many Aphids, with quite long antennae on this flower. I am used to finding spiders on Ground Orchids, but never Aphids before.

Then I found a most unusual peach-coloured Moth with wings held straight out like a "glider" plane. Very unusual. I have not yet checked the wonderful Moth reference pages available on the web. When I do, I hope to be able to tell you the species and family. From the front it also looked unusual. I was expecting the normal hairy head and body common to many moths. But instead it looked quite sleek, and very angular in the legs which were not at all hairy. Altogether a most unusual moth.I subsequently found that a group of Corybas aconitiflorus (Helmet Orchids) which I have been monitoring for three years has come into flower, just in time for tomorrow's NPA "Orchid Ramble". These plants are particularly interesting, as they are very small in flower size. Specimens of this colony are safely stored in the National Herbarium, collected at the request of the now retired Mr David Jones.And the Sods? Well, no surprises there. The SCA. I was warned off this area today, by one of their officers, despite the fact that there are no signs indicating that this area that I have been studying plants in for four years is apparently SCA land. Believe me I have asked who owned this land, previously, and was told that it is Crown Land. And now they are barring my entry.

Without any signs declaring it to be Special Area land, and prohibiting entry I think they have got a nerve.

I have been requested to send an email to Mr George Dodds, of the SCA Head Office. I have done that, and I await his reply.

The Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk, Knights Hill

Yesterday evening the manager of the Illawarra Fly held a special briefing for members of the National Parks Association. I did not get any photos of the structure itself, as the time and the weather were against me. However, their website has pictures and gives the following introduction:

• The Illawarra Fly is a 500 metre long, 25 metre high elevated tree top walk ascending at a gentle grade and suitable for visitors of all mobilities. Nestled amongst the temperate rainforest of the Southern Highlands the treetop walk takes you along the picturesque Illawarra escarpment and offers inspiring views from Shellharbour to Bass Point, Lake Illawarra and the South Pacific Ocean.

• For the thrill seeker a 45 metre high lookout is ascended via a spiral stairway offering panoramic views, combined with the beauty of the rainforest. View the Blackwoods, Gully Gums and Sassafras from a vantage point generally reserved for our flying friends.

Even in the dull, misty light the views along the Escarpment, towards Wollongong were breathtaking, and on a clear day it would provide an unsurpassed view of the Illawarra Region. You look out over Bass Point, and Shellharbour, Albion Park, Lake Illawarra and Port Kembla (and the Steel Works), and on to Wollongong itself. And of course the jagged skyline provided by the local landmarks of Mt Keira and Mt Kembla.

From the Naturalist's point of view the walk starts in regrowth Cool Temperate Rainforest, with Brown Barrel Eucalypts, with true rainforest plants at the lower level of the canopy. They are all growing on rich red basalt soil. You walk in and start down the slope then go onto the metal pathways, which gently rise over the next band of forest, which is mostly Gully Gums (Eucalyptus smithii,) and Silver-top Ash (E. seiberii), with a rainforest understory, of Blackwoods, Sassafras, Scentless Rosewood and of course, Tree Ferns (of both the Dicksonia and the Cyathea genera), and occasional Cabbage Tree Palms. There are numerous vines visible climbing through the tall trees. This "Gully Gum Forest" forms a narrow strip, just about 100 metres wide, as it sits immediately above the exposed edge of the Illawarra Escarpment. The Escarpment Cliffline is visible from the Illawarra Fly in several places, and of course, it has exposed Sandstone rock faces. So one is reminded that the red soil (on the walks in and out from the Illawarra Fly) indicates that, geologically, this mountain top is a basalt cap overlying the Sandstone structure. It is a "volcanic intrusion".

Here is one of the tall Tree Fern as viewed from above, from one of the metal walkways, some 30 metres off the ground.
From my point of view, it was great to see how this enormous structure has been fitted into the forest with barely a tree dislodged. It was built in pre-fabricated modules, then moved in. The tower was craned into place, a fair effort as it reaches 45 metres high.

And this is a Giant Earthworm, some 50cm long (about 18 inches). It was the largest one I have yet seen. They are recorded to grow even longer. They love this red basalt soil, and the high level of organic matter found on the forest floor in places such as this. This fellow had been disturbed when a trench had been dug, but it was in the process of recovering, and making its way out of the 600mm deep (2 feet) trench.The operators of the Illawarra Fly have a policy of employing local staff, and local suppliers of goods, as far as possible. This is an excellent policy as far as the local Chamber of Commerce is concerned.

The Manning Lookout Bushwalk was great fun.

