The LONGest Day

 On 12 July we did the final stage of our project of walking from Bucklands parking lot to Seal Creek.  At 3.88km as measured by the eBird tracking facility it was the longest leg of the project.  Also the steepest and most overgrown.  Here is the route.

I mentioned the Parks sign yesterday.  

This is the only really bad bit in terms of mud: 10m.  About 8km of potholes which could definitely benefit from a grading..

Oh dear, mud on a 4X4!

A nice new sign for Seal Creek.  They have cleared the track!

Shipwreck Creek and Beach.

There was a small amount of flow out of the creek.  I just splashed across but Frances saved her boots and socks (she didn't bother coming back).  We spent sometime walking back and forth trying to find the driest path (vaguely visible in the track map) before deciding a quick splash was the go.

The next few photos were taken on the way back, but fit the narrative better here.  This is the 'path' up from Shipwreck Beach.  Coming up it was impossible to tell where the track went.  I shall be offering Parks some commentary on how this contrasts with the shiny new sign.  I might offer to go out with my brush cutter and clear it for them (especially if they chuck me a slab of Bullant IPA).

The track across the heath hasn't been manicured like the stretch to Pebbly Beach but is quite readily traversable.  No Ground Parrots or Emuwrens were harmed by taking this photograph!

While the heath was devoid of birds this forest area going into a creek was well endowed with very active  Pardalotes and other bst birds.

This is the final drop down to Seal Creek.  Frances is just visible at the top of the slope - the image for once captures well how steep this pitch is: my guess is about 33%.  It is also quite slippery with either loose gravel or wet mud, but I am quite happy to book this under the banner of caveat peregrinatur (pilgrim beware) and not demand it be sanitised.  (They could however slash the growth at the top and, particularly, the bottom of the slope.  I am not offering, even for another slab, to schlepp my brush cutter 3km to do that job: Parks can use their Polaris for that.) 

Seal Creek Beach

Some rocks make a nice frame (for more distant rocks).

A rather early Stylidium gaminflorum (Triggerplant).

No idea about this one.  iNaturalist has been consulted.  And has delivered an ID Rhytidosporum procumbens: Flora of Victoria rates it as "moderately common" in such a habitat.

On the way out we saw some Comesperma but decided t take the photo on the way back.  The marker was some plants of that species in the middle of the track.  I was looking for those plants and came across these!  Pterostylis grandiflora (Cobra Greenhoods).

Here is one of the Comesperma ericinum from the middle of the track.

While we were pondering how to cross the Creek a White-bellied Sea Eagle passed by and I was able to get a couple of snaps of it back end.

I had hoped to see the family of Hooded Plovers which nested at Seal Creek last Summer.  I managed to spot a pair, one of which was decorated with a band.

On each stage of the walk Frances has done something creative (as does Sir Richard Long).  This is the final circle in the mouth of a small cave - possibly thus far just an an overhang with attitude.  

This marks the end of this project (apart from the 3.8 km walk back to the car.  Interestingly the walk out took  1:50 but returning was only 1:10.  The extra 40 minutes reflects: farnarkling around crossing the Creek; wayfinding though the denser undergrowth; and stalking the Hoodies for a clear photo of the leg flag.