Lavers Hill - Melba Gully (Great Otway National Park)
.jpg "Lavers Hill - Melba Gully (Great Otway National Park)")
Known as the Jewel of the Otways, this is one of the wettest places in the state with an annual rainfall of over 2000mm. The gully has prolific plant growth and is a dense rainforest of Myrtle Beech, Blackwood and Tree-ferns, with an understorey of low ferns and mosses.
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Melba Gully introduces you to Victoria's cool temperate rainforest which has evolved over millions of years. The Myrtle Beech are survivors from an ancient wetter climate and were once common in the gullies of the Otway Ranges. They are closely related to beech trees in Tasmania's rainforests, reminding us of the original landlink with the island.
Perhaps the most unusual inhabitants of the area are the glow worms, which can be seen at night along the walking tracks.
Enjoying the Park
Madsen's Track Nature Walk
This 35 minute loop walk is an adventure into a world of ancient, mossy trees and cool fern gullies. Start at the picnic area and follow the information signs along the track and listen for the soothing sound of Anne's cascade.
Anne's cascade is a 3m high, single tier waterfall on the Johanna River.
Rest at the site of the Big Tree; a huge old Otway Messmate, which has fallen and started recycling back into the forest floor sustaining new life and growth.
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Birds and Animals
Melba Gully is home to a range of shy and nocturnal animals including possums, Swamp wallabies, Spot‐tailed quolls and native bush rats. Many birds thrive in the rainforest including the Australian Ground Thrush, Suberb Fairy ‐ wrens, Yellow Robins, Grey Shrike‐thrushes and Rufous Fantails.
Perhaps the most unusual inhabitants are the glow worms, which can be seen at night along the walking tracks. Please do not touch them.
The carnivorous Otway Black Snail (Victaphanta compacta) is endemic to the region and can be seen along the track during wet weather.
Picnicking
Picnic tables, a gas barbecue and toilets are provided. Camping is not permitted.
Glow Worms
A visual spectacular - Despite their name, glow worms aren't worms. They are the larvae of fly-like insects called fungus gnats. Glow worms are common in damp, dark places, and in Melba Gully are often found on soil banks with overhanging ledges.
In the wetter parts of the Otway Ranges like Melba Gully, colonies of these glowing larvae put on a light show, a visual spectacular best appreciated at night.
Lighting Up - The end of the abdomen is luminous. The light is emitted from tiny tubes (malpighian tubules) which open into the gut of the larvae and are visible through transparent skin at the end of the body (the last segment of the abdomen). The light will 'go out' if the glow worm is disturbed, for example by noise or direct torchlight, so please tread quietly and don't touch!
Life cycle - The adult fungus gnat lays up to eighty eggs which hatch after 2-3 weeks. The larvae (glow worms) grow for up to nine months, after which they pupate. The pupa lasts nine days before the adult stage is reached.
The adult fungus gnat is about 1.5cm long, nocturnal (active at night), sluggish and harmless. It lives for a short period (48 to 72 hours) and makes a buzzing noise when in flight.
The fly also has an uncontrollable light, the female being brighter than the male until after mating - when she becomes terribly dull and boring!
Please do not touch or shine torches at the glow worms.
Silken retreats - The larvae build retreats in soil banks by producing threads of silk. They attach sticky beads or droplets to the threads, giving them a necklace appearance.
Some 5cm long, the threads trap tiny insects which are attracted by the glowing larvae.
The glow worm "reels" in the threads to devour its prey, hence the common reference to these silk traps as fishing lines.
History
Settlers began clearing the forest in the 1880s. Transport was a major problem and a narrow gauge railway was built from Colac to Beech Forest in 1902 and then to Crowes in 1911.
Sawmills were established in the forest and timber tramways were built to carry logs and timber to the railway line. There were two sawmills and a tramway in Melba Gully.
Mrs Jessie Fry named the area "Melba Gully" (after Australia's famous singer Dame Nellie Melba) in 1921. The picnic area is on the site of Mrs Fry's tearooms.
Through the 1930s and 1940s Melba Gully was a popular picnic and lunch spot for bus tourists. Business came to an end in 1948 when a bus length limit was imposed on Otway roads.
The property was sold in 1958 to Mr and Mrs Axel Madsen, who generously offered it to the Victorian Conservation Trust in 1975. The Trust later transferred it to the Crown to be managed by Parks Victoria and donated further parcels of land in 2003.
