In an unusual brief lull during a particularly windy and wintry week, providence beamed blue skies and calm for the 16 participants on the Kalimna Falls walk.
A sunlit dappled track with plenty of puddles to negotiate formed the track alongside the Sheoak Creek. Some historical signs. a couple of tramway track remnants and several cuttings were a reminder that the route was used in the late 1800s for transporting timber to the Lorne Pier. Now the Eucalypts have regrown stately and tall, amongst the lucky few remaining wide girth survivors of that period.
With the benign weather it made sense to head for the Upper Kalimna Falls first. Some slippery sections near the Falls particularly on the rubber matting were a definite hazard. However the walk was worthwhile as there was plenty of water flowing over the Cascades, picturesquely situated in a forest of ferns.
Lunch was taken in the extraordinary dry undercut cave of the Lower Kalimna Falls. Essentially we sat behind the waterfall itself, watching its flow into the rockpool below, the water so plentiful that its roar made either silence or shouting the only alternative to chatting.
On the return trip, there were two antechinus sightings. The first was fleeting, and possibly identified as a Swamp Antechinus. The second was seen by the entire group, a Dusky Antechinus that stayed for several minutes on the side of the track, allowing lots of photographs to be taken. There was speculation that it was a male, post mating and late in its short life cycle.
The final leg of the 9km trip was along an alternative track back to the cars. This was a puddle-free stretch of old tramway with wonderful views high above the Little Sheoak Creek below.
Later that afternoon, with everyone safely back home, the wind and rain returned in full force.
Joe Bolza