No: 91 NEWSLETTER October 2001

Sunday 7th October Mt. Hay, Riversliegh Sunday 14th October Farnborough Beach, Fishing Ck. Sunday 21st October Mt. Sleipner Weekend 27th & 28th October Wappamunga - Camp Weekend 3rd & 4th November Stony Ck.- Mt. Ganter Sunday 11th November Thozet Catchment Area Sunday 18th November Canal Creek - Picnic, Canoeing Sunday 25th November Struck Oil, Mt. Morgan Sunday 2nd December Moore’s Creek Saturday 8th December Zilzie to Emu Park Sunday 9th December General Meeting Weekend 15th & 16th December Xmas Break-up Saturday 29th December Recycle Movie Star Night Weekend 19th & 20th January Kroombit Tops Saturday 26th January Great Aussie Charity Bush Dance Weekend 26th to 28th January Great Keppel Island

PROGRAM DETAILS

Closing date for nominations normally several days prior to the walk. Some walks may have a limit on numbers per group. If you require transport it is doubly important to nominate well in advance. If travelling with someone else it is common courtesy to pay your share. Walk Legend D/W Day Walk T/W Through Walk or Car Shuttle required. O/N Overnighter H/W Half Day Walk 4WD Access by 4WD only! X/T Extended Trip TRN Training B/C Base Camp N/F No Facilities / No Water, Showers or Toilets. SOC Social

Walk Grading Fitness Distance Terrain (select 2 or 3) E Easy. Suitable for Beginners. A Less than 5 km 1 Trail / Graded Track Moderate. Reasonable fitness B 5 to 10 km 2 Off-track / Cross-Country M required. C 10 to 15 km 3 Not Pre-Walked H Hard. Fit walkers only. L 15 to 20 km 4 Minor scrub X Over 20 km(same day) 5 Medium or Heavy Vegetation Total uphill sections 6 Creeks / Rock hopping Alt Expressed in meters 7 Steep scrambles

Date: 7 October Location: Mt. Hay, Riversliegh Type: SOC Social Organiser: Sharyn Come along and dig up a thunder egg at Mt. Hay and join us for lunch at Riversliegh.

Date: 14 October Location: Farnborough Beach, Fishing Ck. Type: D/W T/W M L 2 Walk Leader: John Good scenery. Walk from Capricorn International Resort to Cario Bay and then up Fishing Creek. Beach walk, soft sand, water crossings and some mud.

Date: 21 October Location: Mt. Sleipner Type: D/W M A 47 Alt 540 Walk Leader: Richard A walk for the energetic.

Date: 27 & 28 October Location: Wappamunga Type: SOC Social Organiser: Ron The president’s big “ 5-0”. Camp overnight, swimming and canoeing.

Date: 3 & 4 November Location: Stony Creek Type: B/C O/N E B 24 Alt 220 Walk Leader: John Introductory to camping and moderate hill climbs, this is an enjoyable walk for those wanting to try off-track walking. A chance of swim at lunch time.

Date: 4 November Location: Mt. Ganter Type: D/W H B 46 Alt 580 Walk Leader: Richard Get good views of the Byfield area from the top of Mt. Ganter. For those looking for an easier walk we will walk the first part of this walk up the creek, an introductory to creek walking and rock hopping. Date: 11 November Location: Thozet Range Type: T/W H/W M A 24 Alt 380 Walk Leader: Jeff An early morning crest walk up Mt Birkbeck, then down the northern ridge (5 small hills) of the Thozet Creek catchment area with a Birdseye view of the northeastern part of our city towards the end of the walk.

Date: 18 November Location: Canal Creek Type: SOC Social Organiser: Roslyn BYO picnic, a quite day swimming, canoeing or just doing nothing.

Date: 25 November Location: Struck Oil, Mt. Morgan Type: D/W M B 2346 Alt 100 Walk Leader: Bevan Donny’s Walk, a memorial walk for one of our club founders. Gold coin donation.

Date: 2 December Location: Moore’s Creek Type: H/W E B 14 Walk Leader: Bevan An easy creek walk.

Date: 8 December Location: Zilzie to Emu Park Type: H/W E B 6 Walk Leader: Jane Walk along beaches from Zilzie to Emu Park and join us for lunch at the Pine Beach Hotel. Meet at Zilzie boat ramp at 7:45 am.

