Even more than the towering Mountain Ash, the majestic Messmate, or the lush green giant Myrtle Beech, I choose the prehistoric tree fern as the most stunning living feature of the Otway rainforest. I feel for the other three, as each is extraordinary in and of their own right, but with an apology, I must relegate you to close but clear runners-up.

Above all the myriad ancient plants that grace our extraordinary corner of the world, tree ferns conjure eternity. They alone re-create a vision of ancient Gondwanaland locked within the mega-landmass of Pangea, of a time long before the dinosaurs roamed the Earth and eons before an identifiable ‘Australia’ became a twinkle in the eye of Gaia, the all-mother.

As Greg Moore, a University of Melbourne botanist, explains their antiquity in my edited-for-this-publication version of his article “Tree ferns are older than dinosaurs – see: https://tinyurl.com/tree-fern … as a plant group, tree ferns are truly ancient. They date back more than 500 million years, long pre-dating the dinosaurs, and formed a significant component of the Earth’s flora during the Carboniferous period 300-360 million years ago when conditions for plant growth were near ideal. The antiquity of tree ferns is underscored by their use of primitive spores for reproduction rather than the more sophisticated reproductive methods of flowers, cones, or fruits that appeared much later on.

But while the layered decay and fossilisation of tree ferns [and other related fern species] in the carboniferous period did form much of the Earth’s fossil fuels, please don’t use this as an excuse to yell angrily at them as you pass them in their impossibly green and dank gullies. It was not their fault that energy-hungry man made it his business to utilise their remains as an energy source! Further, it seems more than a little ironic that fossil fuel use is now proving to be a survival threat for many fern species as a changing climate [whether natural, man-made or a combination of both] alters their habitats and ecosystems.

Beyond a major source of fossil fuels, the soft tree fern is edible. Indigenous peoples used the pith [or pulp] within the stem as a starch source. It can be eaten raw or roasted — a rainforest equivalent of the potato [my interpretation]. My following précis is taken from “The Useful Native Plants of Australia” [pub. 1889] and reads as follows:

“… the pulp of the top of the trunk is full of starch and can be eaten raw or roasted. Split open the top half of the trunk and remove the ‘heart’… [it’s like the heart of a palm] … which resembles a Swedish turnip and is as thick as a man’s arm. It is then roasted in ashes or eaten as bread, but beware: it is bitter and astringent.”

To drive Turton’s Track, the incomparable Sharps Track, or any of the dozens of winding tracks that wander the Otways, or to plunge into the dark mossy depths bordering a prehistoric stream, is to touch heaven.

Nowadays, many people seem to have forgotten the art of pausing, looking, and wondering at the feasts of nature that surround us. Fixated on getting to the next attraction, it’s “… been there [tick] … done that … what’s next?” — then off to the next ‘must-see selfie-stop’ on the list. I fear many see almost nothing at all.

Nature needs time — and silence — to hear the sounds of the bush as it breathes; the distant calls of a brace of king parrots or, higher up, a flight of rosellas as they break from the tree-tops; the head-lift of a black-tailed wallaby, inquisitive yet unafraid, grazing at the verge; the faint drip… drip… from fern fronds in an ever-wet gully; or the buzz of insects and the croaking of frogs.

And, everywhere, towering Ash and Messmate skirted by impossibly deep green beech form a backdrop for the Otway’s piece-de-resistance… its Dicksonias. Deep in the Otways, ferns up to 15 m in height and with canopy spreads to a width of 6-7 m stand like the prehistoric sentinels that they are. Slow-growing — most grow between 3 and 5 cm a year — some still standing today were witnesses to Magellan’s first circumnavigation of the world, to the downfall of the Aztecs when Cortez sacked Tenochtitlan, to the birth of the scientific revolution when Copernicus first suggested that Earth might not be at the centre of the universe, and when Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Dicksonia antarctica is endemic to Australia, is widespread, and grows from southern Queensland to our Victoria coast and across Bass Strait in Tasmania. It prefers moist, wet sclerophyll forests and grows best in gullies and creek beds or cloud-cooled forests at high altitudes. While many other spectacular fern species festoon the Otways: the ubiquitous common bracken; hard water ferns; rough tree ferns [a variant of D. antarctica]; forest floor species like shield ferns and maiden hair; and the finger fern epiphytes that march up and out along the mossy boughs of beech trees or dot the moss-covered rock walls of narrow gullies — for sheer grandeur and beauty, Dicksonia antarctica will always win my vote.

