Phantom Falls, Lorne, Victoria
After a week of work, sitting around at a desk and being locked indoors, my spirit was desperate for some nature time. As the hubs was still feeling poorly, I went on my own, to a place we used to go with my folks when we were kids - Phantom Falls, behind Lorne, Victoria.
To get to the Falls, you first need to park at Allendale, and walk past the most beautiful properties in the area, two I have wanted to own my entire life. I love them as they're in a kinda of 'hidden' valley, where lichen grows on trees and a river trickles past even in the heat of summer. With a wall of bamboo when you cross the bridge, white arum lilies and fruit trees, it contrasts the wild of the bush that surrounds it.
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My favourite is the old shed - there are interesting timbers stacked up against the walls with curlicues, perhaps from a boat, that haven't been moved since they were stacked there many years ago. I wonder at their purpose, and marvel at teh huge tall gum that's been witness to it all.
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Across the river that divides the two properties is a newer build, where a woman sits reading the paper in her kitchen and the kangaroos graze. I'm intensely jealous of her. I don't like to be, but it is what it is - it takes some money to own a property like this, and this property has it all - a pool, a bush setting, a swimming dam, a jetty that hangs out over the river. I console myself with saying that it's not that private with all the walkers travelling past through the avenue of poplars to get to the waterfall. With the coastal population what it is, Phantom Falls is no longer a secret.
The track begins to get more jungle like almost straight away, with beautiful tree ferns on either side. The river is loud with the rains that have graced the land in the last few weeks - it's not the sad trickle that flows down in the summer months. Along the way I spot mushrooms, of course, but it's even getting late in the season for those, and mushroom hunters have knocked the tops off to see the gills to identify them.
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The ascent to reach the waterfall is quite the hike - I can feel my heart pumping! It's so nice to be out and about on the weekend - I can feel myself shed the stresses of the week. From the hill the views are stunning, looking down into the valley and the river below. The track goes up before hitting a fork, where you either cross a stream to get to another waterfall or go left to a gorge. I take the ascent down to the falls, gagging at a couple who come up stinking of perfume and both on their phones. He's wearing converse - hardly the shoes for the slippery and muddy terrain. But I'm grumpy - sometimes I hate people and I already have two chocolate bar wrappers in my back pockets from litterbugs marking the trail. If anything is going to wash that away, though, is a waterfall, am I right?
It's so stunning that I come back on Sunday as well with the husband as he feels better. You really can't beat a waterfall. There's lots of them near us if you go looking. From there, I take the lower track along the stream whereas everyone else seems to go back up the way they came. I like an adventure though, and the road less trodden.
The tree above is worth a post all on it's own, but for now I'll keep going, save to say what a beauty it was. I stood inside it for a little while admiring the life in and around it.
Of course, part of the forest life is fungi - it's everywhere. I even find tremella, or snow fungus - wondering if @ligayagardner might correct me if I'm wrong here.
There's other features too that are easy to miss if you're thundering by on your phone - unfurling fern fronds, the rare black otway snail (I've only ever found it's shell, so finding it is a real thrill!), dew drops hanging like jewels off lichen. The forest in winter is a really fucking magical place.
The bridge crosses the river (der) and goes for a couple of kilometres before hitting a dam, and then up a hill that looks over the valley before hitting the road and the carpark again. It actually took me through a private locked gate, which was a bit confusing, but there were signs pointing to various bushwalking tracks and we saw one guy with a fishing rod going the other way, so we didn't think anyone would mind. Excuse me as I slip into 'we' - doing the track twice in a weekend, once solo and once with the hubs, confuses the story a little!
Another one for the 'I'm learning the names of mushrooms!' list - what I think is a variety of Amanita sp. - perhaps Amanita vittadinii? I'm not sure, but it sure is fun learning. I'm almost getting to a point where I'm at least nailing the family or genus pretty quickly. I was talking to hubs on the track why I love fungi so much - I could easily rattle off about twenty reasons, if not more. Aside from the challenge of identifying, what blows me away is that you can look at the entire forest and admire it, without even knowing that without fungi, it wouldn't exist. And when you do know this, you spend your time marvelling at it.
