A Hike in the Australian wilderness

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http://www.heygo.com 26th February - Hidden secrets 40 miles from Sydney



Another early morning virtual trip but this was one I didn’t want to miss, a hike through the wilderness with our virtual guide Matt.



As a child he would roam the area overlooking Barranco Valley, but did not say the exact location as he didn’t want it to become known and the area be ruined with visitors.



He acknowledged the indigenous people who for years had lived in the area.



We saw all type of flora and fauna, mostly gum trees and banksia.

Termites, spiders, lizards, mosquitoes all added to the atmosphere but I was glad I was sitting in the armchair viewing on screen.



Our guide had a particular passion for Grass Trees - Many species have an amazing ability to survive fire. A fire may burn their leaves and blacken their trunks, but the trees usually survive: the living growth-point is buried underground, protected by tightly packed leaf bases.

The smallest species grows to about 1m, others reach 6m tall.

The grass tree is important to Aboriginal people across Australia. This resin is traditionally used as glue in spear-making and in patching up water containers.



The ‘scribbles’ on scribbly gums are an icon of the Australian bush, but until recently very little was known about the cause of these distinctive scribbles.

The researchers discovered a previously unknown insect-plant interaction between the scribbly gum moths and their eucalypt host.

The scribbly gum moth larvae bore a meandering tunnel through the eucalypt tree’s bark at the level of the future cork cambium, first in long irregular loops and later in a more regular zigzag which is doubled up after a narrow turning loop.

When the cork cambium starts to produce cork to shed the outer bark it produces scar tissue in response to the feeding of the caterpillar, filling the doubled up part of the larval tunnel with highly nutritious, thin-walled cells.

These replacement cells are ideal food for the caterpillar which moults into its final life stage with legs, turns around and eats its way back along the way it has come. It now grows rapidly to maturity and leaves the tree to spin a cocoon at its base, where it pupates.

(I admit to googling this but the guide did explain it too)



The guide had an extra long selfie stick on the camera so was able to reach up into the caves, where we saw a birds nest. The view s inside the cave was incredible too.



More tours planned but I think this is one I will definitely remember.

Stay tuned.

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