My father once taught me that as tree ferns produce a single rosette of fronds each year [or in most years], they can be aged by vertically counting their spent and discarded layers of fronds. Sorry, Dad, but while likely not far from the truth, I think this is strictly incorrect and only works passing well near the top of the stem. Further down, as the layers compact under the weight of the new growth above, the definition of the older fronds’ fuzzes out’ into a compressed mat of woolly hairs that make aging near the base quite impossible.

I have often thought that an excellent longitudinal project that would span [and link] generations of our local school children would be to select a few stately specimens higher up the Erskine past the Rapids and the Sanctuary and begin to document their growth, year on year.

Just a thought, Carly!

John Agar

Feature Writer

A Word From the Chairman

Hello

They say if you want a job done well, give it to a woman. I say if you want a job done with precision and speed give it to our Op Shop ladies. Led by their SWOT (Special Women’s Op Shop Transfer) team they moved the Op Shop to its new temporary location with military planning and execution, to be open for business two days ahead of schedule, in half the allotted time! It was not without a lot of planning and physical input by their volunteers, assisted by a band of specialist consultants (some male!) to assist with the important tasks of dismantling shelves etc. Special thanks to the CFA and Men’s Shed for their assistance.

We now wait for the start of the renovation project which is expected to take about 6 months and is primarily directed at the health and safety of the Op Shop customers and volunteers. We look forward to seeing them back in the middle of the main street. In the meantime, please drop into see them in their riverside locale.

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As part of the latest Point Grey redevelopment project, the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) is undertaking community engagement through a Point Grey Community Values Survey. It is described as a “short, simple survey designed to reaffirm what local community members and visitors have expressed about the Point Grey precinct over many years, and to understand any changes in community sentiment”. The survey is available at https://tinyurl.com/point-grey until April 5. While your initial reaction may be “Not another survey!” the Committee for Lorne strongly urges you to complete the survey, as your responses will assist to shape the future of the Point Grey Precinct and the Aquatic Club.

The survey should take no more than 10 minutes and consists of 27 statements to which you are asked to provide a response ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” by using a slide bar, and in relation to some statements you are requested to provide reasons for your responses.

It is very important that GORCAPA and other regulatory bodies get a clear message what the community want for this iconic and much-loved precinct, so please take a few minutes to complete the survey.

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We have received advice from Regional Roads Victoria that replacement of the Wye River bridge is scheduled to commence in April 2024. This will involve major traffic disruption over the next year with speed restrictions and lane closures. Please allow extra time for your travels. It is planned to have the bridge fully open for the 2025/26 summer period.

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And just because it’s around St Patricks Day, a little prayer for you:

“Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference”.

Cheers

John Higgins – Chairman

Lorne Ward Events Calendar

March 

• 28-13/4 Photographic Exhibition, at Lorne Community Connect

1st prize $1,000, 2nd prize $500 submissions close 19 January 2024

• 30 Lorne Market

9-4pm https://www.lornemarkets.com/

• 31 Lorne Aquatic & Angling Club – Major Fishing Competition No 3

Weigh cut off 12.30pm. Free roast lunch for competitors, $10 non-fishing members.

April

• 21 Ravenswood High Tea, Celebrate Mothers Dy early at the historical Ravenswood home as a fundraiser for The Smith Family

From 2pm – 4:30pm tickets via www.trybooking.com/1189141 for $50 each.