FROME DAM OUTING 14th MARCH LEAD BY REVEL MUNRO

Meet at 10.00 am at the junction of the Tasman Highway at Moorina and Frome Road for the 3.5km gravel road drive to a boom gate at the commencement of our walk. (At some point there will have to be a 3.5km car shuffle manoeuvre as only walking one way is planned.)

Click the map  for a clear view

This 5km walk promises sights dominated by decaying, redundant electricity generation infrastructure, together with some next generation working assets. I expect we will witness recent heritage destruction – engineering types bring your tissues! Nevertheless, overall the setting is most picturesque.
The walk will not be fast paced, and it does involve a slow, fairly steep climb (100 metres of altitude) in open forest, as we walk up alongside the pipe column. There we will have a break halfway up.
After ascending the pipe column the remaining 3km is level, pleasant, and easy. Overall the walk is graded 3.5 out of 5 in difficulty. Pole(s) are highly recommended to aid balance, and sturdy grippy footwear is essential. The walk will conclude at the Frome Dam / old Caretakers Cottage. A short, optional, inspection of one of the 1907 sources of rock fill for the dam could happen while cars are being fetched.

Leader, Revel, had involvement with these power station operations when Australian Anglo American Resources were benevolent custodians in 1984, and has also spent time measuring the dam capacity in 1972, and thus remembers some of the past.

Similar to our last month’s outing, members of the St Helens Walking group will be invitees.

TRIBUTE TO JAY
See front page of our website

DOCTORS PEAK REPORT.
I’m most obliged to Kym Matthews for allowing me to use the report she wrote of the Doctors Peak outing for her group’s facebook page.
See the report on our website here

SECOND RICE GRASS SPRAYING.
After the rice grass spraying project carried out in 2024, the follow-up check in 2025 revealed only 12 recurrences. We took a punt and left those, making the decision to respray early in 2026.
We were able to change the permit to include Ross, who had received his chemical spraying certificate, making the job much easier to co-ordinate. This time, it was just a matter of carrying 5 litre bottles.
Thanks to the volunteers: Ross, Ann Scott, Steve, Eddie and Tom. Dorset Council generously provided the spray and full PPE. Jake Blichfeldt lent us his tinny to get over to the northern shore of the Trent Water.

BIRDLIFE AUSTRALIA REPORTS – ORANGE BELLIED PARROTS
In a segment of the newsletter from BirdLife Australia, it was noted the number of wild birds returning to Melaleuca this year was a few less than the 91 of the previous year – 86 returned this year.
A couple of years ago Debbie Searle had talked to us about the captive breeding program which, over the years, has boosted the numbers of birds released to mingle with wild birds. The program began when bird numbers were at an all time low of 17.
The program continues working towards a sustainable population where captive breeding is no longer required.

SADLY……
If you go to this link, you will read a distressing abc news story.
Here is the link

What is the world coming to !!