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Living Wonders

Walk through a forest of ancient, towering Plumwood trees and feel small; discover a Burrawang palm bursting forth its rare flame coloured cone; and marvel at the sheer beauty of the climbing moss.

Nearly everything is possible when such a rich diversity of forest types exists, as it does here. This area is home to cool temperate rainforest, warm temperate rainforest, and old growth Eucalypt forest. In fact you'll be walking through some of the oldest growing forests in Australia. 

A Eucalypt forest on the banks of the Mongarlowe River. Located in the Monga National Park, 20 kilometres south-east of Braidwood.

Rainforests host a dazzling array of flora and fauna, and as each micro-climate produces its own unique vegetation, you'll be amazed by the diversity of orchids, flowers, ferns, fungi, moss and eucalyptus blossoms you'll discover. Conserved in National Parks and State Forests, these precious gifts are all yours to see, touch and smell! 

Tree ferns cover the rainforest floor in the Monga National Park.

WHAT CAN I SEE? With such diversity, the only limits are your time and patience. The following is just a small sample, kindly provided by Richard Barker from Misty Mountain Nursery and Lynne Ellis of Currajuggle Nursery. 

SPRING: September to November

Black Wattle - very common throughout the region, this iconic Australian tree produces its sweet smelling flowers in November.

Native Clematis - commonly called the ‘Old Mans Beard’, this shrub is common throughout the area and flowers in September.

Austral Indigo - a smallish shrub that flowers from August through to December.

Violet Kunzea - this prolific open area shrub flowers around October and is found throughout the region.

Golden Feather Wattle - a very frost hardy smallish tree predominantly found between Braidwood and the coast, especially around Mongarlowe and the Clyde Mountain.

SUMMER: December to February

Crimson Bottlebrush - a beautiful flowering shrub that is a magnet for native birds. Found predominantly on the coast, but is also a favourite for the regions home gardeners!

Yellow Everlasting - flowers annually from late spring right through to Summer. If you slow down you'll often spot it along the roadside!

Lilli Pilli - a very large tree mainly found on the coast and in the wet gullies around Clyde Mountain. Flowers in January.

Monga Waratah - a fabulous flowering small tree that's endemic to the Monga region, about 20 kilometres south-east of Braidwood. This beautiful tree has a very short flowering season - around October to November - so you need to be quick!

Native Violet - this little beauty grows in clumps and loves damp areas, flowering for most of the year.

Snowy Daisy Bush - a hardy eucalypt shrub that's usually found under the forest canopy.

AUTUMN: March to May

Plumwood - the magnificent tree that’s a hallmark of this region, it's found in the temperate rainforests and wet gullies of the Monga National Park and Clyde Mountain. Its beautiful cream flowers appear around February to April.

WINTER: June to August

Silver Banksia - a small tree that can be found along sandy flats. The golden flowers attract the honeyeaters and when finished flowering the black cockatoos descend on the pods for the seeds.

The Burrawang - are from the cycad family and are found in open forests, the most amazing display of Burrawangs can be found in the Currowan State Forest between the Clyde Mountain and Nelligen. The cones form after fires, which turn orange-red mainly in winter.

IN MEMORIAM - Val Plumwood & Robyn Stellar

Val Plumwood was a prominent native forest and biodiversity activist.  Val - who took her surname from the glorious Plumwood Tree - spearheaded the fight to save the ancient Monga Forest from logging in the 1990's. She died in 2008, her success in preserving this forest is her enduring legacy.

Robyn Stellar also worked tirelessly to protect the Monga Forest for future generations. Robyn's book Monga Intacta is a comprehensive account of this incredible forest. Robyn died in 2005. 



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