Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park

Visitor Information Centre has re-opened

by Tarra Bulga20/12/202020/05/2021Leave a comment

Easing of Covid-19 restrictions in Victoria has meant that our group activities have been allowed to re-commence

Tarra-Bulga National Park is one of only a handful of National Parks in the state that has an
operational Visitor Information Centre. In this day and age it is refreshing for visitors that are not
familiar with the Park to be able to have face to face interaction with an actual human being. This
enables them to get the best information in regards to getting the most out of their visit.
At present we have vacancies for new volunteers to come on board and help to keep the centre
open. Full training and support will be provided. You don’t even have to know that much about the
park. A list of answers for common visitor questions will be provided.
Our long term volunteers love the experience that working in the Visitors Information Centre Offers.
It helps of course to be surrounded by the awesomeness of Tarra-Bulga National Park. It can
certainly be a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend a day. All while helping to provide a great
community service. Some of our volunteers find it so enjoyable, that over the years they have
accumulated over 200 days service. Do you enjoy getting out in the community, if so please consider
giving volunteering at Tarra-Bulga a go. For further details or to register your interest email
friendsoftarrabulga@gmail.com or phone our Volunteer Co-ordinator Jane on 5196 6182.

Kara Healey’s – Collection of Mosses and Liverworts

by Tarra Bulga08/07/202029/07/20223 Comments

One of the stunning features of Tarra-Bulga National Park’s cool temperate rainforest gullies is the amazing array of mosses and liverworts. These delicate plants are often tiny and identifying them can be a significant challenge. Kara Healey was a renowned caretaker(Ranger) in the Tarra Valley in the 1950’s. She dedicated a lot of her time to collecting specimens of a wide range of lifeforms in within the park and sending them off to herbariums and other institutions to be identified and catalogued. Her efforts resulted in the Tarra Valley having one of the most comprehensive lists of its flora and fauna out of any park in the state. We have recently obtained some scans of collections she made way back in the 1950’s. It is incredible that they are so well preserved after all this time. Enjoy! and for anyone who is into studying mosses and liverworts out there – this might be a very useful resource.

25th Anniversary Celebration

by Tarra Bulga09/10/2019Leave a comment

To celebrate their 25^th anniversary, the Friends of Tarra-Bulga National Park are planning to hold a special function at the Ship Inn in Yarram, on November the 23^rd. They are hoping that as well as current volunteers getting together, former volunteers will also come along. For details about the upcoming anniversary event or if you would like to join the group and become a volunteer please contact David Akers on 0488 035 314 or email friendsoftarrabulga@gmail.com

Invitation to our 25th Anniversary celebration — 25th Anniversary Invite

Some Snow Photos

by Tarra Bulga10/08/2019Leave a comment

A semi-rare event with a dump of snow on the Park overnight. Thankfully it was not too heavy. There were a few shrubs and trees around that couldn’t cope with the weight of the snow and fell over so there will be a bit of a clean up job required. On the bright side the snow adds and extra touch of beauty to an already spectacular location.

2019 Lyrebird Survey Results

by Tarra Bulga10/06/201913/03/2022Leave a comment

Conditions were fortunately very good after a wild week of strong winds, rain and even a dusting of snow on the Wednesday. As a result of the snow many fern fronds have been crushed down and were providing an obstacle along the walking tracks. The temperature was relatively mild and although you could hear the wind in the tree-tops it was not that strong. First Light was predicted at 6:52 am and the official sunrise time was 7:21.

We had 38 volunteers which was more the enough to cover all 16 monitoring locations. After meeting at 6.15 am everyone was briefed and out into the field by 6:40. Kookaburras were the first birds to start calling and were very active and noisy for quite a while. It seemed like quite a long wait until we heard our first Lyrebird at 6:58 am. Most volunteers had vacated their sites by around 7:15 am and people started filing into the Guest House for breakfast by about 7:25.

The results were collated this year during Google Earth. The bottom of Lyrebird Ridge seemed to be quite active as well as the points around the suspension bridge and the Bulga Carpark. other sites were much quieter with only one or two calls heard.

Using our call triangulation method there ended up being a couple of anomalies with the results that made the certainty of the existence of a couple of birds 100% certain. (e.g 2 monitoring sites heard it calling but a closer one did not). Overall though we came up with a total of 9 birds calling for 2019 (which is one more than last year).

Lyrebird Location Map 2019 — Map of Lyrebird Survey Results 2019

Working Bees Switching to Sundays

by Tarra Bulga25/03/201925/03/2019Leave a comment

This year we are switching to hold most of our on-ground activities on Sundays. The first one is coming up this Sunday morning (March 31st). We will be meeting at the Tarra Valley Carpark at 9.30am and then heading down to our project site a bit further down the road where we will spend a couple of hours hand weeding sycamore maple, ivy and tutsan.

BYO, gloves etc but please let us know via friendsoftarrabulga@gmail.com or phone 0488 035 314 if you intend to come along in case any plans need to change on the day.

Photo of Tutsan — Tutsan with some fruit ready to spread more seed into the park.

Don’t Go Past the Tarra Valley!

by Tarra Bulga24/10/201813/03/2022Leave a comment

While spending a bit of time in the Tarra Valley Car Park on Saturday morning it was mind blowing to witness a significant number of touristy looking vehicles slow down, check out the place from their vehicles and then drive on without getting out of the car. One lady who had stopped for a look around, approached me and said “we have come up from Yarram and were wondering where to go for the best walks!”. She seemed surprised when I said that one of the best walks in the park is right here.

The Rainforest Walk at the Tarra Valley is certainly a must-do Tarra-Bulga National Park experience. The ancient gnarly Myrtle Beech, fresh mountain streams, lush green mosses and delicate filmy ferns are truly spectacular (not to mention Cyathea Falls). Maybe it needs better signage (VicRoads) or publicity but seriously people if you a driving through, stop, get out of the car, take a walk and check it out for yourself.