338. Rifle Range Fern Walk 8.6km

 U3A Hike No 338




Hike Report by Kath Cape


Fifteen seasoned and new U3A hikers gathered for the first hike of 2025 at the start of the
sensory trail off Katy Ryans Road in our lovely Woowookarung regional park. (Welcome Kim)

It was a mild day and Andrew had planned an easy but informative walk for us through the park – a gentle start for 2025 – much appreciated by those, like myself, who had fallen out of the habit of regular exercise over the festive season.

Our walk commenced on Australia’s first dementia-friendly forest and sensory trail. The path
was initiated and inspired by Edie Mayhew and her partner Anne Tudor, (2021 Premier’s
Victorian Senior of the year), who worked with other carers and people with dementia to
design an accessible path designed to evoke positive memories, feelings and sensations for
people living with dementia at a range of different stopping places.

We soon veered off the trail to explore another much older and less gentle but also
significant landmark in the history of Ballarat – the former Rifle Range. The Canadian Rifle
Range was established in the mid 19th century and hit its heyday, like other rifle ranges
across the country, round the turn of the 20th century. The range remained active until the
early 1990s but the land was sold to developers in 2002. 

No signs of development at the site, probably too much lead contamination, mostly home to gorse bushes and graffiti artists it would seem, but we enjoyed roaming the area and imagining it at its heyday.

Leaving the Rifle Range behind we meandered on to explore two newer trails in
Woowookarung Park – the Cherry Ballart loop and the Fern walk. We got to admire a few
specimens of cherry ballarts, also known as native cherries. The trees, in the early stages of
their development, are hemiparasitic on roots of other trees – particularly eucalypts and
again we were able to witness this. AND we got to see some lovely hyacinth orchids … what
a treat!

Of course, we also saw plenty of evidence of gold mining as we walked, but then don’t we
always and can Gordon ever resist not leading us to a mine shaft!

Late morning found us on the Northern side of the rifle range where there was evidence of
gorse clearing and then back at the start of the dementia trail. There we found a group of
school kids crowded around the signs ready to start the walk and was that Joan slipping in to
join them?

An early lunch or snack was enjoyed by many, while others snuck off for a coffee. Thanks for
a great start to 2025 Andrew!

Photos By Andrew Parker




Comments

  1. Kim Yearwood19 January 2025 at 17:38

    This was my first walk with the group. Thankyou for a great walk and the welcome into the group. Looking forward to my next walk.

    ReplyDelete

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