Australian Flora

Hello Possums, one of my favorite Australian plants is pictured above – the Black Boy (Xanthorrhoea). I did think better of putting the common name in the title of this post (who knows what type of weird internet searcher it could attract!). Black Boys grow in semi arid and coastal regions of Australia. The Grampians National Park is an example of both. Despite being in central Victoria, it was an ancient inland sea that has been uplifted and folded.

I love Black Boys because each one looks as if it has its own distinct personality. They are so person-like that you feel their presence as company as you walk. This does sound strange, doesn’t it? But if you have ever been there you will understand. And if you’re the sort of person that talks to plants anyway, you will probably understand too. If you have wikka beliefs, its likely you will also get it. My great grandmother was wikka incidentally.

The Black Boys are often the only thing in large expanses of bush land that survive bushfires. If you are from Victoria you will know that the Grampians area suffered from a massive bushfire last year. The photo below shows me amongst the black boys trying to blend in as one of them, but also the barren landscape of the bushfire aftermath even eighteen months later.

Compare this to the area directly across the road where we begun our walk up to the summit of Mt Abrupt:

This area missed out on being burnt and has retained its undergrowth. When we were there the heath was blooming in shocks of red and pink, but November is really the time to come if you’re into wild flowers. Many people pilgrimage to the Grampians at that time for the display.

The kids walked incredibly well this year. As well as the hike up to Mt Abrupt we did the Wonderland circuit which has been rebuilt after the fires. The kids were blown away by the view from The Pinnacle and virtually ran back down. I forgot to bring my camera on that walk though, so here are a couple of shots taken on the ridge before Mt Abrupt: