After a few weeks in Tasmania, I was keen to have a look for fungi in Sassafras Gully. I checked online rainfall figures and it hadn’t been real wet, but Sassafras Gully has a very nice swimming pool and a hot day was forecast.
Bonnet Orchid
I started this trip from Faulconbridge, and walks down the Victory Track. This descends quickly and soon enters cool rainforest. I also wanted to see if I could find the location of Eleanor Falls. These are not marked on any map that I know of, and only seems to appear in an old postcard, one collected by Jim Smith. See here for information. Smith speculates that the falls could be named after a daughter of Sir James Martin (local resident of Faulconbridge) who dies at age 17. I think it is also possible that it could be named after the second wife of Sir Henry Parkes given his association with Faulconbridge.
Looking for waterfalls in the creek that the Victory Track follows revealed one possible location. At the time of my visit, the waterfall was completely dry, but it did have a horizontal break in the middle of the cliff like the one showed on the postcard. This location is well upstream of Clarinda Falls. It is not far after the track returns to the true right side and before the track passes through a long sandstone overhang. I will need to return after period of heavy rain.
My quest for fungi was in vain – I only spotted one old bolete. There were quite a few birds chirping away, and I did attempt some photos – but bird photography was a bit limited just using a macro lens.
The swimming in the big pool at the Sassafras Creek/Glenbrook Creek junction – the Lagoon, was perfect. A great place to cool off for an hour or so. After the swimming, I returned back up the track and then up the track to Sassafras Gully Road. It became quite hot as I climbed out of the rainforest.
