Girraween - Nature, culture and history
Natural environment
Plants
Animals
The landscape
Culture and history
Massive granite outcrops, precariously balanced boulders, clear streams and tumbling cascades are set within 11,800 hectares of eucalypt forests, sedgelands and heathlands. These significant communities provide for a mixture of plant and animal species usually found north, south, east and west of Girraween, and some that do not occur naturally elsewhere.
Plants
Girraween is an Aboriginal word meaning “place of flowers”. It is not of local Aboriginal origin, but is an apt name for this rugged place with spectacular spring wildflower displays.
Wildflowers begin to bloom in late July with golden wattle brightening the bush canopy, and pea-flowers bursting into blossom below.
September and October are the most spectacular months, with magnificent displays of delicate white heath bells and the bold yellow, purple and red pea flowers splashing the granite-strewn countryside with colour. Grass trigger plants, billy-buttons, native bluebells, native sarsaparilla and a variety of daisies contribute to the spring show.
The display ends with the summer-flowering flannel flowers, wattles, bottlebrushes, paperbarks and eucalypts.
On exposed granite summits, grasses, mat-rushes, lilies and low shrubs flourish in sparse soil lodged in cracks and joints. Larger depressions carry more dense patches. The “rock gardens” of the scree slopes and massive granite outcrops are splendid. Low, dense heaths comprise a diverse array of flowering shrubs. Wattles, pea-flowers, mint and daisy bushes and rock-roses are common beneath scattered eucalypt and cypress trees.
Swamp communities flourish in the headwaters of Girraween National Park's creeks and where granite outcrops impede drainage. Sedges, rushes, swamp selaginella and sphagnum moss have adapted to the waterlogged conditions.
Although trees are scarce in these swamps, messmate stringybark, Eucalyptus obliqua, makes its home in the swamps at South Bald Rock. Heaths, sundews and grasses fringe the swamp edges, with much-admired terrestrial orchids.
Eucalypt forests dominate the well-drained soils on Girraween National Park's slopes, gullies and valley floors. Twenty-five species of eucalypt have been identified, with some only found naturally in Girraween National Park. The graceful, slender-leaved Wallangarra white gum, Eucalyptus scoparia, is endemic to Girraween National Park, where it is restricted to Mt Norman and the high ridges to the south-west.
On the high ridges to the west and south-west of Mt Norman are the park's only stands of bell-fruited mallee, Eucalyptus codonocarpa. Eucalypts more commonly observed along the walking tracks are New England Blackbutt, Eucalyptus andrewsii subsp. andrewsii, round-leaved gum, orange gum, yellow box, apple box, Youman's stringybark and broad-leaved stingybark.
Often eucalypts share the forest canopy with black cypress, rough-barked apple, kurrajong, banksia and oleander wattles. The forest understorey may be lightly covered with geebungs, conesticks and wild cherry, or it may be more prominent and diverse with urn flowers, queen of the bush, parsley bush and a variety of impressive pea-flowers. Where the ground cover is dense, kangaroo grass and blady grass are common along with grass trees, drumstick heaths and bracken ferns.
Sheltered moist gullies are havens for ferns and more vulnerable and delicate plants. New England blackbutt, Eucalyptus andrewsii subsp. campanulata, and round-leaved gum, Eucalyptus deanei, may grow in these gullies with a shrub layer of lance-beard heath, blueberry ash, wild fuchsia, large-leaved hop bush and tableland daisy bush. Epiphytic orchids and elkhorns cling to boulders and trees or lodge in rock crevices. Plants more frequently associated with rainforests including Macrozamia, muttonwood, sweet pittosporum and possumwood may be found in very moist and protected areas.
Animals
Girraween National Park's fascinating eucalypt forests, sedgelands and heathlands provide habitats for a variety of intriguing wildlife. Wildlife enthusiasts are captivated by the diversity of animal species found here.
Wildlife with wings
Flowering shrubs attract beetles, butterflies and other insects — food for many birds, reptiles and mammals. Throughout summer the double drummer cicada's high-pitched mating calls chorus through the eucalypt forests. Short-lived, the dying cicadas become a hearty feast for a lucky furred, feathered or scaly resident.
The forests and heaths of Girraween National Park support permanent populations of over 150 bird species. Kookaburras, magpies and currawongs frequent the camping and day use areas, as do superb fairy-wrens, eastern yellow robins, eastern spinebills, yellow-rumped thornbills, satin bowerbirds, red wattlebirds, crimson rosellas, wonga pigeons and common bronzewing pigeons.
Warblers, parrots, treecreepers, flycatchers and honeyeaters live among the eucalypts and flowering heaths and shrubs. Robins, thornbills, wrens and firetails seek shelter and hunt insects in the dense understorey, while birds of prey such as the little eagle, wedge-tailed eagle and the brown goshawk search for a meal in open grassy areas.
Majestic superb lyrebirds prowl moist gullies, scratching through leaf litter for grubs and insects. Listen for these masters of mimicry on cool winter days as they incorporate different sounds from the bush as well as other birdcalls into their song.
The superb lyrebird and chestnut-rumped heathwren are at the northern extent of their usual range. These, and the southern emu-wren - at the westernmost extent of its range - are particularly interesting to the ornithologist. The beautiful colours of the rare turquoise parrot and attractive diamond firetail may be glimpsed along the walking tracks or roadsides.
Wildlife with fur
Girraween National Park's mammals are best seen at dawn or dusk. Quietly shine a strong torch, preferably with a red filter, into the bush fringing the camping and day use areas and you may glimpse a foraging possum, a grazing kangaroo, a probing echidna or a rummaging bandicoot. Remember never to shine torches directly into animals' eyes.