A small but enthusiastic group of people returned to their vehicles after 4 hours of strolling through the bush, along the top of the Kangaroo Valley Escarpment, last Sunday. These people had joined me in doing the Manning Lookout Walk which had been advertised under the auspices of the National Parks Association.

Starting from the car park, at Manning Lookout, we firstly went to the main lookout point, which has nice safety rails, and offers a great view over Kangaroo Valley township, way down below us. Then we back-tracked a little to see the strange rock formation which I have previously written about, under the name of "Rhinoceros Rock". That side excursion probably took us about 30 minutes, by the time we got there, appreciated the view, checked out some interesting rock shelves and then returned back to the main road. Then we set off on the real walk.

We followed the track around to the "old lookout", which no longer has any guard rails, and so some members of the group held back a little. But this point does give you an excellent view of the strange rock formation which I refer to as the "little 3 sisters".We also took the opportunity to examine the Mallee Gums which grow along these exposed clifflines. True Mallee forms of Eucalypts are well known to exist in the upper Blue Mountains, and in tiny enclaves such as this place, around the edges of the Shoalhaven Valley, here and at Bundanoon and further south. Their habitat is restricted to a narrow band about 80 metres wide, just on the very exposed points along these cliff lines. Here the soil is so shallow (amongst rocks), and the evaporation is so great (because of exposure to wind) that only specially adapted plants, such as these Mallee Eucalypts and some "sandstone heath plants" can survive here. These Mallee Eucalypts have thin stems, (instead of a central trunk). The stems arise from a swollen root mass, in just the same way that classic Mallee Gums do, out west, and in Victoria's "Mallee Belt". This adaptation also serves as a fire survival technique, for while the leaves and stems might be killed in a fire, the woody lignotuber survives and can re-shoot after the fire.

We then pressed on along the path. Firstly we rose up along a gentle incline, going across some large rock shelves with classic "moss gardens" and passing some weird-shaped rock structures which have been severely eroded by the weather and the passing of time.

Then we started descending into wetter country. The track moves away from the cliff-line, heading towards a gully where we passed underneath a small waterfall, known in the NPWS guidebook at Bridal Veil Falls (one of many falls to carry that name).

In this deep gully, about 60 metres below the surrounding plateau, the temperature was noticeably cooler, and we were surrounded by stems of Coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum) and "Black Wattle" (Callicoma serratifolia ). There were also some very fine Eucryphia trees there, which were apparently still in flower, judging by the sprinkling of white petals on the ground.

Here the green light is delicately filtered by the leaves of a young Eucryphia tree.We crossed the creek just below the falls, by stepping across some large rocks and fallen logs. That was a little treacherous, but we assisted less nimble persons in our group across without too much trouble. Then we proceeded out of the gully, by walking underneath a long overhanging cliff, where there was a constant drip of water from the rocks above. Great ferns, and mosses, and insects and interesting red fungi. Anni took this photo of group of small red fungi, with bright red gills. It is possibly Hygrocybe coccinea, but don't hold me to that - it just looks "about right" for that species, but I have not checked for distribution maps, etc.

At this point we were looking for a lunch break, and it took a little longer than I had expected until we made it back up to the sandstone plateau and walked along to the so-called "lost lookout". This is such a great lookout, still with its rusting iron railing and mesh fencing. There was much debate about who were the people who created these tracks and lookouts in the first place. For they certainly worked hard, cutting rocks for steps, carving steps into rocks where a foothold was necessary, and then, right out on the end of this point, creating this wonderful (and safe) lookout.
We had a good view down over the properties in the Bunkers Hill Road area below us. We also admired some of the wonderful rainforest trees, such as the huge Pencil Cedar in the middle of this photo below (with its light green foliage) and the Cabbage Tree Palms surrounding it.
We stayed there for about half an hour, for lunch and rested our leg muscles before returning via the waterfall, back to the car. To my mind, this view of the falls is the prettiest framed by the rock overhang, with dappled light. A brief rest was required after climbing out of the rainforest gully, and we had several encounters with Leeches which were hitchhiking inside people's shoes and socks, but only one person was actually bitten. That is a reminder of the need for thorough preparation for bushwalking in this kind of scrub. Protective trousers and good shoes and socks, and a dose of insect spray beforehand is thoroughly recommended. The one person to actually fall victim to a Leech had turned up late (missing out on my pre-walk briefing), and had declined the spray with insect repellent!

A trip to Mannings Lookout

Today I went to Manning's Lookout (near Fitzroy Falls) with Jim, Ian and Len. Jim has been after me for some time to do an exploratory walk for a proposed National Parks Association (NPA) walk.

