UP INTO THE HILLS UP INTO THE HILLSPrint these pages, head down to Toora, set your trip meter to zero and this self-guided tour will allow you to find your way through the awesome tall forests that lie just to the north of Foster and Toora in the lush, steep Strzelecki State Forest. It is ideal in warm or cold weather and the roads are no problem. So spend a day exploring our hills, and stay a night in one of our little towns.
From Toora, the tour leads the driver along the Toora-Gunyah road, via Mount Fatigue lookout, to the magical Gunyah forest. (cool, ferny, tall Victorian forest at its most gorgeous) then turns west along the Grand Ridge road with its historic sites. A left turn at Gunyah junction onto the Foster-Boolarra road leads back to the Sth Gippsland Hwy near Foster.
Some tour tips:
Begin a theToora Post Office:
Set your car's trip meter to zero.
0 km. Head north up Toora's main street, (Stanley St.) turn left onto the South Gippsland Hwy and straight away turn right onto Creamery Valley Road ( virtually opposite Stanley St.) toward Mt Best.
4.8 km. Franklin River Rd. on left. Follow the bitumen as it veers right and crosses Tin Mine Creek
5.0 km. Intersection. Turn left onto Toora-Gunyah Road. This is the road you need to follow. Bitumen ends.
10.3 km. Mount Best. Turn right to stay on the Toora Gunyah Rd, then veer left onto the low road. Keep following the signs that point to Mt. Fatigue and Gunyah. Nearby is the site of Mount Best school, closed in the 80s.
10.6 km. The peak straight ahead is Mt Fatigue, at the southern edge of the Strzelecki State Forest.
12.6 km. The edge of the Strzelecki State Forest. Wind down the windows, and slow down to 30 KPH or less. You have entered the shelter of the forest microclimate. Treeferns, Mountain Pepper, Epiphites, Blackwood
12.9 km. Beautiful deep gully on Left
13.4 km. A nice patch of Mountain Correa on Right.
15.1 km Good spot to pull over and explore. Musk Daisy Bush, Christmas Bush, Austral Mulberry, Rough Treeferns, Tree Lomatia, Mountain Pepper, Prickly Currant Bush, Blanket Leaf. Messmate and Blackwood overstorey.
15.4 km. Smooth trunked Mountain Ash start to appear amidst the bark covered Messmate trees. Purple Flax Lily, Epiphitic ferns
16.5 km. Mt Fatigue turnoff. Turn right onto the Mt Fatigue lookout road (1 km each way.) Musk Daisy Bush, Kangaroo Fern, Messmate
17.5 km. Mt Fatigue Lookout . Best view in the district. Picnic table in rotunda.
Looking South, see Mount Best, Silcocks Hill (with the radio tower) Corner Inlet and the Prom.
Loowing South East, see the forest covered Hedley Range , site of the smaller Alberton West State Forest. The strange black structure beside you is a survey marker. Tarra Bulga area is to the North East
Retrace your steps back to Toora-Gunyah Road.
18.5 km. Mt Fatigue turnoff again. Turn right, back onto the Toora-Gunyah Road, heading north through deep mountain forest. The Franklin River catchment is on the left, while on the right is the catchment of the Agnes River.
19.2 km. Good spot to park on the left and explore on foot. Austral Mulberry, Musk Daisy Bush, Dogwood, Bootlace Bush, Hazel Pomaderus, Clematis Vines, Ferns, Wire Grass, Mountain Ash
19.9 km. Devils Pinch Road is on right. Good road for a walk. Definitely no good to drive down.
20.65 km. Lower Devils Pinch Rd. Logging track, good for a walk
21.5 km. 1997 logging track on left. Replanted with non-local Bluegum
21.8 km. Another track leading to a 1997 logging coup on left
22.1 km. Red Hill track on left. Another 1997 logging area where a mixture of old growth, 1914 regrowth and 1977 regrowth mountain ash along with blackwood and wattle trees were cut, the area bulldozed and burnt and replanted with non-local Bluegum and Shining Gum - the kind they use for paper. These areas are now claimed as ìplantationî. If you wish to explore any of these tracks, park the car and walk.
