About twelve volunteers commenced arriving at Mortimers Picnic Ground in Bunyip State Park from 3.00pm on Friday 11 July. Unfortunately, rain put a bit of a dampener on the evening, however a good campfire provided a focal point for socialising.
On Saturday 12 July the Supervising Vic Parks Ranger, Andy Musgrove, outlined the proposed work for the weekend and commence inductions for fifteen volunteers. The volunteers included two first time volunteers plus another volunteer who had recently gained her chainsaw ticket. One of the aims of this BTAC event was to train volunteers how to use track clearing hand tools correctly.
On Saturday we travelled for 20 minutes to the Kurth Kiln Picnic Ground where the objective was to clear the Tomahawk Creek Track and the Thornton Walk – a total of about 3km. The clearing of the tracks was completed by 3:30pm.
Ranger Andy proved to be a top BBQ Master and served the volunteers a very nutritious evening meal featuring lamb chops. This was a hit with the volunteers and there were encores for a repeat performance.
On Sunday, the fifteen volunteers were split into two groups. One group travelled to the Buttongrass Walk whereby 230 metres of gravel was transported and spread along the walk to facilitate all weather access. This group did such an excellent job that they fully depleted the gravel stockpile.
The second group travelled to the western section of the Tree Fern Walk. After the track was cleared stepping stones were hauled down the slope. Holes were excavated and the stones were placed into position. Near the end of the day the stepping stones installation was assessed by two hikers who commented that the work was perfect. Both groups returned to base at 3:30 pm.
There is still further work required to complete the Tree Fern steps and the paving at Buttongrass Walk but it may prove to be a good back up job if other planned BTAC events are cancelled due to fire concerns or other issues.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the event, everyone got on well together, the two new volunteers received excellent training on the tools and more of our senior volunteers experienced work that was other than track clearing. Also, Phoebe Nguyen was given one on one training by John Green on how to use the chainsaw safely and proficiently.
It was remiss of me not to thank the valuable assistance of Patrick Platt who accompanied me on the reconnoiter of the possible work sites.
