Heysen trail - Kyeema Conservation Park

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So if you have international visitors who are interested in the South Australian wineries, and curious about bushwalking, particularly the Heysen trail, then this is the park for you!

Kyeema Conservation Park is near Mount Magnificent and Willunga - and nearby some of the McLaren Vale wineries. The Heysen trail also crosses it. I can imagine some very successful days with wine tasting, some walking and picnicking along the way.

Some links for you ...
a description of the park
a story about the Children's forest

According to George Driscoll, in his book "50 real bush walks around Adelaide" (walk 32), Kyeema was extensively burnt in February 1995 and has now recovered. It was also burnt during the 'Ash Wednesday' fires in 1983. There is a loop walk through the park called Myrtaceae. It is well signposted and it is very gentle as far as slopes go. It took about 2 hours with a lunch stop.

How to get there ...

Take the freeway and head to Meadows. Take the Meadows to Willunga Road. About 11.5 km along on the left is Woodgate Hill road. The entrance to the park is at a carpark which is 3 km up Woodgate Hill road.

What happened...

It was a very misty day so the view wasn't as spectacular as could be. But what was remarkable was the smell. The drizzle had brought out a refreshing bush smell that just made you feel very good.

There were plenty of ants including termites throughout the park and one had to be careful standing in one place for too long. I heard a lot of birds but I didn't see many. There was one section of the walk where the trees had obviously been burnt and had recovered remarkably well. There were flowers throughout the walk showing that it was not just spring that brings flowers in the Australian bush, but there are many beautiful flowers throughout summer as well.

We ended the day with a visit to Jane and Max, where Max showed us his lizards and frogs. They were really great!

I hope every one has a great Christmas break and remember to keep the exercise up to try and balance all those delicious Christmas calories! All the best!

Dan says...

I think that the misty walk gave me a lot of water but sometimes I needed to take it from my bag.

This walk had lots and lots of parts, and when you think it is done there is another part (don't try doing this one, Anthony). There are tonnes of ants - red ants that bite.

A song for you:

Verse 1:
I'm not a fluffy persian cat
Or a prize race horse
I'm just a common garden ant
That lives on a big golf course.

Chorus:
Oh, there are ants that like to work very hard
And ants that like to play
There's angry ants and big bulls ant
That make you want to run away
There's soldier ants and ants in you pants
And ants that climb up walls
But I am the bravest ant of the lot
Phew...I'm an ant that rides on golf balls

My recollection of Bob Brown's "Riding round on golf balls", a song that we had in music this year

I also want to say - Hi Max - thanks for showing me your lizards - you won't find any where to throw lemons on this walk - it won't even show the 'smoke' from the rotten lemons. I really enjoyed feeding your frog a cricket.

Q: Why did the duck cross the road?
A: Because the chicken was sick.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a happy time - ho ho ho ho home for the holidays.

From Dan

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Photos

Entering the park
A lovely place to visit near the vineyards of McLaren Vale.

Children's forest
The first part of the walk goes through bushland that was created by school children who planted into a bare paddock many years ago.

Heysen trail
This part of the walk includes the Heysen trail

Ants
Kyeema is full of ants and it even has termite mounds (which Dan is pointing to in this image).

Misty rain
The drizzle stopped this from being a lovely shot with the hills in the distance being shrouded in mist.

Lunch spot
We took our picnic lunch on the footbridge.

Purple bells
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way (from Dan).

A signpost
The Myrtaceae track has markers along the way which makes the walk easy to follow.

Dan's favourite signpost
with a smiley face

Comments

[Regan]

HI Dan
Hey Dan, I want to take my friends on a bushwalk to Kyeema Conservation Park. What should we take with us? What sort of shoes should we wear? Is there room there to have a picnic? Where can I find a map? Thanks for your help! See you for dinner tonight!

[SA hiker]

Hi Regan
Thanks for your questions - the shoes one is good. You shouldn't wear sandles. Too many ants. Sandshoes are okay as there is only a few hard parts. Go slow there. There are no picnic tables, water or toilets. We had our picnic on the bridge. Bring water, food (sandwiches and fruit), a first aid kit, a camera, a hat, sunscreen. You can use a tree branch to swish flies. You don't really need a map, just follow the signs (see the picture). It is like a lollipop. You go up a short stick, then around in a circle and then down the stick. Easy. I hope you have fun.

[Emily Mannes]

Ants on Golfballs
Hey, you know the golfball song- my teacher wrote that. Yep, he's Bob Brown! He also wrote the famous song "give me a home among the gum trees" You may know it. See ya! Em

[SA hiker]

Beaut Bob
Hi Em and thanks for your comment. Hey - what a cool teacher! It isn't every one that has a teacher who is a celebrity and has a serious sense of humour. I hope you have a good day and enjoy the blog – best regards from Dan :-)

[kelsie shanks]

i first heard this song in grade 5. it was in a song book that the school had purchased and every now and again we wood sing out of it. every time we listened to music in class this song was always chosen. by a couple of weeks we all new it of by heart and were begging our teacher for a break so we could listen to it. i think it is a great song still...