22.85 km. Evans Track on Left leads to more 1997 logging coupes. Amidst the young bluegum can be found the dead ìtoehold treeî with toeholds cut up the trunk, thought to be made by aboroginies in order to reach a hollow which may have contained possums, gliders or honey. It is hard to find and involves a 3 km walk..
23.5 km. On a bend which curves to the right, there is a semi-hidden short walking track on the left which leads to the ìBig Treeî. Please treat this marvellous old treasure with the utmost respect and avoid the temptation to climb over its roots or into its hollows. On the track, see Tender Brake, Mountain Pepper, Young stands of Mountain Ash, Muttonwood trees, Hazel, Myrtle Beech, Prickly Currant Bush, Hard Water Fern, Dogwood and Blackwood trees.
23.9 km. Space to park car near big hollow Mountain Ash on Right. The rainforest spreads across the road. Myrtle Beech, ferns, mosses and fungi. This is ancient cool temperate rainforest, ranked amongst the four most significant rainforest sites in Victoria.
24.6 km. Stronachs rd. to the left leads to more 1997 logging coups.
25.5 km. Mixture of Mountain Ash old growth, regrowth from 1914 fires and regrowth from 1977 logging.
25.9 km. Gunyah Gunyah. You have reached the Grand Ridge Road. Veer Left along Grand Ridge Rd. and continue through wonderful bush. The Grand ridge is the backbone of the Strzelecki ranges. North of the ridge, creeks and rivers flow down toward the Latrobe river, and on to the Gippsland lakes. Some is diverted into the Latrobe valley power stations and paper mill at Maryvale. Alternatively, a right turn leads to Rytons Junction, Englishís corner, and on to Tarra Bulga, etc.
26.0 km. On the Left, the Site of the Gunyah Central state school (1907 - 1941). Adjacent to the site was once a paddock where pupils would leave their horses during classes. Through the trees on the Right, a large logging coup can be seen.
27.1 km. Another recent logging track on Right
27.2 km. Hatchery Road. Another track leading to large logging coupes from 1997 and 1998
27.3 km. On Right., the Site of the old Gunyah Hotel which burnt down in 1941.
27.8 West Branch Track on Right.. Listen for Lyre birds going through their incredible vocal gymnastics.
29.6 km ìThe Springboard treeî on right. An old tree which Jack Patterson climbed to a height of 50 metres in 1927. The grooves where he wedged his boards into the tree can still be seen. On the left is the site of the old rifle range. Rifle shooting was a popular sport in pre war days and was subsidised by the government.
30.6 km The site of Gunyah Gunyah school which operated from 1907 to 1925
30.8 km. Gunyah Junction. Turn left down the Boolarra-Foster road toward Foster. Stay on this road for its full length
31.0 km. To the left is the Turtons Creek catchment. This creek meets the Tarwin which flows to Andersons Inlet, near Inverloch. The left side of the road is the Franklin catchment. Human disturbance becomes more apparent the further south you get. Young stands of mountain ash regrown after logging in the late 70s, wattle forests, dogwood forests, blackwoods, grey gums, pine plantations. The road has been recently upgraded to handle 90 log trucks per day. Most pine and ash logs head north to Morwell which has Australias biggest and newest Hardwood sawmill, as well as one of Australias biggest pine sawmills. Up the road from Morwell is Australias biggest paper and cardboard mill which consumes large amounts of both pine and native ash logs. Only a few small sawmills are left in the district.
36.4 km. Site of the Boolarong State school 1906 - 1940. Blackwood and Silver Wattle
42 km. Introduced Basket Willows, Blackberries, Scotch Thistle and Ragwort to the left
44.2 km. Turtons Creek turnoff on Right.
44.5 km. Wonga-Square Top turnoff on Left
46 km. Small clearing on Left suitable for a picnic
50.5 km. T Intersection. Turn Right onto the Foster-Mt Best Road towards Foster
50.6 km. Strzelecki Warm Temperate Rainforest on Right (private property) Sweet pittosporum
52.0 km. Turn Left onto South Gippsland Highway to return to Toora.. (turn right to go to Foster)
53.2 km. Port Franklin turnoff on Right. At Port Franklin, the Franklin River meets Corner inlet.
