Maps: Michelago 1:25000 CMA map. There is a booklet on the Naas valley available from the Namadgi National Park information centre, but it does not specifically cover this part of the track.
Caloola Farm
"Peaceful Valley under death sentence"
by Murray Dow
Time: 2-3 hours
Distance: 6-10km
Maps: Michelago 1:25000 CMA map. There is a booklet on the Naas valley
available from the Namadgi National Park information centre, but it does
not specifically cover this part of the track.
Take with you: Water, lunch.
Access: Immediately after crossing the Gudgenby river, 11.8km south of Tharwa on the Naas road, turn left and follow the gravel road south for about 8.5km through two gates marked 'please close gate'. Do not go through any gates marked 'private'. After a ford over Gudgenby creek, you reach the buildings of Caloola Farm. Park near the gate on the right. Before going please ring Caloola Farm on 6235 7277 or ask for permission at the farm.
Caloola is run by the Baptist Community Services, providing training in motor maintenance and handyman skills for disadvantaged and long term unemployed. The valley is under threat however by Lake Tennent, which is to provide water for Canberra next century. Caloola means climb, but has another meaning 'battlefield'.
I had planned to walk down the Naas from Mt Clear, past horse gully hut which I described in an earlier walk; however the wet spring flooded the 10 river crossings and made the prospect of the 25km walk uninviting. Instead I found it more rewarding to spend the time in this isolated and peaceful valley.
Walk through the gate by the ornate 'Caloola Farm' sign and immediately
turn left downhill past the large olive coloured building.
Cross the bridge and through the gate and veer right along the river below the tank. You should soon see some toilets and sheds. Go over the stile and follow the rough track on the steep river bank.
You reach a fence in the willows that you can walk around, then follow the river upstream or walk across the open paddocks.
There is no need to cross the river. Where the bush comes close to the river there are good sheep tracks to follow.
After about 1 hour and crossing two more barbed wire fences, you leave the farm land and reach the national park. The paucity of wild-flowers and prevalence of weed species such as Aarons rod, burr and sweet briar is due to the long history of grazing along the Naas valley, though curved riceflower ( pimelea curviflora ), a native species that I mistook for a weed, was flowering and quite common in the paddocks.
The road is never far from the river, and after 2km you reach the first of five closely spaced crossings. This makes a good spot to turn around if you don't wish to wet your feet. If you approach the river quietly you may see a tortoise under the woolly teatree along the river, a water dragon scuttle away or Black Duck take off. The highlight of the area is the number and variety of birds.
A good observer can record 50 species in a day here, the most prominent being the rainbow bird. Its green and blue colouring, pirr, pirr call and its habit of constantly turning its head watching for insects as it sits on a perch make it hard to miss. Both sexes have two long feather shafts that extend from their tail, though the male's is longer. If you sit in the shade of the largeApple Boxes you can watch them darting into their nesting holes in the sandy cliffs along the river. It is a summer migrant, so won't be seen in the cooler weather.