Greetings Members

Christmas is fast approaching so I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the members of the Essendon Bushwalking Club a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Six months into the president’s job I have found it an enjoyable experience if somewhat time consuming.

Many thanks to the members of the committee for the time and effort they have put in to help keep the club running efficiently and to the many other people who help out behind the scenes.

A special thank you to Chris Jarvis for his efforts over the past nine years in editing our club newsletter Old Man Emu. Chris will be stepping down from the job after December and Tamara Hycenco has kindly volunteered to be our new OME editor, and I’m sure she will do an excellent job.

On the weekend of March 24/25 2007 we will be running our Leadership Training course at Blackwood. The format of the training has pretty much been revamped and a new committee consisting of Chris Jarvis, Rob Hughes, Laurie Charleston and myself will be organising the training schedule for the weekend. There is still time to participate if you would like to lead walks & activities with our club. The training will be very informative, with relevant theoretical & practical exercises in a friendly and social atmosphere.

The spring/summer 2006 program has given us a wide selection of walks and activities an we must again thank our leaders for their time & effort this year. The summer/autumn 2007 program at this stage is looking great with another enthusiastic response. Thanks to Ron Pearce (and Ian Mclean) for doing such a sterling job in compiling this years programs.

Again wishing everyone the very best for Christmas and the New Year.

Happy Walking

Due to my recent illness I wish to send to you all my sincere thanks and kind wishes.

I have to admit I was totally overwhelmed with all the cards, emails, and phone calls while at both the Epworth Hospital Richmond and at home.

I received an overwhelming amount of best wishes from not only throughout the club, but also around Australia and overseas!! On this note I would have to thank all the wonderful doctors and staff at Epworth Hospital as well. It just makes us all realise how much what a wonderful, great club we have, and how kind and thoughtful we are.

Thank you to everyone.

Well, after nearly four and a half years and 518km we finally reached the South Australian border on September 23, 2006, having left Point Lonsdale in April 2002. Nine happy walkers are able to say that they have walked the entire western coastline of Victoria. It is doubtful that more than a handful of people have done that before. I have read of only two.

A total of 108 walkers took part in one or more of the thirty-seven stages with the average stage length being fourteen kilometres. We encountered slippery and loose rocks, high tides, snakes, overgrown tracks, long stretches of deep and loose sand, surf carnivals, electric fences, gale force head winds accompanied by blinding sand and rain, half-star accommodation in fishermen’s huts and even nudists!

But, all in all, we had a great time and built close friendships. We saw some of the most magnificent coastal scenery in Australia, possibly the world, with enormous cliffs and endless remote wide sandy beaches.

The final event was a victory dinner at the Nelson Hotel where mementos of their epic journey were presented to my eight companions, Doris Caruana, Gina Casalbuono, Laurie Charleson, Jenny James, Geoff May, Hilary May, Val Readwin and Gillian Ryder. Only serious injury or illness prevented Beth Elkins, Henry Laskowski and Ray Scilley from also completing the journey.

Well folks, here it is, my twenty-eighth and last edition as editor! Having taken over from Des Sunderland with edition 5, January 1998, allow me to reflect a little.

In this time there have been many challenges, among them adapting to make efficient use of technology such as email and scanners, honing my editing skills, and being able to proof read my own text (easier said than done!). ‘Masters’ for printing have evolved from a combination of word-processed sheets with photocopied photographs pasted in (with real glue!), to the purely electronic master, sent to the printer in pdf format on a CD. Wow!

Above all, there was the constant challenge of producing a quality, easy to read newsletter that keeps all the club members informed on events and issues relevant to this club.

Despite all the whiz-bang technology, nothing beats the content, and the contributors behind them. Without your support the newsletters would not be what they are. For that I thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

Finally, I would like to thank you all for the great personal support you have given to me in my role. You were forgiving of stuff-ups, and encouraging for the rest of the time. I couldn’t have asked for more.

I’m sure you will give to the incoming editor, Tamara Hycenko, all the support and encouragement you have given to me.

Well done, and happy writing!

has bravely, and without flinching, stepped forward to continue producing OME. For that she can only be encouraged and supported.

As part of the learning process, this edition has a ‘ghost edition’. Tamara has received all the submissions and has been producing a ‘trial’ newsletter to learn the process and potential problems before she goes ‘solo’ with the April 2007 edition. At the time of writing Tamara is still happy with progress. Go for it!

