Round the Twist
Members of the Wildcare Cradle Mountain Volunteers were again active in the Valley on the weekend of 12-13 May:
Wild and Twisted
Open going here…
The Twisted Lakes Adopt-a-Track project AKA “the Wild and Twisted Project” is a recent partner initiative between our Branch and PWS Cradle Mountain. We first commenced work on the 2.5 km Twisted Lakes Track in our November 2017 working bees. This time six hardy souls headed out over Hanson’s Peak on a crisp but lovely morning to again tackle the growth with pruning tools and reinstall fallen track markers. We still have about 200 m to go but when we return later in the year we hope to be erecting snow poles as well.
 …but into the thick of it here |
 Taking a break above the lakes |
Strategic Supplantation
Mieke, Ranger Rhys & Christine planting trees
Another project commenced last November was the revegetation of the Cradle airstrip. This time five people replaced some of the native plants that had perished during the summer heat. We made good use of our newly acquired ex-CoastCare trailer from the West Coast. It just needs a new paint job and rebranding. The group also pressure-cleaned the exterior of the Waldheim cabins.
 Planted trees on Northern end of airstrip |
 Packing the gear away into the new trailer |
Cradle Community Clean-up
Sue filling another bag
On the Sunday the Wildcare members combined with four PWS Rangers and others from Discovery Parks – Cradle Mountain and the various lodges – a total of about 22 people – to join the Cradle Community Roadside Clean-up. Over four hours some five cubic metres of rubbish was collected between Learys Corner and Moina, a distance of about 20 km. Much of this material was car debris from crashes or collisions with animals.
At the completion of the work, Mark, the Manager of Discovery Parks, cooked pizzas and provided refreshments for us. We were really pleased to have Ranger Taylor join us for the day from Strahan and to meet Rhys, her new replacement at Cradle.
Photo Credits
Paul Darby, Julie Gale & Rhys Wilson