I love to visit the bush in the winter. Sure it’s cold, but everything grows so profusely and the damp wetness brings colours into sharp relief.
I’ve just spent a reasonably disastrous long weekend in the Lorne area, but fortunately nature saved it from being a total write-off. Erskine Falls is a short drive from Lorne and one of my favourite places. So peaceful and calm and it’s well worth picking your way down the stream to Straw Falls and beyond. Most tourists don’t bother so you have the place to yourself and it’s glorious.
After driving for twice as long as expected, with very curvy, narrow roads in a very foggy Otway Forest Park, we arrived at a very foggy Otway Fly Tree Top Walk. After lunch it lifted a little, then started to rain. Lovely. It was in the end. The trees captured most of the rain and the fog flitted through the very tops of the trees. The Tree Top Walk structure itself deserves a mention – the roofed nodes linking the walkways act as sound chambers which amplify all the footsteps. Quite fascinating. They also become points of focus for the vibrations of the tourists’ footsteps, and sway quite alarmingly! Don’t let it put you off though, well worth a visit. Due to the rain there wasn’t much scope for photographing the impressive tree ferns, mosses and massive mountain ash trees. Must return soon!