Articles can be sent to:

,

E-mail: <tamrah@bigpond.com>

Or snail mail via the club’s post box at P.O. Box 32, Moonee Ponds, 3039

Contributors must ensure their articles comply with copyright laws. The editor cannot be expected to be aware of the original source of an article or its contents unless informed by the contributor. Failure to comply with copyright law could result in legal action against the club, the editor and contributor.

The 2006 Great Divide Marathon took place on Saturday November eleven from Mt Buninyong to Creswick. The route provided a great variety of conditions from built-up suburban areas of Ballarat to the extremely dry Creswick State Forest. A record fifty-four walkers including fourteen visitors took part, with forty-three completing the whole forty-three kilometres. Ian McLean and Therese Ryan earned their ten-marathon certificates. A magnificent traditional post walk dinner organised by Georgina Alley was held at the American Hotel in Creswick. Beth Elkins was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation for having managed the walk support team for the past five years.

(Lamington National Park)

August 2006,

By Hillary May

On Saturday August 16, a group of ten enthusiastic walkers descended upon Tullamarine and had the Security Staff working overtime as they tried to determine the difference between essential expedition gear and items that had terrorist possibilities. Having been cleared of such nefarious behaviour, the group boarded the flight to Coolangatta.

Leader Loris had arranged for the pick up bus to stop at Pacific Fair so that provisions could be purchased to keep everyone fed for the coming week. Catering ranged from roast chicken and avocado down to very basic two-minute noodles! Someone even went overboard and purchased BANANAS (no cheaper in QLD). With the bus bulging with green bags, it wound around and up the hills to arrive at the beautifully located Binna Burra in Lamington National Park. The Environment Education Centre was the original picturesque home of the founder Arthur Groom and had views to die for, over the ranges and down to the Gold Coast.

After unpacking and sorting out the sleeping arrangements, the afternoon walk got underway. This short walk whetted our appetites for the next six days walking. The rainforest was lush and lovely, the tracks all well graded and the weather perfect. It also reminded us that other folks shared the same paths. Monty Python caused us to stop in our tracks. (NEVER EVER be the first walker!)

Evening meals needed a system. As cooking facilities were limited to one hotplate, one microwave, one saucepan, cooking for the now fourteen people, required a lot of ingenuity and patience ("have you finished with THE saucepan yet" was a common request"). Resourceful diners produced their Trangia’s and created gourmet one pot dinners while some others sneaked out and indulged in fine dining at The Lodge.

Loris had all the week well planned. The first walk was the lovely Coomera Circuit. Again the well-graded tracks led us through the dappled shade of the rainforest and the piccabeen palm and fern gullies. The Coomera River was followed and regularly the path detoured so that we could admire the gorgeous waterfalls. There were so many that by the end of the day, one could hear some murmured "ABW’s" and even our most enthusiastic photographers were slowing down on the number of photographs taken.

The second walk was Daves Creek. This was a much more varied walk as we covered more open heath-like areas. The botanists were happy as they came across the first of the spring wildflowers. Lunch was atop of Surprise Rock (for the geographically minded, it has a trachyte composition). Ryan, Sylvia and Brian preferred to descend the hard way by scrambling down a conveniently placed tree instead of using the conventional non-hazardous steps.

The Ship’s Stern was our next day’s project. Again a different walk, as we were further northeast and as we scrambled up to the lookouts we had great views over Springbrook and to the Gold Coast. Life is pretty good when you can have lunch sitting in the sun on top of a mountain, surrounded by glorious scenery and in the congenial company of fellow walkers.

The fourth day was the Border Track from O’Reilly’s to Binna Burra. Loris’s good humour and patience were severely tried as the bus she had booked to ferry us to O’Reilly’s was on, was off, was on but with only eight seats and then finally appeared with plenty of seats to spare. The Border track, so called because it follows the NSW/QLD border for part of the way, begins with a tree-top walk (the general opinion was that our Otway Fly is nicer). Again, the rainforests and fern gullies were gorgeous. This time we passed stands of Antarctic Beech that over their reported 2,000 years had formed multiple coppices "like giant fairy rings". After the talk on local birds the night before by the lodge expert, the outdoor bird spotter numbers were increasing. So with the extra lookout points and various bird spottings, it was a long and busy day.

The Illimbah Circuit followed, doing the route of the early red cedar cutters of the early 1900’s and it included eleven crossings of the Coomera River. The Gwongoorool Pools area is one of the loveliest places in the park and is ideal for a leisurely morning tea. It wasn’t particularly relaxing for Loris as Wayne was practising his rock throwing techniques just behind her back. The eleven river crossings resulted in lots of wet feet, one near concussion, several lots of missing skin and one classic underwater demonstration by Sylvia. Ryan, the ever-vigilant photographer, was at the ready, and recorded for posterity her creek crossing technique.

