Yes, we were frenetic but were not disorganized. Much forethought had been given by Parks and Wildlife (PWS) staff to the tasks and resources assigned for the week.
Thirteen participants were involved and we were housed in very comfortable PWS staff quarters. Fraternal! We welcomed three new faces and they all said they would be back. Friendships!
After a comprehensive briefing and a frenzied attack on Natasha’s vanilla squares, and together with our PWS friends we did the following;
We completed the fencing project at Middle Bank, Moulting Lagoon.
We covered the coastline from Courland Bay to Butlers Pt purging sea spurge.
We built a fantastic new seat (fiddly) at the new lookout at Friendly Beaches (FB) together with the erection of signage and rehabilitation of the old site.
We gave all the campsites at FB a complete spring clean in preparation for the peak season. This involved rubbish collection, filling potholes with gravel, oiling the seat and steps to the beach, trimming all the sites and laying the slash on rehab areas, painting and cleaning the toilets. I think that was all.
We oiled the boardwalk at Cape Tourville and measured, cut, and oiled replacement boards where necessary.
We checked all PWS vehicle and fire pump tool kits replacing missing items.
The branch executive team spent a half day on planning matters.
And…wait for it, a team went over to Wineglass Bay with shovels, rakes, all manner of other tools, a roll of Baco wire, and a flipping wheelbarrow! They replaced old fencing with Baco wire, put in water bars, carted gravel, trimmed all tracks, checked the beach for sea spurge, cleaned the campsite and toilets, then lugged all the stuff back home again! A fantastic effort.
Friday lunchtime before we headed home PWS staff treated us to a BBQ. We need hardly say that PWS were fulsome in their felicitations but heck, we love the place, the people we work with and the jobs we do. It was all fun and we certainly have that feel good feeling while at Freycinet.