391. Buninyong Parks & Lanes 10.6km

 U3A Hike No 391



Hike Report by Michelle MacGillivray 

🥾 In the beginning…

Kim set a brisk pace leading twenty-one happy hikers from an early gathering in Buninyong to walk the beautiful Buninyong paths, tracks and roads through gardens and forests, taking in the rich history and abundant local surrounds.

🍺 Buninyong Brewery…

While beer may have stopped flowing here, the first point of interest was the historic Buninyong Brewery (established in 1855). Onwards we walked beside the picturesque “Gong” and onto the Wallaby Track through the Botanic Gardens to our next point of interest.

🌳 The tree…

While most in the group knew about this particular and well-known tree, some were enlightened about the tree’s history of being ring barked and then saved by a local arborist. They used a bridge grafting process that left a mosaic of scars on the trunk; and so, the tree lives on.

📍 Onwards…

A quick pit stop at De Soza Park before heading west beside a gently flowing Union Jack Creek. Northward to the Buninyong Bushland Reserve and then west again along Hitchcock Road. We were warned about walking on the busy stretch of the A300 road. Were you paying attention? If yes, you will ace the following quiz!

🏁 Gold first found here….

If you listened to the Buninyong Gold podcast on Spotify, you will know that gold was discovered in Buninyong before Ballarat. A memorial landmark indicating the spot where the gold was found by the local blacksmith Thomas Hiscock and his son on August 3, 1851, was our next point of interest. I bet Mr. Hiscock was happy to find gold and not his errant lost cow! I wonder if he ever found her.

🌸 Onwards…

Hiscock Gully Road and beyond presented a series of gently rolling hills through the bush, a beloved fairy tree, the southern edge of Mount Helen, and sightings of the beautiful spotted hyacinth orchid.

📝 Quiz answers – all true. !


Photos by Andrew Parker



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