It’s oiling the timbers me hearties – Friends of Freycinet working bee
It was another productive working bee when eight eager Friends gathered in March at Freycinet National Park. With most of us camping in the dunes at Richardson’s Beach we were fortunate that the weather was kind to us, the sunsets were brilliant, and of course, the company was great.
The focus for this working bee was the oiling of the timber decks within the park. This included the boardwalk at Cape Tourville, the deck and railing plus the Lookout railing at Friendly Beaches and the deck at Hazards View lookout. The posts at the Hazards View lookout and the Visitor Centre car park wheel stops were also painted.
Cape Tourville also saw many other tasks completed there through the week. These included cold galvanising the boardwalk railing, pruning, collection of rubbish and laying gravel at the viewpoint lookout and other sections of the track to alleviate drainage problems.
And what would a working bee be without spending some time removing weeds within the park. The area around the Visitors Centre through to the Coles Bay township was trolled with plenty of sweet pittosporum removed (about 600 juvenile plants), plus some vines such as bridal creeper, bluebell creeper and passionfruit.
A trip to the park near the end of Harvey Farm Road at Bicheno was another weeding outing. The group removed 177 Great Mullein (unfortunately some of these had gone to seed) and 850 juvenile Spanish Heath plants. It’s been a few seasons since the group has seen so many Spanish Heath plants in this area. Unfortunately, it has been a good year for germination.
The new Ranger’s Creek shared track also got some attention. Time was spent on pruning, removing tufts of paspalum (a grass weed), removing leaf litter to assist with drainage, and seedlings growing on the track.
Wow what a week. Thank you to Ralph, Mal, Ian, Joan, Marilyn, Peter, Lorraine and all the Visitor Service staff who joined us, for all your hard work and good humour. And, finally but not least, all the Parks staff who worked alongside us throughout the week.
Jenny, co-ordinator FOF
photos Mal, Lorraine, Jenny, Marilyn