Bushfire Regrowth

One of the great features of the Australian bush is the way it regenerates after bushfires. In fact many species rely on bushfires to open their protective seed pods so that their seeds can germinate. Bushfires in the Grampians are generally caused by lightning, camp fires or occasionally fuel reduction burns that get out of control.

One such fire burned out a large section of the Victoria Valley, racing north east towards Halls Gap. It raced to the top of the Serra Range where the cliffs seemed to have slowed it's progress. 

The photos on this page were taken some six months after the fire. Having been a very dry year there was still very little grass around and very few animals could be found. I saw a couple of wallabies and a few lizards but not much else and only the grass trees showed any signs of regenerating.

A few months later though the grass had started to grow after some good rains and the trees began shooting out again. With the orange-brown leaves left on the trees the mountains resembled their Scottish counterparts just that little bit more (from a distance).