58.3 km. Bridge over the Franklin River. This short but sweet river begins up at Gunyah and ends at Port Franklin. Our trip has more or less circled the Franklin River upper catchment. On the left, a picnic area with public toilets. The Franklin is just one of the many river valleys that wind down from this State Forest.
62.0 km. Back to Toora
There is around 60,000 ha. of public land in the Strzeleckis. Almost half of this is land which the State sold off 100 years ago, then bought back from the 30s onward. The State Forests commission established about 13,000 ha. of pine plantation, and since the late 40s there has also been 7000 ha. of mountain ash reforestation work to ìrestore beauty and productivityîto the area. Much of this is reforestation after logging rather than the reforestation of cleared ex-farmland. In the 60s, 8617 ha. to the north east was carved off and leased to APM, (now Amcor) for 60 years. All up, the public land in the Strzeleckis has some 40,000 or so hectares of bush.
Unforrtunately the State decided that they would prefer to classify the reforestation as ìplantationî, and deny it any native forest status. In 1993, 40,000 ha. of the Strzeleckis,including 20,000 ha. of bush, 7000 ha of native reforestation and 13000 ha. of pine plantation was handed over to the Victorian Plantations Corporation, along with more than 130,000 ha. of pine plantations and state forest across the rest of Victoria, with the view to privatisation. Realising what was happening, locals lobbied to have the non-pine areas returned to the public and called for a major reserve. 6500 people signed a petition supporting a proposal for a 30,000 ha. National Park in the Strzeleckis was presented to parliament .
In 1998, ignoring local concerns, the State Government sold the VPC to US Mega timber barons, Hancocks. Now, the bulk of the Strzelecki State Forest - our water supply, wildlife habitat and tourist attraction - is leased to the two biggest timber concerns in Victoria: Hancocks (HVP) and Amcor. This forest has been exempted from the Sustainable Yield process, exempted from the Regional Forest Agreement process, has missed out on a Forest Management Plan, and is now being plundered at a record rate. The VPC (now HVP) have agreed to supply 100,000 cubic metres of Strzelecki mountain ash sawlogs per year to ìPlanthardî sawmill in Morwell for twenty years. This is a lot considering Victoriaís entire 3.3 million hectares of State forests produces about 700,000 cubic metres of sawlogs annually. The Strzeleckis are groaning under the pressure. This State Forest is the last large remaining fragment of the once huge ìGreat Forest of Gippslandî. Only about 8% of this public land is reserved in small fragments, the largest being Tarra-Bulga Nat. Park. The Forestry commission promised that native forest would be returned after logging in State Forest. But in the Strzeleckis, when an area is logged, the area loses its native forest status and becomes a ìplantationî, even if it is reforested in native mountain ash. As ìPlantationsî these areas have no protection, permits to log are not required, it can be clearfelled more often and non-native species can be replanted in their place. Locals are still fighting on and have faith that a large chunk of the Strzeleckis will be returned to the public and protected once and for all in a large, beautiful National Park. Support the idea by writing to Sherryl Garbutt, our environment minister, or to Hancocks or to Amcor, or to your local MP. Better yet, go and visit the Strzelecki State Forest for yourself.
Count Paul Edmund de StrzeleckiPolish nobleman, geologist and devil-may-care globe trotting goodguy Paul Strzelecki, was born in 1797 spent almost four years in Australia, mostly roaming around Tasmania on foot with a pack horse to carry his things. The count, along with James MacArthur, Charlie Tarra and some other blokes headed south from Sydney in 1839, via Mt Kosiuscko, through Gippsland (so named by Strzelecki after Governor Gipps) to lake King, crossed the Latrobe river near where Moe now stands and struggled their way through the Strzelecki ranges (mostly the western ranges) for 22 days before making their way to Westernport bay, and on to Melbourne where the good citizens threw a big party in their honour. In 1845, he published his famous book "Physical Description of New South Wales and Van Diemenís Land". During the1846-1847 famine in Ireland, he coordinated the relief effort and was knighted for his troubles. He died in 1879 in Britain.