Lavers Hill - Melba Gully (Great Otway National Park) - South West

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.

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

Lavers Hill - Melba Gully (Great Otway National Park)

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.

Lavers Hill - Melba Gully (Great Otway National Park)

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.

Lavers Hill - Melba Gully (Great Otway National Park)

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.