Access for Dogs:
Dogs and other pets are not permitted in the park.
How to Get There
Melba Gully is 1.5km off the Great Ocean Road, 3km west of Lavers Hill. The access road is suitable for conventional vehicles.
Review:
A lovely area to explore but there are quite a lot of steep paths and steps along the route.
The track can be a little difficult to find. Take the steps down to the toilets and the shelter with BBQ. In front of here there are a number of unshaded tables. There is a sign for "Madsen's Track" which is the starting point for the walk.
MELBA GULLY STATE PARK
Experience the magic
Welcome to one of Victoria’s most beautiful parks.
At the heart of Melba Gully lies cool rainforest overflowing with luxuriant ferns and giant moss-covered trees. Melba Gully is alive with natural history and secretive creatures. Traces of a colourful recent past are fading into the forest. Patterns of light and shade shimmer throughout the day and Glow Worms create a wonderland at night. Enjoy a picnic, follow the winding track through the forest and experience the magic of Melba Gully.
Melba Gully is beautiful in the rain...
The rich green colours of the forest come to life and sparkling raindrops cling to every leaf.
What to see and do
Madsen’s Track
The best way to discover the treasures of Melba Gully is to take the 45 minute walk along Madsen’s Track. The track follows an old tramway line from timber cutting days.
The ferns and trees of the rainforest surround you as you trace the Johanna River to a sparkling cascade. From here a series of steps will take you to the spectacular Big Tree. The track climbs higher where different plants and trees appear, then returns along a mossy bank into a delightful tree-fern gully.
Stop along the way to listen and look carefully. Melba Gully is home to many shy creatures and a variety of beautiful birdlife.
Picnic in the park
People have enjoyed picnics at Melba Gully for over a century. Water, picnic tables, fireplaces and toilets are provided.
The Buffer Stop
As you return to the Great Ocean Road, you will pass the location of the ‘buffer stop’ at Crowes - once a loading point for timber. Crowes station was the terminus of the narrow-gauge Beechy Line from Colac and Beech Forest and was the most southerly railway station on the Australian mainland.
The station ceased operation when the Weeaproinah line closed in 1954. The rest of the railway from Colac closed in 1962.
Glow Worms
A night walk to see the Glow Worms at Melba Gully is an unforgettable experience for young and old.
Follow Madsen’s Track, taking a torch to light the way. After a short distance, turn off your torch and stand quite still. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, the magic begins.
Glow Worms are the larvae of fly-like insects called Fungus Gnats and are found in dark, damp places. Here they shelter in small crevices along the banks of the Johanna River.
The Glow Worm builds a delicate curtain of silk threads at the entrance to its tiny hideaway. Sticky droplets hang from the threads, catching tiny insects attracted to the glow. With no escape, insects are reeled in on the ‘fishing line’ and eaten.
Inside the body of the Glow Worm is a substance which absorbs and stores daylight, just like ‘glow in the dark’ clocks and toys. In darkness the light can be seen glowing through transparent skin. The hungrier the glow worm gets, the more it glows but, if it is disturbed, the light fades and disappears.
Please remember
- Take a torch but shine it on the ground. Shining directly on the Glow Worms makes them go out
- Glow Worms are protected. Please do not touch or disturb them or the soil banks where they live
Imagine the past
Settlement and Sawdust
Settlement of the Otway Ranges began in the 1880s.
The need for transport by farmers and a growing timber industry led to the construction of a narrow-gauge railway line from Colac to Beech Forest and Crowes by 1911.
By 1916, two sawmills had been established at Melba Gully. Timber tramways were laid through the forest to cart timber to the mills and the railway station.
By 1930, Blackwood reserves had been exhausted and logging ceased at Melba Gully. Crowes station closed in 1954.
The Tea Rooms
In 1927, the Melba Gully property was purchased for Mrs. Jessie Fry. She named the gully after Australia’s famous singer, Dame Nellie Melba.
The tramline became a popular walkway with friends and relatives. In the early 1930s, Mrs. Fry opened the Melba Gully Tearooms. When the tea rooms closed, much of the land was cleared for grazing.
“Melba Gully is a famous beauty spot, with Mrs. Fry’s famous strawberry cottage at its entrance and with cattle grazing on the fringe of the timber.”
NEWSPAPER UNKNOWN, 1950
A precious gift
In 1958, Melba Gully was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Axel Madsen. In 1975, the Madsens generously donated the 48 hectare property to the Victoria Conservation Trust so that locals and visitors alike could enjoy its beauty.