The common brushtail possum is the most frequently seen possum. This possum is not usually shy and may even venture to steal food from unwary campers. Please do not feed them. Sugar and feathertail gliders may occasionally be seen frolicking in bushland fringing the camping and day use areas.
Greater gliders - the largest of all gliding possums - are similar to koalas in that they live almost exclusively on eucalypt leaves and therefore live high in eucalypt trees. Koalas and greater gliders are found in remote areas of Girraween National Park and are not often seen.
Larger mammals such as eastern grey kangaroos, red-necked wallabies and swamp wallabies frequent the camping and day use areas, but during the hotter parts of the day they like to venture into the shade of the woodlands for an afternoon siesta.
At sunset, a mix of wallabies and kangaroos can be seen in the grassy paddocks feeding and fighting in amongst their mobs. Shy male wallaroos with their dark grey, woolly fur may be seen along the roadsides.
The spotted-tailed quoll is an agile climber but spends most of its time on the forest floor hunting small birds and mammals. Living in safe dens among the rocks, it will emerge mainly at night to hunt.
Also living underground in burrows under rocky outcrops or heavily ferned gullies, is the elusive common wombat. Girraween National Park's common wombats - the most northern population in Australia - are not very common and not often seen.
Follow trails of diggings and you may catch a glimpse of small ground-dwelling mammals such as bush rats, several types of antechinus, common dunnarts and brown bandicoots. Short-beaked echidnas also leave a trail of diggings.
Wildlife with scales
Girraween National Park's sunlit granite outcrops are the preferred habitat of many reptile species such as Cunningham skinks, eastern water dragons, bearded dragons, jacky lizards and nobbi dragons, that don't like to venture far from concealing rocks and boulders.
You may catch a glimpse of the striking copper-tailed or golden skinks darting between the rocks. Geckos are more secretive and often remain hidden under sheets of exfoliated granite or leaf litter. Some, like the tree dtella and velvet geckos, seek refuge up trees amongst leaves or under bark. At night the rare leaf-tailed gecko Saltuarius wyberba - unique to the Girraween area - hunts for insects in dense leaf litter and debris.
The most commonly encountered snake is the shy red-bellied black snake basking in the sun on rocks and walking tracks. Don't approach snakes and they won't pose a threat to you.
Wildlife in water
Girraween National Park is home to its own unique turtle. It is currently known as Elseyabelli, but may be reclassified as it has several differences from the southern populations of this species.
Other interesting aquatic life found in Bald Rock Creek waterholes are spiny red crayfish, river blackfish and Murray Cod and the Murray turtle.
Frogs are common in sedges and grasses growing on creek banks. The emerald spotted tree frog - often called Peron's tree frog - clings to branches overhanging trickling streams.
Burrowing frogs, such as the ornate burrowing frog, may be seen sitting on the walking tracks or in gutters after rain.
Litoria wilcoxii are the most commonly encountered frogs in Girraween and pobblebonks - also known as bullfrogs - can often be heard underneath rocks calling “bonk bonk bonk”
The endangered Pearson's green tree frog has been located in Girraween National Park, as has the vulnerable glandular tree frog. Populations of both of these significant tree frogs are under threat of becoming extinct.
The landscape
At an average elevation of 900m above sea level, Girraween National Park is on the northern extremity of the New England Tablelands. Girraween National Park's granite habitat is unique in Queensland.
Roughly 225 million years of powerful acts of nature have created the foundations for Girraween National Park's dramatic landscape.
Major earth movements rocked eastern Australia between 200 and 400 million years ago. The continent collided with an oceanic plate and ocean sediments were thrust from off-shore into the New England area. This ancient sediment is known as traprock or bedrock.
From the depths of the earth, hot molten rock called magma was forced upwards and invaded the traprock layer. Cooling slowly, the liquid magma solidified to form granite.
Over millions of years, nature's forces combined to erode the traprock, revealing the bare granite below. Today, water, wind, ice and plants continue to mould Girraween National Park's ever-changing landscape.
Culture and history
Traditional Aboriginal custodians lived, hunted, gathered and prospered for countless generations in the Girraween National Park area. Although their legends and place names have been lost, camping places, rock markings, tools and marked trees remain in Girraween National Park as evidence of their life on the land.
Allan Cunningham first entered the Girraween area on 26th June 1827, but the relatively inhospitable landscape made way for an early exit. In the 1840s Robert Ramsay Mackenzie was the first squatter to legally occupy land in the Girraween area. For decades he and others attempted logging, dairying and farming sheep, cattle, fruit and vegetables.
Dr Spencer Roberts - a medical practitioner in Stanthorpe - was a self-professed guardian of local populations of the superb lyrebird and the common wombat. Convinced that protecting the habitat of these two animals was vital for their long-term survival in Queensland, he put submission after submission to government for declaration of a national park.
Bald Rock Creek National Park was declared in 1930 with Castle Rock National Park declared in 1932. Totalling 1,600ha, they were known collectively as Wyberba National Park
In 1966, Napier Gunn offered the government his block of 52.4ha and the two national parks were amalgamated to create today's Girraween National Park. Tom Ryan and Bill and Hock Goebel were employed as field staff and development of infrastructure began.
From 1977 to 1979 further acquisitions enlarged the park to 11,300ha. The last block acquired in 1980 enlarged Girraween National Park to its present 11, 800ha.<< Return to Girraween National Park information
Last updated: 13 January 2006
