Tea for Two

Boiling water for tea in Tallarook State Forest on one of our weekly picnics in the bush.

The water boiling unit is an Eco Billy. When I was young in New Zealand, almost every home had one. Outdoor workers boiled their water in much larger units. What’s great about them is only small twigs, grass and leaves are all that are needed. The water in our .70 litre unit boils in less than 5 minutes and the fire is “safe.”

Falls Creek Reservoir, Tallarook State Forest VIC

In the 1890s, two weirs were constructed on Falls Creek, high above the Trawool Valley, to supply water to Seymour. The wall of the top storage (known as Falls Creek Reservoir) is built of locally quarried granite, which blends in particularly well with its surroundings. Granite was quarried in the Falls Creek valley in the 1890s and of interest are the large granite blocks that may be seen amongst the trees and ferns.

Tawny Frogmouth

Our buzz for the weekend was to spot this Tawny Frogmouth pretending to be part of the tree. Tawny Frogmouths are nocturnal. During the day, they perch on tree branches, often low down, camouflaged as part of the tree.

Cockatoo Christmas Angel

With warmest wishes for the festive season and beyond.
Thank you for joining us on our photographic journey.

Eastern Brown Snake

Our first snake visitor of the season, a 1.5m adult Eastern Brown that was passing through our back yard. He didn't stay long, more scared of us than we were of him.

The light at the end of tunnel...

CHEVIOT TUNNEL YEA (iPhone photo)

The Cheviot Station, just 3.4 miles (5.5km) west of the tunnel, was built to load sawn timber harvested from the Murrindindi Forest, some 14 miles (23km) away, and transported to the station by horse-drawn wagons. Cheviot Station opened with the rail line in 1889.

The first 3’ (0.9m) gauge timber tramway opened in 1901 and led to a terminus some 5 miles (8km) from the Station. It was extended to the Station in 1905. A second tramline commenced operation in 1925. Both tramways stopped operation in 1937 when the horse-drawn wagons were replaced by trucks.

Two six-ton derrick cranes were installed at the station yards in the 1920’s to handle the large volume of timber transported. Foran (1889-1890), Vinning (1892-1906), Wightman (1893-1901), and McKenzie (1899-1901) were the major milling companies that operated in the early years. The timber industry around Yea peaked between 1907 -1915 just as the Great War saw many men enlist. This was followed by another boom period between 1923 – 1930 before the Depression caused production to reduce greatly and demand for timber fell.

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Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)