Cannibal Creek Reserve Walk (Garfield North)
.jpg "Cannibal Creek Reserve Walk (Garfield North)")
A lovely 800m loop walk bordering Cannibal Creek which starts from the north side of Cannibal Creek Reserve.
The trail with seating and 'Meeting Place for Reflection' artwork was created as part of the Bunyip Complex Fire Community Recovery Project.
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The trail highlights the Eastern Kulin seasonal calendar with a number of information panels about each part of the year. The lands of the eastern Kulin people include the Dandenong ranges, near Melbourne, which they refer to as the 'cold country'. The Kulin have a detailed local understanding of the seasons and the environment. Each season is marked by the movement of the stars in the night sky and changes in the weather, coinciding with the life cycles of plants and animals. Overlaid on the seven seasons are two other non-annual seasons - flood season which is likely to occur on average about every 28 years, and fire season which occurs on average about every seven years.
After a short distance you reach a junction point with some artwork where you can go either left or right since the trail is a loop. We headed to the right and soon after there is a short offshoot to a pond with seats and information boards about plants which are growing here. This includes:
Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra) - Kangaroo Grass leaves and stem fibres were used by Aboriginal people to make string and fine baskets. The seeds of many grasses went into flour to make damper. Kangaroo Grass is also a nutritious stock feed that grows right across Australia.
Kangaroo Apple (Solanum aviculare) - Tall shrub with leaves shaped like a kangaroo paw. Purple flowers produce yellow/red fruits that burst when ripe. Leaves and unripe green fruit are poisonous and contain the toxic alkaloid solasodine. Aboriginal people ate the ripe fruits in small quantities. S. laciniatum has a tastier fruit that can be used to make chutney. Cultivated overseas to provide steroids from the leaves for the manufacture of oral contraceptives.
Small Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea minor) - Grass trees are living fossils. They developed as some of the first flowering plants. Excellent habitat plant and garden specimens in well drained sites, slow growing but very long lived. Indigenous people ate the tender leaf bases and used the flowers spikes to makes weet drinks, the seeds for flour, for spears & making fire. The leaves produce a resin to waterproof canoes and vessels and as glue for tool making. Early colonists used the resin to make varnish, stove & metal polish, soap and in the making early gramophone records.
Running Postman (Kennedia prostrata) - This perennial plant creates a light or thick ground cover. The leaves are divided into three ripple-edged pale green leaflets (up to 1.8cm in length). The flowers have sprinklings of bright red pea-flowers from April to December. Growing conditions favours soil with good drainage. It is a food source for caterpillars of the Pea Blue butterfly and useful to skinks. Aboriginal people drank the nectar from the flowers and stems and were useful as ties.
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We then continued through a variety of vegetation zones back to the start point. During warmer weather there is the possibility of snakes but the track is well maintained and wide which reduces the possibility of coming across a snake without any warning.
The walk is near a reserve where horse clubs meet so there is always the possibility of meeting horses along the path.
Access for Dogs:
Dog are allowed but must be on-leash.
Photos:
Location
133 Garfield North Road, Garfield North 3814 Map
