Walks, Tracks and Trails of Victoria [Book Review]

2011·0.27 MB·English

by  Anne Morton

BookReviews
ing, but land-clearing for agriculture continues torememberthateventhemostabundantspecies
to fragment the southern hairy-nosed wombat’s can quickly become rare or extinct ifits habitat
range,andwhilethenorthernhairy-nosedwom- isdestroyed. It is upto us toensure thatit never
bat is nowsafe from humans thisprotection has becomestheUncommonwombat.
comealmosttoolateforthatspecies. Thisis an excellentbookwhich perfectlybal-
Thewildlifelawsdonotstopthebulldozersfrom ances descriptivenaturalhistorywith scientific
pushing higher and higher up the slope of the back-up. Itisbeautifullywrittenandillustrated
GreatDividingRangeorintotheTasmanianwil- andwould makean idealgiftforanyoneofany
derness, thelastbastion ofthebare-nosedwom- agewhohasaloveofourAustralianfauna.
bat.Itisnotnecessarytokillthewombatsdirectly,
the destruction oftheir habitat will exterminate RobWallis
them more quickly than guns, traps or poison. OfficeoftheProVice-Chancellor(Research)
The bare-nosed wombat is not an endangered UniversityofBallarat,Horsham,Victoria3402
species. Itisnoteven rare,butwewoulddowell
&
Walks, Tracks Trails ofVictoria
byDerrickStone
Publisher: CSIROPublishing, Collingwood,
Victoria2009. 296pages,paperback, colourphotographs.
ISBN9780643095878. RRP$44.95.
Derrick Stone hasprovided us with more than
»
160 ofthe best walks, tracks and trails in Vic- |
toria, which can be walked, cycled or driven. Walks, Tracks & Trails
These are located in national and state parks,
state forests, conservation reserves, historic II. of Vk loti,)
parks and local government and public ease-
ments. Other routes follow state highways, old
railways,andgoldroutesorpassbybushranger
DerrickSlone
haunts.
The tracks and trails are arranged by geo-
graphicareasofthestate, startinginthenorth- onwhattocarrywithyou,e.g.waterorcamera,
west and moving eastwards to conclude in etc.
Gippsland.Alistatthefrontofthebookshows Oneofthebestfeatures ofthebookisthe in-
the closest town, the environment ofthe walk, formationincludedabouttheareainwhichthe
distance ofeach walk and the amount ofesti- walkislocated.Factsaboutthehistory,Aborig-
mated time necessary. Also shown is the grade inalactivities, floraandfaunaprovidefascinat-
ofthewalkfromeasytohard, colourcodedfor ingbackgroundtothedescriptionofthewalks,
easychoiceaccordingtoability.Anotherlistar- as do the photographs ofthe walk, features to
ranges the walks by environment, e.g. coastal, be seen, and flora, birds and mammals. Excel-
forest,townshiporgoldhistorywalks. lentmapsareincludedasnavigationalaids.
&
Information provided foreach trackincludes Walks, Tracks Trails of Victoria provides
distance from Melbourne, how to access the something for walkers of all abilities. I can’t
walking track, the distance to be covered and waittogetoutthereandtickafewofthemoff.
gradeoftrack,theenvironmentandconditions
tobe encounteredas well as recommendations AnneMorton
10RupicolaCrt,Rowville3178
26 TheVictorian Naturalist