Genoa Peak

by Bend of Isles Admin

A twisting dirt track peppered with pot holes leads you deeper into the bush. Trees gnarled and twisted from past bushfires, the outer layer of bark shines like the skin of a Red Bellied Black. The understory so dense you can hardly make out the forest floor, each new sapling clamouring for space. Its amazing how our natural environment echoes the sentiments of current times. ‘It’s not a race’ they say as each new sapling reaches for the sky.

As the sun peeks out from behind the clouds the steam begins to rise from the forest floor, each step along the track senses slight resistance from the thick air as one boot moves in front of the other. Winding toward the peak the landscape is scattered with striking granite boulders. Such beauty in the way they sit as perfectly curated marbles within the landscape. Solid yet seemingly precarious positioned on the edge of steep mountains.

A purple carpet leads you towards the final incline, dirt and granite rocks blanketed with purple fan flowers.

The peak is revealed as a giant stack of pebbles, rocks perfectly stacked from largest to smallest. Black Rock Skinks feast on an abundance of Christmas beetles. Smacking their lips whilst their full bellies lay flat on granite boulders. The rails of the ladders that lead you to the top of the peak are adorned with hundreds of beetles glimmering in the sun, a sense of anticipation of what awaits above.

490 metres above sea level and a view across the Croajinglong National Park, the lakes system, and the dunes of Lake Barracoota and in the distance a scarred landscape extends as far as the eye can see. Time seems to stand still when observing from the top of the peak, the world keeps whirring away below just as it has for thousands of millennia.

The sense of quiet and calm the view from above brings is welcomed, but one can’t help but feel the pull of what you see in the distance. What lies below the crystal clear waters of Harrisons Channel? I wonder if I can find the 350 million year old fossil trackway of primitive tetrapods in the Genoa River Gorge?

And back down the mountain you climb.

 

Croajingolong National Park is part of an Aboriginal cultural landscape. We acknowledge the deep and continuing connection that Traditional Owners have to these lands and waters, and we recognise their ongoing role in caring for Country.