by Eva van Gorsel, June 17th, 2020
“La contemplation donne l'initiation”
- Alexandre Pothey
Weddin National Park is on Wiradjuri Country in the now agricultural area of Central West, NSW, Australia. The name Weddin may go back to the word 'weedin', meaning a place to sit, stay or remain and might refer to a place where youths were isolated during initiation.
Looking out from the top of Weddin Mountains agricultural fields dominate the view. As is so often the case there is remnant vegetation in the park that has survived because the terrain is steep and not particularly suited for current agricultural practices. This does not mean that some areas have not been used for agriculture - there is 'Seatons Farm' where land has been cleared in the 1940's and 50's. The park also contains 'Ben Halls caves', a place where bush ranger Ben Hall used to hide from authorities in the mid eighteen hundreds.
The park is so different every time you visit. It's never the same. In spring flowers are abundant. Summer tends to be hot and dry. Autumn - I'm not sure that's general but I've been there with quite severe thunderstorms. The images shown here were taken in winter - a season that's not particularly recommended by parks but it was just so beautiful to be there. Cold nights maybe - but the vegetation and creeks with some water were just worth it. And some flowers too were still around.
In many parts it was quite visible that last summer (2019-2020) has been harsh - very hot and too dry.
There is a lot of debris on the ground and many of the smaller trees and shrubs look as if they had suffered a lot. Larger trees too look dead - but then you never know with Australian vegetation. The plants are incredibly resilient. The crowns of the trees may be bare but thanks to epicormic shoots they can come back to life quickly after they have been damaged.
... ferns and beautiful mosses were all around. The moss had these sparkly water droplets all over - even in the afternoon when the rocks and other vegetation were dry.
Some of the trees in Weddin National Park are giants. They are incredibly beautiful and nothing like a few magic trees to see the sun go down ...
FOOTNOTES
Much of the information on Wedding National Park is derived from the parks signs and sources like Wikipedia.
Credits:
all images and text by Eva van Gorsel