LONG green fronds on blackened tree ferns flutter in the breeze, copper-coloured water rushes over granite rocks in the riverbed and, high above, a wedge-tailed eagle surveys the striking scene.
It's a vista of beauty and devastation. Hundreds of tree ferns in the Steavenson Falls Scenic Reserve near Marysville appear to be thriving, standing above a carpet of green that is thickening almost by the day.
In the steep hills on either side of the river valley, striking grey rocks can be seen, exposed for the first time in decades.
But resting underneath the tree ferns, or towering over them - somehow still standing in some places - are the ever-present reminder of the force of the bushfire that hit this valley, the smashed, blackened and charred timber, which once made up a beautiful cool temperate rainforest.
Before the Black Saturday blaze swept through this reserve, Steavenson Falls was one of Marysville's big tourist drawcards - attracting up to 150,000 people a year.
Gorgeous by day, the area became spectacular by night, as hydro-electric power from the Steavenson River powered a floodlight that lit up the waterfalls, which drop a total of 84 metres in stages.
The Murrindindi bushfire that destroyed Marysville also devastated the scenic reserve, badly damaging the road and destroying infrastructure such as toilets, seats, a footbridge and visitor boards.
The beautiful forest, dominated by mountain ash, manna gum, mountain grey gum and myrtle beech, had not been significantly burnt since the 1939 bushfires. It was decimated by last year's blaze.
''This fire was super-intense,'' Simon Gough, from the Department of Sustainability and Environment's Marysville office, said as he surveyed the landscape this week.
''Probably the most destructive thing about it was more the ferocity of the winds in here. That's really what's caused the most damage to the environment.
''You look in this spot here and there's lots of trees blown down. The way that the trees are laid [down], the wind came up the valley, hit the falls and turned around and went up to our right there.
''That whole hillside out to our right [has] been laid over. The gully has been laid over as well.''
Shortly before Christmas the falls were reopened to visitors in a limited way, after some remedial and safety work was finished. People can visit on Saturdays and Sundays on a free shuttle bus that leaves Gallipoli Park in Marysville every hour from 10am to 3pm.
Mr Gough, the DSE's bushfire recovery project co-ordinator for Steavenson Falls, said the bus would stop in coming weeks, once roadworks started on the road to the falls.
After the roadworks are finished, new toilets and other park infrastructure will be installed. Mr Gough said the rebuilding would hopefully be completed by spring, when visitors would again be able to drive to the area. A project designer will be appointed shortly.
The falls were first opened to visitors 144 years ago and have been floodlit for decades.
They will be lit at night again once they reopen on a more normal basis later this year.
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