Friday was the last day for walking and the Araucaria (Hoop Pine) Lookout was the final walk to be completed. The last of the unlooked lookouts in the park were now looked at. Ryan and Sylvia, being perfectionists, aimed to complete ALL the lookouts and ALL the mountains and put in extra kilometerage to complete their challenge.

There being no TV, the in-house entertainment consisted of evening surgery for removal of ticks, foot massages by Wayne, more treasure hunts for keys and mobile phones and up to date sessions of the old fashioned slide nights as we sat around Ryan’s laptop and viewed the pictures of the days walk from Ryan, Xi and Sylvia (with expert commentaries on escarpments and precipices by Sue!).

Brian was official statistician. His figures recorded twenty ticks, eight snakes, four goannas, two land mullets, NO blue spotted crays, hundreds of paddymelons, various bread eating bush turkeys, daily walk percentages and 140 km for the full-time walkers. Even those who had odd "lazy days" joined the 100km club.

Lamington National Park has to be one of Australia’s best parks and Binna Burra is the centre for the excellent walking available in the park. Full marks to our leader Loris who, last year saw the potential here for an EBC expedition and took on the responsibility of organizing everything for the group. Her unfailing good humour and patience and her leadership and organizational skills were superb and made for a week of bushwalker heaven. Ryan, Sylvia, Wayne, Helen, Val, Beth, Inge, Sue, Xi, Jan, Brian, Geoff and Hillary all express their APPRECIATION. A great holiday, great walking, great scenery, great company and a SUPER LEADER, "THANK YOU" LORIS.

If you come across injured wildlife, Wildlife Victoria can be contacted anytime to arrange a rescue on

Weekend March 24-24

As Ian mentioned in his Presidential spiel, the club will be conducting a weekend of training for new leaders.

To lead walks for the club, committee approval is required. The best way to get approval is to do the club’s internal Leadership Training course. The course introduces aspiring leaders to the skills and roles of leaders and prepares them for leading walks. Activities will be a mixture of lectures, group discussions and practicals. The venue will be the Scout Camp just north of Blackwood, and participants will need to be available from Friday evening to late Sunday. Instructors and assistants for the course will come from within club membership.

Are you interested? Then talk to Ian Tovey and register your interest at a club meeting.

Monday January 1

17km, Easy/Medium

Neil Campbell

This almost a repeat of last year’s Hangover Walk, but is an enjoyable walk, particularly if you like walking along near Parks and Rivers.

We will start the walk from the Ripple Side Park in North Geelong, walk across Victoria Street Bridge over Melbourne Road and head through the industrial area towards Thompson Road. From here we will walk along the old Cement Works Railway (Fyansford), which in fact still has the rail and sleepers intact, for three kilometres, passing through the parklands of Herne Hill. We will explore the old cement works at the end of the railway at Fyansford before descending down to the old Historic Fyansford Pub. From here it will be following the walking trail along the Barwon River to Queens Park, and then on to a great coffee shop that I discovered last time. Then passing the rowing clubs along the way before turning back in to the centre of Geelong at Eastern Beach.

A car shuffle will be required for this walk.

We will leave from the Moonee Ponds Bowling Club Car Park at 8.00am.

Saturday January 6

12km, Easy / Medium

This promises to be a delight, if the weather is kind to us. We'll leave the car park at 6.30am to head to the famous Red Hill Market, where we can enjoy some brekkie and a wander, and your leader can stock up on your morning tea. We'll then stroll into the delightful little Eaton's Cutting section of Arthur's Seat State Park to have a "formal morning tea", where Darren will dish up the passionfruit sponge and another treat or two. After that we get to walk it all off with a lovely circuit route to the surprisingly gorgeous OT Dam. Make sure you bring your thermos and your esky on this one!! Please note that if the weather is warm I'd rate this closer to medium as there's a reasonable amount of climbing, and that if there is a total fire ban or the forecast is 35° C the day will not proceed.

Sunday January 21

16km, Easy / Medium

Ron Pearce

The walk starts at Sailors Falls Mineral Springs car park and heads east before turning north towards Daylesford, walking along a dismantled railway line, before arriving at Jubilee Lake. From there, the 2005 GDT Marathon route will be followed to Lake Daylesford before turning south and walking along the Sailors Creek area back to Sailors Falls and a climb up the path to the car park. The walk passes relics of the gold mining times, and aqueducts, erosion gullies and tunnels still remain to remind us of a bygone ear.