I had been sent an extract of a bush-walking guide which described the walk. I had previously explored the central part of this walk, with Jim and Wayne. Also, I am familiar with the closer-in parts of the track, so today we were trying to "join the dots" between the familiar sections of the track.

Firstly we went down to my favourite viewing place, near "Rhinoceros Rock". This particular view does not appear to be well known - but I love it. Kangaroo Valley is in the distance, below the cliff top rock. I know the name is not "local" but I cannot think of an Australian animal which this rock resembles. So, please forgive my clumsy name for this rock. My helpful colleagues offered to take my photo if I would pose over there, sitting in the hollow just behind the "horn" of the Rhinoceros. Thanks guys! In fact it is accessible, but there is no way I would ever indulge that fantasy.

We saw a female Peregrine Falcon circle a couple of times, to check out what we were doing in her area. Obviously she decided we posed no threat, and went off about her business. She was a powerfully built bird. Peregrines love cliff lines, for they offer protected nesting sites; and also cliffs give them great vantage points for checking out their prey. Also the winds created by cliffs assist the young birds, when learning to fly.

We then went to the main lookout point, and then on to the next lookout, where I have been before. Then we set off into "unknown" territory (for me). The track is fairly clearly defined, but it goes through dense Banksia scrub, and then large patches of coral fern, which always grows fast and tends to close over tracks, making it easy to miss the track.

The next feature of this track which we came to is "Bridal Veil Falls" - that name is not mine, but is the one applied in the bush-walking guide I mentioned. A small creek drops over a clean drop of about 30 metres, hits a large wide rock and drops another 5 metres, before returning to a normal creek flow. This area is very cool, being in a deep gully, and surrounded by rainforest trees.
Going down into this deep gully there is a series of remarkably well constructed rock steps. The mosses have colonised the steps (and the original rocks), creating this lovely view. We wondered at the time and effort which went into creating this track, and when that might have happened? From some of the materials used at various lookout points, we guessed that the track was originally constructed back in the 1920s - but I stress that is only a guess.
We went further out, towards what the guide refers to as the "lost lookout".

We had lunch together on some convenient rocks, along the path. No sooner had the four of us settled down than the Leeches arrived. Well, clearly the Leeches had been there all along, and it was US who had arrived. This caused us to wonder, was this "chance", or would there have been so many Leeches at any other point along the track? ALSO what do these Leeches survive on when there are no bushwalkers? We saw plenty of signs of Wombats, but no other marsupials. This guy was waving its head around, deciding where to go next, then getting a new grip point, then "looping" its way along my leg. Nice red and yellow stripes on the thick end.

The question arose - which end does the Leech suck with? Clearly it has to be the head, but which end is the head? The issue arises from the fact that leech has two "suckers" (one on each end) with which it can adhere to you (well, my leg, to be precise). Leeches have a "sucker" on each end, but they feed from the head end ONLY.

The thin end of the leech is in fact its head, and that is where its mouth is located. But the confusion about which end the Leech "sucks with" arises because of the fact that they adhere very firmly with the thick end, and hold the head in place with the smaller sucker (on the head end), and that is where their jaws are located. Once the Leech arrives at an appropriate place to feed, it uses its small (head) sucker to stick to your skin, then it uses its jaws to cut into your skin. While it is feeding, it uses the strong sucker on its rear end, to keep itself firmly attached to you. The Australian Museum (in Sydney) has an excellent on-line Fact Sheet about Leeches.

I tried to brush this fellow off, and I could not, because it was using its rear (larger) sucker to stay stuck onto my trousers. Eventually we touched the leech with a stick of insect repellent, and instantly the leech let go, and I was then able to brush it off my leg. Fortunately I had sprayed my socks with insect repellent, and the tracksuit trousers were made of very fine material, which the Leech was unable to penetrate, so I survived intact.

Somewhere along the track we were joined by 3 members of the "Tuesday Walkers" group from Bowral. So it is good to see other people using this interesting track.

While we were out on the track a fog rose up from Kangaroo Valley (below the cliffs). It was not a thick fog, but it serves as a reminder that fogs can appear suddenly, in the Southern Highlands, and that there is always a risk of getting lost if you cannot see where you are going. And it is harder to orient oneself (by the sun) when there is dense fog.

However, the fog did give me this interesting "silhouette" effect because the background view was obscured. So it made this particular rock face even more dramatic than normal.
On the way back we came to a point where we could see the Bridal Veil Falls from along a rock ledge, which served to frame the view nicely. Len suggested that I take this photo, and I was happy to oblige him. It was a particularly nice view of the falls.