8. Lerderderg Track Stage Two, Werribee River to Lerderderg River February 2017 15.5km

 U3A Hike No 8



Hike Report by Jan Herperger

Our group has swelled to 19 enthusiastic hikers - our largest number yet. After driving along a labyrinth of gravel roads and making a couple of U turns we arrived back at Toe Rag Track, the finish point of our last walk and the beginning of today's stage of our long walk in the bush. We stopped briefly at the site of the Wombat Forest Tramway turntable and learned that there also used to be a sawmill at this location. Fun fact: the small stream nearby was the Werribee River.  

There were times that the track narrowed to single file walking but much of today's journey was tramped along fire tracks and other roadways lined by very tall, straight eucalypts. There were also some lovely damp areas with ferns and more varied species of trees. We stopped at Balt Camp which was a refugee work camp for displaced persons from World War Two. The camp was constructed in 1946 by the Forestry Commission and housed 45 displaced men from the Baltic region in Europe which is how it came to be known as 'The Balt Camp. The men were involved in forestry works, supplying wood to Melbourne, mainly for use in wood fueled hospital boilers. The two chimneys at Balt Camp were repaired in 2015 thanks to a Victorian Government grant of $30,000. (Thanks for the info, Andrew) 

Later on, we paused for a bit of a breather near a village of bee hives and noticed the smell of honey and the thousands of bees buzzing about. There were quite a few uphill sections on the track, so we stopped every now and again to catch our breath, have a drink and to let the stragglers join up with the peloton. There was some joking about a rock and the last hill not really being the last hill, but all I know is that I was very pleased to see our group of cars waiting patiently for us at the pretty Nolan's creek picnic ground. 

More fun facts: Despite all the threats, wombats still manage to maintain presence in the Wombat State Forest. The Bare Nosed Wombat in the Wombat State Forest is not presently an endangered species. 

 

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