Distance is about 100km from the Bowling Club car park. Departure time will be 8am.

Saturday January 27

Twilight Walk, 11km, Easy

McLean Family

Meeting 6pm at Yarra Bend Road, Fairfield, and the first car park on the right (with toilets) Melways 30 H12. BYO tea in your pack to enjoy along the way. NO shops at all on this walk. Walking in a clockwise direction via Fairfield Boathouse, tea will be enjoyed at Studley Park. Views to the city will be enjoyed with sunset as the thousands of bats fly overhead in the direction of Ivanhoe to roost for the night …. a sight to behold! The return trip along the Yarra should take in the Collingwood Children’s farm; The city lights; Dight’s Falls and the Merri Creek back to the cars.

Friday February 2

10km, Easy

David Bass

This pleasant Friday night twilight walk starts at the car park next to the tax office in Gladstone Street, Moonee Ponds Melway 28 H 7/8 at 7.00pm. We walk past many old National Trust registered buildings and places finishing about 10.00pm with a coffee or drink at Spinella's opposite the Safeway supermarket.

Saturday February 3

Twilight walk, 11km, Easy

McLean Family

Parking outside the BBQ area on Somerton Road, Oaklands Junction (Melways 178 B6) and meeting for a 6pm walk start. Carry your tea in your pack to be enjoyed atop Gellibrand Hill. We stroll through Woodland’s beautiful red gum forests onto the historic Homestead and through the wildlife enclosure (dogs are banned from this area), along the creek and up to Gellibrand Hill to sit on the granite boulders watching dusk change to darkness and a fantastic view of the Melbourne lights as they appear. A torch may be helpful but hopefully there should be a cloudless sky lit up by the full moon, which is very easy to navigate by.

Wednesday February 7

13km, Medium

Ron Pearce

The walk starts at The Crossing picnic area near Steiglitz and explores the three main creek systems in the area. A number of mines are seen along the walk, part of which will follow the Burchall Trail. The circuit walk passes through Old Mill Camp and Grahams Creek picnic area. This area is affected by the cinnamon fungus disease that kills off the roots of grass trees. Therefore please make sure your boots/footwear are clean before arriving in the area and wash them again after the walk.

Departure is from Gladstone Park at 8.30am or meet at The Crossing picnic area at 9.30am after arranging when confirming.

Saturday February 10

14km, Medium

Tony Creedy

Now is the summer of our discontent made glorious winter by this shady walk! On the southern boundary of the Wombat Forest, more or less due south of Blackwood, Korjamunnip (suspected to be the fabled Kick a Tin Can Creek) and Korweinguboora creeks (I’ll call them K1 and K2) flow out of the forest, heading south towards Pykes creek reservoir. We’ll start a clockwise circuit from Binks Road picnic ground, take the Garibaldi water race along the gentle W slopes of Garibaldi Hill and then follow K1 creek on its way out of the forest. There are then some ups and downs as we get across to K2 creek and follow it a short distance to Rechabite Gully and then try our best to drop in on the creek further upstream. All the time we’ll take advantage of the tree cover around these normally running creeks and avoid the worst of any hot weather that might be around on the day. I hope the scenery will still be green and pleasant on the eye despite the time of year. A surprising amount of wildlife has been seen in the area, so boots and gaiters are suggested.

Optional overnight at Anglesea

Saturday February 24

18km, Medium

Neil Campbell

This walk will start the walk from the Distillery Creek Picnic ground and walk up Bambra Road, which will be a gentle climb as we take in some views near Lookout Hill. From here further along for about one kilometre, we will meet Duck Ponds Track, which will be steep up and down for about three kilometres. This track will cross over one of the highest points of the area overlooking Painkalac Dam. We then meet Gentle Annie Track where we start a decent towards the Moggs Creek Track. We will then have a late lunch at the Moggs Creek Picnic Ground. From here it will be to the lookout at Eastern View taking in the views of the coastline. Finally we will walk along the beach from Eastern View and Fairhaven and finish near the Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet. There is also an option overnight camping at Anglesea, opposed to driving back to Melbourne.

We will leave from the Moonee PondsCar Park at 8.00am, or 9.30am at the Cafe and petrol station at Aireys Inlet.

