Lerderderg Gorge

A short drive out of town

By Thomas Feng

December 8^th, 2019

It has been a long while since I wrote about a good time here.

The photos of happy moments have been piling up, but my mind and words have yet to catch up. It is symbolic of how I have generally been feeling in life.

Earlier this year, I finally felt confident enough to go for my driver's test. For a few months, my instructor had been telling me to simply go for it, but the fear and trauma from previous traffic incidents in my short life held me back.

But I did it. I f***ing did it and I passed. When the examiner asked me to park to end the test and told me that I could exit the car.

I had to ask whether I had passed, and she chided me with a smile on her face.

"Yes, that's why you made it all the way back."

Classic.

To celebrate, I drove Michelle and my parents out to Lerderderg State Forest, a national park about an 90 minutes out of Melbourne just before you reach the Macedon Ranges.

It was entering winter, so we were lucky to have blue skies and very few other visitors.

We parked at Mackenzie's Flat Picnic Area which sat on the banks of the Lerderderg River.

The river had run completely dry, with only the sound of clattering pebbles on the river bed to replace the typically flash-flowing rapids.

It was a short 45 minute walk to the Lerderderg Gorge under towering eucalyptuses and along jagged, assymetric, stripey cliff-faces. We passed a few groups of friends and families along the way, but otherwise it felt like somewhat of a hidden gem.

The Gorge was beautiful, and I could imagine it being a lovely swimming hole in summer if there was more water. The water was intensely calm.

No one else had prepared for a proper walk except me in my hiking boots so we didn't walk any further, although I would love to do some camping or a longer day-hike there one day.

Instead Michelle and I learned how to skip rocks from one side of the swimming hole to the other, experimenting with which rocks skipped further.

My recommendation? A flat, smooth, relatively thin pebble which isn't too heavy.

This beautifully shaped rock stuck out from the pond against the rippling water and made a lasting impression. It was like its own miniature world, a solitary island providing refuge to migrationary birds and other wildlife, fighting against the vast ocean.

And then just as we arrived, it was time to walk back.

We stopped at the picnic grounds and snacked on a box of barbeque shapes and garlic bagel crisps, aka the snacks of vegan champions. Mum brought back-up potato soup to fill our stomachs up before the drive home.