Clean Up Australia Day! February 2010

Mid-month I joined the city office and Bays and Maritime staff in the 2010 Parks Victoria Business Clean Up Australia Day. The clean up was conducted on both sides of the Yarra River from Alexandra Gardens and Federation Square.  A Parks Victoria boat took us up and across the river to collect rubbish. I was provided with tongs for rubbish collecting (not bbq’ing), a bright yellow volunteer vest, sunscreen & hand sanitiser, gloves, and rubbish collection bags. It was a great morning, picking up garbage and meeting other Parks Victoria folks from the office followed by a wonderful lunch.

All equipped and ready to go!!

Did you know....

Top 5 rubbish items collected in VIC in 2009 were:

1. Cigarette Butts


2. Glass Alcoholic Beverage Bottles


3. Metal/Aluminium Alcoholic Beverage Cans


4. Plastic Chips & Confectionary wrappers


5. Glass pieces





over 60 city office, Bays and Waterways and Burnley staff to participate in a clean up of the Alexandra Gardens, Birrarung Marr and the Yarra River banks followed by a barbecue lunch.



Karen and I, collecting garbage...found lots of take-out soy sauce containers!!

The beautiful view of the city on the Yarra corridor

February 2010 - Conservation work on the Bay

Queenscliffe

A memorable experience was a project called the “Two Bays 2010”. This involves Pelican 1, a 62 foot catamaran, to conduct marine research, community engagement activities and provide opportunities for dialogue and information on key bay environmental themes. To participate, Brian and I drove to Queenscliff, a beautiful little historic harbour town, about 2hours away from the city. We stayed overnight at a beautiful historic property, which was the town’s first coffee shop and is now rehabilitated as a bed and breakfast.

View of Main St. in Queenscliff from Guest House

The Black Lighthouse at Queenscliffe - made from bluestone which is why it looks black and hence its name.

The next day we joined the crew on the Pelican along with marine biology MA students who were searching for an invasive starfish species, Parks Victoria staff who were also conducting marine and cultural heritage surveys, an indigenous community representative who was also interested in indigenous survey mapping, a bird expert conducting bird surveys, and members of the community, a family, who were interested in learning about the bays. Our mission was to head out to Mud Island which is a sanctuary for a diverse array of marine animals, plants and habitats and contains some indigenous artefacts. We were fortunate to participate in all of these activities and to see a large group of fur seals along the way who were resting on a structure called Chinaman’s Hut that is managed by Parks Victoria.

On the Catamaran with Parks Victoria's Mark Rodrigues who shares with us his extensive knowledge and passion for this protected marine area.

Chinaman’s Hut and young fur seals

Brian looking for invasive species – the non-native starfish

February 2010 - A Busy Month

February - A Busy Month!

Its hard to believe that we have been in Australia for three months already! My assignment at Parks Victoria is keeping me busy. Since my last entry I have had the opportunity to visit various historic places managed by Parks Victoria, participate in heritage management activities, and planning a heritage related session for the Healthy Parks, Healthy People Congress that is coming up in April.

February - Bush Fire Heritage Recovery

Bush Fire Heritage Recovery

In February 2009, devastating bushfires affected many areas across the State of Victoria, destroying vast areas of forest vegetation. I have been involved as part of a project team based out of the Yarra Valley Ranges Region in post fire Heritage Assessments in the Cambarville area which is located close to the township of Marysville who were completely devastated by fire and are now in the process of rebuilding their community.

The Cambarville reserve was partially affected by the fires and includes the Cumberland Memorial Scenic Reserve and associated sites related to the early European settlement, gold mining, saw milling and tourism activities.

Parks Victoria posts signs after bushfires warning park visitors of the potential hazards affecting how one experiences a forest after the fires.

Finding historic machinery in the forest and assessing what remains of Chalet Hubertus

One standing building, Chalet Hubertus, was destroyed and extensive areas of the forest were burnt exposing previously unknown pieces of historic machinery. I spent a day on-site doing the assessment with the project team and brought Brian along with me for the experience. It really made us realize the seriousness and impact of fire as a threat in the

state and when Black Saturday came around on Feb. 7th, we could really appreciate the struggles that individuals, families and communities were commemorating and still enduring on the first anniversary of the 2009 fires.