Tuesday February 27

McLean Family

Meet 6.30pm at Woodlands Park, corner of Woodlands Street and Carnarvon Road, STRATHMORE (Melways 16, F12)

Come along and have some fun! Check out your basic map reading skills while ‘on the go’. No compass necessary. Anyone can do it, fast or slow, run or walk. Instructions are freely available. You will be encouraged and made to feel most welcome. For walkers the maps are presented at 7pm with the ‘go’ command. Your walk is completed by 8pm. The aim is to get as many controls with the highest points value as possible within the hour. It is not a late night but is most enjoyable getting around the streets on a balmy summer’s evening. Cost is $3 for good fun and exercise. See the neighbourhood nooks and crannies that you never knew existed. A number of EBC members already partake so you will see some familiar faces. Those that have tried it say that is well worth a go!

Sunday March 4

16km, Medium

Ron Pearce

Starting at Tanglefoot car park near Mt Tanglefoot (1009 meters), the walk heads south to Monda Track car park, passing through Sharkys Trestle Bridge and Lauders Rest. There are plenty of seats along the way and creek crossings make use of board walks or small trestle bridges. From the Monda car park we turn north and walk through rainforest filled with tree ferns, wattles and myrtle beech. A visit to the Warriwillah Rainforest Walk is a short side trip before the final easy climb along Myrtle Gully Track to the cars.

Distance from Moonee Ponds is about 80km and departure time will be 8.00am from the Bowling Club car park.

Sunday March 4

Rob Hughes

On Sunday 4 March 2007, EBC will be holding our 5th Clean Up Australia event. If you haven’t had the chance to come along please don’t miss this opportunity. Last year our team of six (and one dog) collected about fifteen bags of rubbish from a local park. With each bag weighing about ten kilograms that is a lot of rubbish. The commitment is only a couple of hours and we usually follow with brunch at a local cafe. We expect to get started at 9 a.m. For details of the location please contact Rob Hughes, 9458 3491. So put the date in your diary and join us for a worthy cause to put something back in to our beautiful country.

Saturday March 17

19km, Easy / Medium

Neil Campbell

This will be our third attempt at walking along the Great Dividing Trail from the old Wombat Railway Station, which was along the original Ballarat-Daylesford Railway line, which closed in 1958.

We will start the walk from Wombat Station, walking for about one kilometre through a magnificent rail cutting through the Wombat State Forest, and investigate an old culvert that was built under the line. From here we will leave the rail formation and head along through the forest towards Leonard's Hill for morning tea. We then plan to have lunch at Sailor's Falls. After lunch we will walk the final section of the Great Dividing Trail into Lake Daylesford.

We will be doing a car shuffle for this walk. We will leave the Moonee Ponds Bowling Club Car Park at 8.00am.

Saturday March 31

Twilight walk, 10km, Easy

McLean Family

Meeting at 6pm when the walk will start Greenwich Reserve car park (corner of the Strand and North Street, Williamstown), Melways Ref 56 B5. Tea will need to be carried along or else you will need to buy it on route (eg fish & chips), as we stop in Commonwealth Reserve at Gem Pier along the way. The walk will encompass the sights and atmosphere of Williamstown at night, capturing the Melbourne skyline and it’s lights together with the yachts along the waterfront on Hobson’s Bay. Return is via the Botanic Gardens and streets where the shops and cafes are, for which Williamstown is renown.

Saturday April 7 - Monday April 9

50km, Medium

This pack walk, from Easter Saturday through to Easter Monday, takes in a scenic part of the GSWW that abuts the Glenelg River, located in the Lower Glenelg National Park. Given our recent rainfall, let's hope for a decent flow! Hopefully we will enjoy some pleasant Easter weather, good company and scenic river vistas. Those members who walked with Bill Casey recently along the ocean part of the GSWW, who are up to pack walking, should consider coming along with an aim to complete the full GSWW eventually! Initial contact to book for this walk is preferred by email to

<blueymcclelland@yahoo.com>

Sunday April 15

17km, Easy

David Bass

This walk starts at Carrum and we walk along the Patterson River to the freeway working our way back to Carrum beach for morning tea. Walking along the foreshore under tea tree to Frankston Pier for our lunch stop where you can buy your lunch if you want. We then walk back to Carrum along the Kananook Creek where we will see some of the properties which back onto the creek and how some owners have spent a lot of money on their property and others nil. If the weather is good this is an easy Sunday walk.

