If you haven’t done so already, check out our Great South West Walk hiking trail summary or go back to GSWW Section 6 – Moleside Camp to Battersbys Camp. Else, let us continue on with this seventh section of the Great South West Walk from Battersbys Camp to Pattersons Camp.
There is plenty of information on the Glenelg river in the public campsites which are located nearby the walker campsites which is an interesting read on most accounts.
Section 7 from Battersbys Camp to Pattersons Camp is a shorter 13.5km however elevation gains are somewhat more as we approach Nelson due to limestone cliffs along the Glenelg River. Keep your camera handy as views of the Glenelg River from these limestone cliffs are rather stunning.
Pattersons Camp is an overnight walkers camp in Lower Glenelg National Park set on the banks of the Glenelg River amongst tall eucalypts. The campsite offers shared table, seasonal tank water (treat before drinking), shelter and toilet. A shared fireplace is provided but fuel stoves are preferred by Parks Victoria.
Give a harmless sucker a break. Leeches are only doing what comes naturally!
Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata)
Delicious bottle-brush shaped flowers dripping with nectar make banksias a favourite food for insects, honeyeaters and other nectar-feeding animals. This small shrub is distinguished from other banksias by the shape of its dark green leaves with a silvery white under-surface.
They can grow up to six meters tall in more fertile soils and less than one meter high in sandy heathland – but honeyeaters love their juicy bottle-brush flowers wherever they grow.
Leeches are HARMLESS, PAINLESS, and BLOODY.
TWO EASY STEPS for removal:
- Simply scrape your tumbnail down your skin, from above the leech so that both both head and tail suckers come off onto your nail. This avoids squeezing the leech’s internal juices back into the bite.
- Flick it away. The wound will continue to bleed for some time, but there is no evidence to suggest poisoning or diseases are transmitted from a leech bite.
But I don’t want to be bitten!
Cover up exposed skin areas, apply eucalyptus, tea tree oil based repellents, or lemon juice.
Hungry, harmless and NOT very popular
They are not considered dangerous or infectious. There are around 500 species of leech (parasitic, 32 segment, worms) known worldwide, found in almost all land and marine environments. Fish, birds, and invertebrates are the main predators on leeches.
Leeches may only feed twice a year. They attach and bite a small V-shaped incision in the skin, secreting an anticoagulant to keep your blood flowing while they gorge themselves before simply dropping off.
They detect changes in light and temperature and are the most likely to ‘attach’ to you as you brush past.
Medicinal use of leeches
Leeches have been used in medicine for over 2000 years. Today they are of great value to plastic surgeons. Medical use of leeches also includes treatment of bruising, e.g. black eyes.
Great South West Walk Section 7 – Battersbys Camp to Pattersons Camp
Section 7: Battersbys Camp to Pattersons Camp.
- Section Features: River history in park campgrounds, Honeyeaters, Kingfishers, Leeches.
- Reported Distance: 13km
- Measured Distance: 13.5km
- Elevation Gain: 210 metres
- Elevation Loss: 205 metres
- Minimum Elevation: 10 metres
- Maximum Elevation: 35 metres
- Time to complete: 3-5 hours
Continue on to Great South West Walk section 8: Pattersons Camp to Simsons Camp.