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I'll leave this post with a picture of my hubs in front of the waterfall which made me laugh. He's laughing because I'd made him cross the rocks to hand me my phone, slipped and got his foot wet. Given he's always telling me to watch I don't slip, which annoys me as I am perfectly capable of watching my own feet, he had his comeuppance a little. Needless to say the rest of the walk I was saying 'watch your step, don't slip!'.
With Love,
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Ahhh, so love waterfalls. There's only a small one in this area, on private property. Glad Jaime got to go on Sunday.
Oh it's so wierd huh, falling water just tickles all our fancies! But they truly are amazing.
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These forest pictures are just magical! I am green with envy. I am recovering from a knee injury but should be back discovering forests bt the end of the year.
Oh where do you live? A knee injury sucks . Hope you feel better soon!
I'm from Cape Town, South Africa. I injured my knee (torn ligament) when we moved house in December last year. I am making progress but my hat is it frustrating. Slow and steady wind the race but I do miss our beach and adventures so much!
This is so nice and lovely
It truly is.
Yeah Yeah 😊😊
What a magical place! Just the best medicine
There's nothing like it! I forget it's only half an hour from here too!
Such a beautiful area to wander around, I would go every weekend 😁🥰 wow…
Very inspirational. The river, waterfall all the trees. And fungi around you.
Never seen that snow fungi before but it looks great.
And the snail.
Hope he feels better and can join you next 😁👋🏻
Thanks for sharing @riverflows I enjoyed seeing what you saw. Stunning 🤩
He joined me the next day and we walked again! I'm glad you enjoyed it, it truly is a beautiful place!
That’s nice to hear @riverflows he feels better again/ walking with you.
It looks truly beautiful.
Have a great week 👋🏻😁
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This one looks just like the ones I found at the ranch. It has a sort of ring around the "thingy there". Is it edible? Always afraid to try.
So the ring is an 'annulus' (think annual/year/cycle?) and the stalk or thingie is a 'stipe' in mushroom talk! I dont know if these are edible - some are delcioius apparently (macropiota?) but I'm too scared as teh lookalikes can be fatal! One thing that might define is whether the annulus slides up and down the stipe or whther it's stuck. Take a photo of top, underneath, side for me?
Good to know the proper names. Here are the photos. The stipe is long and thin and the annulus seem to float.
Could be a false parasol which is toxic. If the spore print is green. Pop it gill side down on paper with a glass over it.. or a bowl.. overnight. See what the spore print does.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyllum_molybdites
I'm always a bit wary as they are so alike!
But look at diff with the edible parasol
Parasol mushroom
https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/0cqhs0&hl=en-AU&q=Parasol+mushroom&kgs=12dfec09ca3a5c03&shndl=17&source=sh/x/kp/osrp/4&entrypoint=sh/x/kp/osrp
See that's why I'm so afraid. Way too hard to identify.
With the brown ones, yes. But with some careful attention and checking with books or in online groups (I'm sure there's some online Brazilian mushroom id group?) you'll learn. I think it's crazy NOT to learn.
It's easier to go by the supermarket and buy xDDD
But what if the apocalypse??? Plus then you can be really clever like me 🦜🤪🥷
Good point! I guess I'd go back to ape and taste them all \o\o\
Think about it: one day, someone, somewhere had to taste stuff to see what happens... and their ape friends staring to see what the heck would happen. {eat} {squirms, moans, dies}. "Alright fellas, we better not eat this one." How about that one? Anyone wants to test?
Haha yes absolutely! Have you heard the Terrance McKenna theory that it was shrooms that expanding the human brain and opened up neural pathways for language etc? There's no evidence to prove it but teh absence of evidence doesn't mean it isn't possible. I love the idea anyway as that's what shrooms do.
Nope, never heard of it. I can imagine ppl back then tripping like hell.
\o\ where is this scene from? Is it a series?
Oh you haven't seen Norseman? Soooo good... A pisstake of Vikings, you'll love it