Wednesday April 18

11km, Medium / Hard

Ron Pearce

This walk includes two descents into the Lerderderg River with two corresponding climbs back out!! Starting on Mount Blackwood Road at the car parking area at the start of Square Bottle Track, the walk proceeds along Razorback Track, down Razorback Track North Track descending to the junction of Whiskey Creek and the Lerderderg River. From there we make our way to Mine Camp before climbing out of the Lerderderg, up Kenworthy Track to Vodka Track and the GDT before descending again to Whiskey Creek. Following the GDT, we climb out of the creek and head back to the cars along the Square Bottle Track.

Departure time from Gladstone Park will be 8.30am. Distance to the start is about 70km.

Saturday April 21

16km, Hard

Neil Campbell

Don't be too concerned about this walk being classified as a HARD walk, or as one book described this walk as - Not a walk to take Grandma!

We will meet at the Ned's Gully Car Park, with a short Car shuffle up Cerberus Road to our walk starting point at the Sugarloaf Hut car park. From here it will be a slow, steep climb with excellent views up to Sugarloaf Peak (910m), which in fact is the highest peak of the Cathedrals. We will be taking it nice and slow as I will be stopping along the way and giving historical information about the Cathedrals. Once we reach the summit of Sugarloaf we will take in the magnificent views along the spine of the Cathedrals. On a clear day you can see Lake Eildon in the distance.

From here we start our slow decent along the Razorback visiting some Aboriginal sites along the way and visiting it's history, and also stopping for morning tea. We will then walk down via The Buttresses, past South Jawbones towards the Farmyard for a brief stop prior to walking out to the North Jawbones for lunch. This is a popular spot for abseiling and rock climbing. After lunch we will proceed along the ridge of the Cathedrals and visiting more historical sites along the way as we slowly make our way towards Cathedral Peak (814m) and take in more views. From here it's a slow steep decent down Ned's Gully to our finish at Ned Gully car park. We will be leaving from the Moonee Ponds Bowling Club Car Park at 7.30am.

Sunday April 29

9km, Medium

Ian McLean

Even though this walk is only 9km long it is of Medium grade and has sufficient points of interest to be an excellent and enjoyable walk.

The McMahons Creek area is located 13km east of Warburton, off the Woods Point Road, and lies within the Yarra Ranges National Park. Judging by the mining remnants it appears to have been a very successful goldfield. We will visit these relics and relevant sites along the way. These include two extensive tunnels cut through the bends in the Yarra River, water races, mines and shafts etc.

Afternoon tea in Warburton.

Mid 2007

91km, Medium

Neil Campbell

As a lead up to the trip over to the west, doing the Bibbulman Track, (or should I say pretending to do it on a budget!!), we will be walking the newly completed Great Ocean Walk. We will be walking from the Apollo Bay end, visit the numerous waterfalls in the area including Hopetoun Falls and the Fly Timber Top Walk. We plan to camp out along the way, but we have arranged someone to transport equipment before our campsites.

This is a good chance for either the people coming with me to WA, or others to do a moderate Pack Walk.

More details in the next Old Man Emu.

146 km over twelve days

October 15th - 26th 2007

Limit 12

Neil Campbell

At this stage this trip is starting to generate plenty of interest.

I’m pleased to report to you that I have been in touch with Richard and Beverly from Wanderer tours in Perth, and have advertised in VicWalk News and have a website Wanderer.com.au if you want additional information, and who specialise in leading Walking clubs along the Bibbulman Track.

I can give you an idea in what we will be doing on this walk.

We will be departing Melbourne on a morning flight on Sunday 14th of October and staying overnight in Perth. Most importantly we will be transported to the start of the walk from Perth to Balingup and then with our first night's accommodation at Mullymup Farm.

We will have a leader/tour guide on this walk to show us areas of interest along the Track.

The accommodation will be a mixture of camping out some nights, and other nights we will stay in backpackers etc for a chance to clean up before heading out the next day.

The grades vary easy to medium, and daily distances along the way vary from seven to eighteen kilometres.

Will be arranging transfers to our backpacker accommodation nights and food supplies.

We will see the old cheese factory at Balingup before heading along the track toward Donnelly Mill. From here we then walk through the lush forests and visit Beedelup Falls. From here it will be into the Heart of the GIANTS. The giant and magnificent Karri Forest. If you’re game you can even climb the huge Gloucester Tree, which incidentally is used as a fire tower, and is situated just outside Pemberton. Then we will walk along to the Timber Top walk, which is part of the track, and check out more waterfalls as well. The wildflowers should also be out in full bloom. The scenery starts to change, as we start to head out of lush forests and out to William Bay, as we follow the open Coastline of the Southern Ocean as we walk on towards Denmark.

