Following on from my “Hidden Gems” article last year, my wife and I spent time at the weekend exploring one of the better-known Nature Reserves - Sherwood. The reserve is close to 6,000ha, and a drive of 25km will get you from one end to the other.
With a wide range of habitats, Sherwood supports a wide range of flora and fauna and offers some stunning scenery for the intrepid four-wheel driver or hiker.
Many of you would have undertaken the relatively easy walk to Sherwood Creek Falls, a popular tourist attraction, a short distance west of Woolgoolga. The track winds through stunning rainforest, with buttressed Blue Quandongs and Yellow Carrabeens festooned with epiphytes and vines, towering above Bangalow Palms and a wide range of other rainforest trees, shrubs, and ferns.
However, the greater part of Sherwood Nature Reserve lies across an elevated plateau of Kangaroo Creek sandstone, with very different vegetation, dominated by a variety of hardwoods.
Access to those higher levels isn’t easy and requires a serious four-wheel drive vehicle and, in wet conditions, an experienced driver. Somewhat surprisingly, this activity is condoned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, although there are barriers and signs to discourage vehicular access to certain areas.
On this trip, we ventured on foot from one such barrier to access a sizable swamp, something that’s uncommon on sandstone, this one measuring some 12 ha in extent, and over 500m from end to end. There we were treated to a feast of unusual “wallum” plant species, many of them enjoying an out-of-season flowering courtesy of last spring’s drought, and subsequent rains.
Conditions were perfect for exploring on foot and we marveled at the unique plant species that inhabit that ecosystem, Swamp Boronias, Wallum Bottlebrush, Sprengellia, Club Mosses and Quillworts, growing among reeds along with Coral and Water Ferns.
Unfortunately, there was ample evidence that the “no vehicle access” signs are being ignored by irresponsible thrill-seekers, with deep water-filled ruts all around the edge of the wetland, killing vegetation and causing erosion. This is something that needs addressing.
- John Edwards
Published in the "Voices for the Earth" column in The Clarence Valley Independent , March 27, 2024.
