Friends of Freycinet

The May working bee proved to be very productive with up to 9 attendees (at various times during the week) including Jenny and Ralph, Peter, Lorraine, James, Greg, Ros and John, and Jon) contributing to an impressive list of jobs completed.

We gathered on Monday to plan the week ahead and were treated to a very much appreciated and delicious lunch provided by Parks staff, Fee and Tasha. After lunch it was vegetation trimming, weed removal and a general tidy up of the Richardson’s Beach and camping area.

On Tuesday the group headed north on a perfect cloudless blue-sky day to assist the Seymour Community Action Group in the removal of gorse from the Seymour wetlands, and thanks SCAGI for the great morning tea.

Wednesday saw us split into two groups, with one group attending to the removal of caper spurge at Saltwater Lagoon behind Friendly Beaches, while the other group re-coated the Cape Tourville boardwalk. Then in the afternoon it was some minor carpentry jobs, staining the platform on Richardson’s beach, and the pruning around the campsites was completed.

With the good weather still holding on Thursday this allowed for another day of successful activities to be completed. Half the group headed out to Friendly Beaches to remove graffiti, sand and oil the decking, railings and seats at the lookouts; while the other half of the group spent the morning at Wineglass carpark toilets preparing and painting doors, seats and other areas that needed a fresh coat of paint. Jobs in the afternoon involved pruning around the Visitors Centre and a thorough clean of the Good Intent (used as overflow accommodation for volunteers) and surrounding area.

Then Friday, our final day, half the group returned to complete the painting work at the toilets and collect rubbish while the rest of the group finished work on the Good Intent and worked at the Top House, cleaning gutters and doing minor repairs inside. The working bee was wound up at around 1pm after a general clean-up of gear and accommodation. The group dispersed and headed home after a thoroughly enjoyable and productive week.  Thanks to all Freycinet PWS staff for looking after us so well.

And for a different perspective of the Freycinet peninsula, we can thank James for this great picture of Freycinet under the Milky Way.