In the final section we will visit the mutton bird rookeries along near the sand dunes as we walk towards the finish at Albany after eleven days of walking.

We will be transported from the end of the walk to our Accommodation at Albany Backpackers. We will tour Albany the next day as part of our recovery, and visit Whale World and the local coast line. Then back to the Albany Backpackers overnight and next day pick up our transportation back to Perth arriving back on the 28th October. We will stay overnight in Perth, (time to sightsee), or dinner before flying back to Melbourne next day.

Some people have indicated that they would like to stay on in Perth including myself to visit relatives, or go to Fremantle before flying home. At this stage I will organise the Flights return to Perth with Qantas or Virgin Blue from Melbourne Airport, confirmation and numbers of people coming.

I will continue to keep you all informed with more details about the itinerary and costs, and will have a walk sheet out shortly.

Deadline: Bookings close for deposit of first night's Accommodation at Wednesday December 13th club meeting.

For 2006 - 2007 is:

President: Ian Tovey

Vice President: Neil Campbell

Secretary: Brian Smith

Treasurer: Ian Yarde

Committee: Ron Bell, Tamara Hycenko, Darren McClelland, Jan Edwards & Ryan Davies

Don’t forget that members can obtain a discount at Bogong Equipment, 374 Little Bourke Street. They offer a 10% discount on all non-sale items.

(Snail) Mail: The Secretary, Essendon Bushwalking Club Inc., P.O. Box 32, Moonee Ponds, 3039

E-mail: <trekker@netspace.net.au>

Club Web Page: <www.netspace.net.au>

Are released three times each year, at the April, August and December club meetings.

One copy of the program is included within the hard-copy version of the club newsletter, Old Man Emu.

Additional copies are available from the Secretary or Treasurer for 20¢ each.

Are held on the second Wednesday of each month, at the Moonee Ponds Bowling Club, Mt Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds. Meetings start at 7.30 pm.

The contact for loan of equipment is Ron Bell

Equipment available for loan:

Tents; Backpacks; Sleeping Bags; Rain Jackets; Stoves; Sleeping Mats.

Annual Membership (from June 1) $ 40

Visitors Fee (per event) $ 5

Annual Membership fees apply from June 1 to May 31. Membership fees not paid two months after the June AGM render the member unfinancial. There are no pro-rata membership fees as the club is required to pay an annual Federation / Insurance premium.

An unfinancial member is required to pay the visitors fee for every event they attend until they have paid their full membership fee. As an unfinancial member, the Club's Personal Accident and Public Liability Insurance on any club activity does not cover you.

Unfinancial members and visitors attending more than three events in a club year are required to pay the full membership fee.

New members must pay the annual membership fee within 28 days of their membership application being approved by the committee.

May 5 - 6

A VicWalk Track Maintenance Group activity, clearing the track down Riggalls Spur to Lake Tarli Karng in the Alpine National Park. Members of all clubs are welcome to attend. Contact Jim Harker, 9547 1152 or email <jnharker@netspace.net.au>

May 26 - 27

This is a VicWalk Track Maintenance Group Activity, clearing the route to Boronia Peak. Members of all clubs are welcome to attend. Contact Rod Novak, 95612407 or email <rodnovak@ozemail.com.au>

May 31 – June 3

This is a VicWalk Track Maintenance Group activity clearing a track in the Otways. It will be in conjunction with the Geelong Bushwalking Club. It will start on a Thursday, but you can attend for just part of the activity. Members of all clubs are welcome to attend. Contact Jim Harker, 95471152 or email <jnharker@netspace.net.au>

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On the weekend of August 12-13 we joined Ray Thomas at the first planting site north east of Winton. This was the first planting weekend out of four earmarked for early spring.

From Geoff the farmer’s front gate we could easily see up the zig zag driveway to the hill. The hill was a large bump on the east side of a ridge. On the west side stood the completed shell of a new dwelling. This stone and brick house stood bathed in sunshine admiring 360 degrees views. Out to the southeast stood Mt Samaria amongst the rugged ranges, to the southwest Lake Mokoan glistened in the warm sunbeams. The Warby Ranges lay to the northwest. It was one of those times and places where everyone felt inspired just to be there - late winter giving way to Spring.

