Belair National Park: With Keith Conlon in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia
The bushland of what we now call the Mount Lofty Ranges was once a bountiful hunting ground for the Kaurna People, the original inhabitants.
It's a very different scene now, as part of the ranges is Belair National Park. South Australia's first national park it covers 800 hectares of prime hills real estate just 13 kilometres from town. It's not exactly your ordinary everyday National Park because this one's got more than fifty tennis courts, a couple of ovals, ten picnic areas, pavilions, kitchens, toilets... it's all here.
The park began life way back in 1842 as the Government Farm on land reserved for the agistment of government stock and growing hay for the police horses. A couple of decades later it offered respite for the Governors from the scorching heat when they built a rather grand 'hunting lodge' in the Australian bush.
Old Government House has been charmingly restored and is now a major attraction of the park but the other attraction is the bush itself. There are plenty of options for bushwalks... from the appropriately named wood duck dawdle around Playford Lake to the tantalising Lorikeet Loop.
We're going on the Waterfall Hike, which takes us along Echo Track and up into the gully along Workanda Creek. At this time of the year there's no waterfall but the beauty of the bush makes up for it.
Not far along the track and our guide, Ranger Leah Egan tells us to keep an eye out for the wildlife including a family of emus. And right on cue they bob up to check us out. They're a feathered example of why the park is here. One of the reasons for securing the old Government Farm was to provide a sanctuary for native plants and animals.
Leah Egan, Senior Ranger: "We're walking through the redgum and greybox woodland. We have the acacias that form the mid-section, then we have the herbaceous species of grasses and lilies."
We head into Echo Tunnel - a culvert under an embankment of the main Adelaide - Melbourne railway line. We keep our heads down and make our way towards the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
By now, we're well away from the recreational area where you're much more likely to come across a few more locals like a koala or two.
Leah Egan: "This is a young one so it'd be weaned from its mother so it's quite capable of climbing and feeding for itself."
You need to keep an eye on the ground too. We found a Bearded Dragon sunbaking on the track.
Leah Egan: "We have three large lizards in the park - the sleepy lizard, the eastern blue-tongue and this is the third one - the bearded dragon. He thinks he's camouflaged so he's just going to sit tight and hope we don't see him."
As this bloke works very hard at looking like a fearsome beast Leah explains he's one of 19 species of retiles found in the park including five types of snake.
Continuing our climb up the gully, we reach our final goal - the gully falls away and we're standing on the Upper Waterfall. Come up here at the right time and you'll see Workanda Creek take a breathtaking descent over the mini escarpment. But even when it's dry like this, it's worth the effort.
At the end of a trek like this you need to just sit among the stringybarks and listen to the sound of the bush and really appreciate the fact that we're so close to the city.
Leah: "This part of the park is part of Conservation Zone Number One which is an area of high biodiversity. This is where we have activities which are low impact - walking, photography and bird watching."
The main entrance to Belair National Park is on Upper Sturt Road. The park's open from 8am til sunset all year round. Get a map from the Information Centre just inside the entrance or find one online.
Belair National Park
Upper Sturt Road
Open daily 8 - sunset
Ph 8278 5477Published 27th April 2008