A State Park
The park continues to be extended through purchases and donations and is now managed by Parks Victoria. A program of revegetation using seed collected in the park is gradually restoring cleared areas and ongoing improvements to facilities are helping to preserve the natural environment.
Discover an ancient world
The earth has undergone many dramatic changes over the past 100 million years.
The great southern continent Gondwana split into Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. Australia’s climate began to change as it drifted north.
Animals adapted or died out. Warping and uplift created the Otway Ranges and new rivers began to etch courses down the mountains.
Flowering plants began to evolve on open slopes and plains where ferns and conifers were once widespread.
But here at Melba Gully, little has changed...many plants are descended from original varieties which survived in the isolation of the gully. This community of plants is one of the few remaining rainforests in Victoria.
Rainforest
Within Melba Gully, little sunlight can penetrate the dense, leafy canopy of Myrtle Beech and Blackwood trees. The environment beneath stays cool, dark and moist, allowing a rich variety of ferns, mosses and liverworts to flourish on the ground.
Austral Mulberry, Musk Daisy-bush and Hazel Pomaderris are under-storey shrubs with large broad leaves to take advantage of limited light.
Soft Tree-ferns abound with their thick, hairy trunks and large fronds. Among the ground ferns the Hard Water-fern grows abundantly. Its large, dark green leathery fronds are quite different from the lacy Mother Shield-fern and Mother Spleenwort.
Ferns known as epiphytes grow from creeping roots on tree trunks, branches and fallen logs.
The leathery bright green fronds of the Kangaroo Fern can be seen high in the beech trees.
The strap-like Finger-fern is common, as well as Weeping Spleenwort which hangs in a pale-green mass.
Small, translucent Filmy Ferns grow from the tree-fern trunks.
Among the mosses at Melba Gully are Dog’s-tooth Moss and Dawsonia, one of the largest in the world.
Guardians of the Rainforest
Beyond the rainforest, the vegetation becomes more open. Called ‘wet sclerophyll forest,’ it contains the world’s tallest flowering plant, Mountain Ash. Other unique trees include the Otway Messmate, a cross between Messmate and Mountain Ash.
These tall trees shelter and protect the rainforest from wind and fire. More light filters through the gaps between the trees here, allowing flowering plants to grow.
Dense stands of Musk Daisy-bush and Victorian Christmas-bush create a beautiful floral display in summer.
Creatures of the Forest
Melba Gully is an island of secluded habitat for native wildlife.
The mountain forest supports Dusky Antechinuses, Swamp Wallabies, Yellow-bellied and Feathertail Gliders, Ringtail Possums and Bush Rats. The shy and vulnerable Tiger Quoll may also be present in the park.
Lack of suitable hollows and food sources in the rainforest limits its use by many animals.
However, Platypuses and a number of native fish have been recorded in the Johanna River.
A variety of skinks occurs widely in the open forest but the Victorian Smooth Froglet prefers the cool, moist atmosphere of the Gully.
Melba Gully supports a wonderful variety of birds including parrots, cockatoos, eagles, goshawks, warblers, robins, whistlers, shrike thrushes and honeyeaters.
Many are seasonal visitors but other species are restricted to these isolated natural areas within the Otway Ranges.
The mountain forests appear to be a stronghold of the rare Grey Goshawk and Forest Raven.
The park also supports one of the westernmost occurrences of the Satin Bowerbird.
Insects of all shapes and sizes are well represented at Melba Gully, especially those that live in the dark.
All four Otway molluscs, including the rare carnivorous Otway Black Snail, occur in the forests.
The park is one of the few locations where the endangered Otway Stonefly has been recorded.
The Last Dinosaurs
The animal life of the Otway Ranges was dominated by dinosaurs until 70 million years ago.
During the late Cretaceous period, the Australian continent, like the rest of the world, experienced a mass extinction of life forms and the dinosaurs died out. Meteorites may have been the cause.
Among the last dinosaurs was Leaellynasaura, whose fossilised bones have been found at Dinosaur Cove just 9km south of Melba Gully.
Photos:
Location
Melba Gully Road, Lavers Hill 3238 View Map
Web Links
→ Great Otway National Park
→ Great Otway National Park Melba Gully - Heritage Story (PDF)
→ Great Otway National Park Melba Gully - Park Note (PDF)
→ Melba Gully (Hiking Project)