Despite the good weather forecast of blue skies and about nineteen degrees, there was a disappointing amount of volunteers. In the past the numbers could tip up to seventy. On this occasion there was a group of about forty. Not marred by low numbers, enthusiasm remained high. There were very many familiar faces in the crowd as Ray demonstrated how to plant the "Regent Honey Eater Way". Ray’s success rate throughout the current El Nino was 99.06 %. Within the group, VicWalk were well represented with members from Victorian National Parks Association, Melbourne Bushies, Bayside BWC, Walking Club of Victoria along with the Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club. Later various people from these groups were asking us questions such as "Do you see anything of Colin Cody anymore?" "Is Therese Ryan still walking?" and so on!

The diggers went ahead in a group along the ripped loose furrows scalping and digging holes at the designated sites. Ray’s dedicated team moved ahead of the planters placing the diversity of the locally indigenous plants: flowers, shrubs and trees along with the juice cartons in the appropriate locations. All these plants have been grown in collaboration with nearby primary schools from locally collected seeds; some rare, some common. At leisurely and relaxed lunches and tea breaks, we sit around and get an introduction to all the groups present and any natural specialists present; how the project is financed, i.e. where the grants come from to finance the whole project on a year to year basis, the special mammals that are benefiting from the tree planting, the diversity of the birds with Bird Observers at hand explaining the birds we are observing as we plant, the benefits to the farmers, who are lining up to have trees planted. They now know the benefits of trees to agriculture. (Control of the water table, salinity control, erosion control, and regaining balance of the ecosystems leading to natural control of insect and weed pests are among some of the obvious benefits.) Then Ray relays what rationale and plan is for this particular planting. By joining blocks of remnant bush with the corridors of planted habitat means movement for feeding, foraging and breeding of the rare and vulnerable mammal and bird species. At Ray’s last chat he mentioned that the small squirrel gliders are capable of gliding across the divided Hume Highway to land on the trees in the road plantation and continue over to the trees on other side. There are even thoughts of installing a rope type tree top bridge right across the road for all these special creatures whereby avoiding road trauma and providing access to more extensive habitat. But that is a future thought and another project. The plan for this bald hill that we are planting is to continue down along two opposing sides to join the creek remnant and with mature, previously replanted bush. This will string together two great habitat sites.

Planters move en mass behind the diggers. It is surprising how quickly the plants get planted. It’s like a wave that rolls along. As you move on to the next plant you may have to migrate forwards by two or three rows! Before you know it, break time rolls around. It is lovely to join in or listen to conversations as the trees and plants get planted. There are many talented young Uni Students undertaking various horticultural and conservation courses. These kids are enthusiastic and full of life. It is inspiring. Usually they arrive in buses, from all the Universities emanating from Melbourne along with Ballarat and Bendigo. This time round though, most of the major organized Uni groups were missing. We were told that they were doing other conservation projects and a major bike ride, stopping at all local schools along the way raising conservation awareness.

Progress was slow. For this weekend Ray had prepared another planting site as well. It was unfortunate that the second site did not get started as there just wasn’t the numbers to complete the task

Following downing tools at about 5pm cars left the site in convoy, splitting up on return to Benalla. Some went directly to the Leisure Centre for a shower and clean up. Others went directly to the Girl Guide Hall to set up their bedding on the provided mattresses, or their tents as preferred. Once all this was over it was off to the local technical centre where the parents of one of the local primary schools provided us with the most wonderful sit down three-course meal with optional seconds on each course. Bottles of red flowed as is customary on these occasions. Much bushwalker banter regarding tales of various times and places on the tracks transpired What a great environment to meet and socialise with like-minded people.

The night was not over yet though. For those that had more energy to burn there was a bush dance set up in the Scout Hall to attend. It was on for young and old. For the rest it was an earlier night. Ray always stresses that the sleeping quarters is a quiet zone and to be respected. It certainly was and everyone slept soundly until after 7.30am. Breakfast was either in the Guide Hall using the kitchen facilities or down at the bakery, using one of the free cuppa vouchers distributed to all tree planters. Then it was back to planting.

The completion of transforming the bald hill into one covered with tree guards protecting the newly sewn plants occurred at about 1pm. This was celebrated with an on site BBQ, with all the trimmings, even salads and veggie burgers, provided by the project. Once palates and stomachs had been satisfied it was pleasing to see most of the group attending a short walk hosted by Ray into an area of what Ray considers to be the best example of remnant Box Iron Bark bush in the area. There were many special rarer plants demonstrated to us along with plants that had been seed harvested to provide the plants that we had just sewn. Bird experts were on hand describing the various birds, calls and their particular peculiarities.

Overall, it was a highly successful weekend, adding 2327 new plants and trees to this wonderful web of native vegetation stretching between Benalla and Glenrowan. The personal rewards are an added bonus.