A Wall of Scoparia.

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Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion. Please avoid publishing details of access to sensitive areas with no tracks.

A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby Mechanic-AL » Wed 26 Dec, 2018 7:10 pm

In early November on a walk back along the Southern Range I wandered over Moores Bridge with the aim of spending a night in the Moores Garden area and witnessing the amazing cushion plants that dot the landscape out there. From the main track it couldn't of looked easier. Approaching what had appeared to be a waist high belt of Scoparia at the northern end of the bridge I got the first inkling that things weren't going to be as straight forward as I'd imagined. With only a cursory investigation of the overhead wall of scrub that confronted me I dived right in ! At first the wombat pad I was following looked as though it had been well frequented by fellow thrill seekers and would lead me out the other side like a piece of cake. But as the pad rapidly narrowed and soon split like a bunch of rotten varicose veins I found the going to be much harder. The barely penetrable soon became the impenetrable and I found myself backtracking. Unperturbed I pushed on in another direction. Determined not to be beaten by this evil prickly devil confronting me I put my arms up and my head down and pushed on with a more stubborn determination and nearly stumbled off the eastern face of the land bridge ! With an ever increasing count of cuts and scratches criss crossing my arms and legs I scrambled up to a little high point which gave me just enough view of my surroundings to realize that I was all at sea in a violent storm of Scoparia. And my destination still much further on than the distance I had covered. With my tail between my legs I got down on all 4's and began another inglorious retreat. After walking right back out into the open I finally decided to take a much better look around and eventually planned an attack far to the west that simply had to be the yellow brick road to the Moores Garden Wonderland !! I can't print the language I was using as I hung completely of the ground almost upside down suspended only by my backpack harness on my third attempt :oops: :oops: :oops: . Those prickly limbs and branches that held me captive had become the gnarled crooked talons of evil old witches clawing at me in my over wrought imagination . I had to get out ! Back in the wide open spaces sweating profusely and licking my assortment of new wounds I just lost the will power to do battle with this evil, wicked ,despicable enemy again. Instead of spending the night in the wide open spaces surrounded by muffin topped cushion plants I ended up camping in the forest beside Mystery Creek.
Now being a male of the species it takes a lot for me to own up to my failures, even more so in a public forum such as this so please dont be too scathing in your criticisms! In my defense the Scoparia was in full bloom....thick as thieves. And being fairly early in the season not many people had been ahead of me so I feel I gave it a good crack at the time. I just ran out of steam !!!
Anyway, I've now got unfinished business in that area and would love to hear from anyone who knows which area I should have been aiming to push through.
Please PM me with any info leading to the Holy Grail.

Al.
"What went ye out into the wilderness to see?
A reed shaken in the wind"?
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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby bernieq » Wed 26 Dec, 2018 9:38 pm

Yeah, well, Tasmanian scrub - what did you expect? :D

Add some Bauera rubioides to make it even more challenging !

BTW, it's proper name is Richea scoparia. Convention has it that the species name (scoparia) is not capitalised.

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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby Mechanic-AL » Wed 26 Dec, 2018 10:53 pm

You can call it capital R Richea and small s scoparia if you like........at the time I had a few other names for it.
(..... and here I was thinking that it was north-northwest's role to be pendantic about spelling on this forum :? ).
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A reed shaken in the wind"?
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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby dee_legg » Thu 27 Dec, 2018 6:00 am

Sounds like a real laugh Mechanic-AL, or at least it made me laugh! Thanks for sharing :D
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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby Mechanic-AL » Thu 27 Dec, 2018 6:56 am

Ooooops.......pedantic. (with a small p ) :D
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A reed shaken in the wind"?
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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby bernieq » Thu 27 Dec, 2018 12:16 pm

Mechanic-AL wrote:it was north-northwest's role to be pendantic about spelling on this forum
If I was pedantic, I'd point out that my comment wasn't a spelling correction. :wink:

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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby Mechanic-AL » Thu 27 Dec, 2018 12:50 pm

Thanks for all your wonderful insight Bernie. It's been very informative.
What I was actually hoping to do here was connect with someone who has actually visited Moores Garden and find out first hand where I might have been going wrong.
Any chance you've been there? What can you tell me about it ?
"What went ye out into the wilderness to see?
A reed shaken in the wind"?
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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby Orion » Thu 27 Dec, 2018 8:42 pm

bernieq wrote:
Mechanic-AL wrote:it was north-northwest's role to be pendantic about spelling on this forum
If I was pedantic, I'd point out that my comment wasn't a spelling correction. :wink:


If I were pedantic... and yes, guilty as charged.

A good story, AL.
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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby stepbystep » Fri 28 Dec, 2018 5:10 am

Hey Al. You either needed to scout for the cut track through that stuff(yes there is one) or skirt to the left where it’s much lower and dispersed.
The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders ~ Edward Abbey
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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby MickyB » Fri 28 Dec, 2018 10:41 am

bernieq wrote:BTW, it's proper name is Richea scoparia. Convention has it that the species name (scoparia) is not capitalised.

Scoparia is one of the common names for Richea scoparia. As there are no rules for how common names are spelled Al could have written Scoparia or scoparia so there is nothing wrong with how he has spelt it.

Beautiful area down there Al but unfortunately I can't answer your question.
Sometimes, I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.
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Re: A Wall of Scoparia.

Postby Mechanic-AL » Fri 28 Dec, 2018 11:40 am

Thanks to SBS and a PM from IlUVSWTAS that have helped me out.
I will be sure to head out that way early next time rather than at the end of what had been a hard walk when there was not much gas left in the tank.

Thanks again

Al.
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A reed shaken in the wind"?
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