356. Whipstick Scrub Circuit, Bungal State Forest 12km

 U3A Hike No 356





Hike Report & Photos by Teena Evans


Eleven keen hikers met at the Tennis Courts in Buninyong on a cold autumn morning. Once the carpooling had been organised we set off for Bungal State Forest. 

On arriving at our start point it was good to see the bridge had been reinstated so we could drive over it and park up, unlike the last time I had been on this walk, when we had to scramble down and through the creek to start the hike.

We set off with Mark as the leader and Gordon as the whip. This hike took us in the opposite direction to what we had completed in the past, going clockwise, we went up a short incline through the forest and then travelled on to the open cut iron mine. As we walked, there was plenty of evidence of the iron mining in the rocks around us. We walked along rutted paths where some motorbike riders had been having fun, churning up the path. We had to be careful of our footing as we negotiated our way through.

We passed an unusual outside toilet in the middle of the forest, which no one wanted to try out, funny that! There were wide tracks to walk along which gave us time to chat and enjoy the easier surface. We passed a pair of upside down trousers tied to a tree, which led to another discussion as to who they belonged to, how did they get there and why?! We walked on and found a great long log which could accommodate all of us for morning tea, and, so, we enjoyed a welcome break.

Carrying on, we came across quite a lot of abandoned articles, a large water container filled one of the mine shafts, and Colin entertained us with a large old iron link. He first tried it as a moustache and then thought it would be better as a pair of horns on his head! There were quite a lot of various car parts left lying around as we walked through the forest, which was such a shame to see. Lynn was going to report this, so hopefully it will get cleared away.

Mark decided to make it a more interesting walk by doubling back several times after deciding it was not the correct path we should have taken! But, to be fair, the GPS was playing up a bit. It just could not keep up with us! We did see several different paths twice which gave us a good insight to how it felt to do the path in both directions.

In places we could see the river below us that was mostly just dry river bed, the forest was very dry and you could see how easy it would be for it to go up in flames, given the correct conditions.

When we saw the cars parked up where we had started from, it didn't feel like a 12k hike, just a pleasant walk with friends in perfect conditions, not too hot and not too cold, and no rain!
Thank you Mark for a very interestingly navigated hike and to Gordon for his expertise as whip.

As a footnote, Alan and I would like to thank everyone for their support with our visa application. This has enabled us to pay for it to be applied for. We now have to wait to see if they feel we meet the criteria.  We are very thankful for the thoughtful kindness shown to us to be able to continue to be members of the U3A and share great days hiking with such good friends.




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