Last week, Rover was fascinated by Refuge Rock, a place he visited in Cherrybrook. The history of this enormous rock platform was fascinating, but he was also intrigued by the natural surroundings. There was so much to see, and some of the bush, and even the rock itself seemed very different to what he normally might expect to see in such an area. He wanted to find out more. So this week, Rover is returning to Refuge Rock for another look!
If you would like to visit Refuge Rock it is located in Cherrybrook. It is a reasonably easy walk, but it is on bush tracks so plan accordingly. To get there, you need to park in Trevors Lane, just off Purchase Road in Cherrybrook. From there, pass through the gate onto the fire trail and then take the trail which veers off to the left (do not go down the hill). At the next trail intersection turn right. Next you will pass under some powerlines, and continue straight ahead. Where the trail next splits, go to the right down the hill (do not go down the left trail – it just takes you to a powerline). Refuge Rock not far down this trail!
As Rover discovered last week, Refuge Rock is an amazing place which played an important role during World War Two. It was the place which was chosen by General Macarthur to train Australian militiamen in the use of heavy artillery. This training left behind pit marks in the rock, but these are not the only interesting features of the rock. Some areas of the rock appear to be almost like a mosaic, as if somebody laid down lots of separate pieces of rock and glued them together. Of course, nobody did, this is entirely natural. When Rover first saw it, we thought it might be a tessellated pavement, like you sometimes see in coastal areas, but having done a little research he isn’t so sure as almost everybody seems to suggest tessellated pavement geology occurs on the coast, which Cherrybrook isn’t. If you know what type of geological feature this is, please let us know!
Rover is more certain of another unusual feature of the area though. Walking to Refuge Rock, you will pass through a variety of bush types. You will see Scribbly Gums, Sydney Red Gums, Stringybarks, Old Man Banksias, Red Bloodwoods and a whole variety of different flowering plants. This makes for a beautiful walk, but it isn’t particularly unique – until you reach Refuge Rock itself. The surrounding bush of the rock is apparently very unusual, with an odd assortment of native plants ranging from moss and bracken to banksias, blackbutts and grass trees. There is even an uncommon eucalyptus species living here, The Whipstick Mallee Ash. What makes this vegetation unusual is that all of these plants are growing together. Some of these plants prefer to grow in sandy soils, like the banksias and grass trees, but others like to have moist feet, like bracken and of course moss. Usually, they would not be found growing so close together, making the vegetation around refuge rock very special and worth a visit.