Date: 9 December Location: Kershaw Gardens Type: General Meeting Meet at Knight St. carpark at 12:30pm for lunch with meeting commencing at 2:00pm.

Date: 15 & 16 December Location: Hedlow Creek Type: B/C SOC Xmas Break-up Social Organiser: Dot Come along and join in our annual club Xmas break-up party.

Date: 29 December Location: Recycle Movie Star Night Type: SOC Social Organiser: Maxine BBQ tea - $5.00 a head, come along dressed as a recycled movie star, games, dances, BYO drinks and chairs.

Date: 19 & 20 January Location: Kroombit Tops Type: B/C 4WD X/T N/F M C 2467 Trip Leader: John Escape the summer heat to a Kroombit Tops base camp. There are some challenging walks, swimming and great scenery in this area. Drivers require their own forest access permits! Please take all drinking water. Nominations close 13 January 2002.

Date: 26 January Location: Great Aussie Charity Bushdance Type: SOC Social Organiser: Shirley Social Bushdance promoted by Jacana Bushdancers Capricornia Inc. Get a group together and come along, and have a good nights fun.

Date: 26 to 27 January Location: Great Keppel Island Type: D/W O/N SOC M C 136 Walk Leader: Dot John This weekend is a preparation outing for the annual clubs meeting to be held on May long weekend. All are invited to come along for the weekend and help plan our walks and entertainment for the May weekend. Should be a good fun weekend as it will not be all work. Nominations for this weekend will need to be in by 13th January.

For further details of walks itinery please contact [email protected] PRESIDENT’s REPORT AUGUST 2001

It is hard to believe that another year has passed us by – in my last report we were preparing for the Cooktown trip, which is now almost twelve months behind us & now the time to visit Carnarvon is almost here. I hope the people participating this year have as much fun as we have on the annual trips in past years. The last year has again had a good variety of walks and social events on offer – some say too many social events and not enough walks but this has been a very popular year for BIG birthdays. Next year surely must taper off a little! We have made use of all our favourite places – Woolwash, Berserkers, Belgamba area, Blackdown, Byfield, the beaches, Mt Hedlow area, etc. Something new to most of us was a most enjoyable weekend at Stanage Bay, which we all say must be repeated and preferably for a long weekend next time. Another popular first for the club was the ladies only through walk which I have to claim as my idea – us ladies endured much hardship for two days and one hard night but I think I heard one or two mutter that we should try it again to see if we can improve on it. I think the men’s only through walk was a little easier on them?

The May Day weekend held at Gin Gin by the Bundaberg Bushwalking Club was very well run and much enjoyed by all who attended. It is our turn next year and plans are under way – I encourage all who can to get involved in this event as it is well worth it – plus we need you!

The early part of the year brought sadness with the deaths of Wes March and Donny McDonald. Donny celebrated his 85th birthday with us at our meeting on 3rd December 2000 and even sang a song for us. He was delighted with a little gift of photos taken at the Woolwash in October, and of course we had a cake for him. Two of our members Peter Hallinan and Jim Beyers lost their wives in tragic circumstances, later in the year a past member Susan Sorensen also lost her partner suddenly.

An incident at Easter reminded us all that it is very important to keep up our Ambulance cover! Alan Collett found he was in good hands at the time of his emergency and has survived to walk another day. Get-well wishes should also go out to our other accident victim – Leigh who broke her ankle, and I think one or two other walkers had ankle injuries on the same day! June has also had health problems, Bevan his rocks, Jane her toe – I can’t go on – the list is too long! Forgive me if I have forgotten anybody. (Maxine’s toenail?)

Some hard effort was put into a grading system for our walks, and it seems to be working quite well even though some of us don’t bother to read just how high we are going to be trying to climb! Thanks to John, Jeff, Craig and Ian for their work on that one. Once again thank you to all our walk leaders, office bearers, social committee and most importantly the newsletter people and all of you who write reports for the newsletter. Thank you all for your support over the past twelve months.

Dot Svendsen Memories of Girt Island Sunday afternoon 19 August 2001

A string of 48 people and two dogs Tide out Miles of wet sand Early-spring afternoon High spirits Laughter and reminiscing Gentle sea breeze Sea eagle’s nest with chick Wood swallows arrowing No sandflies Wet joggers Pleasant walk Smoke from fire on mainland Cool water Family get-together No worries Walking for a cause. Girt Island

Barbara Howard

Moore’s Creek Walk

It was a walk that I didn’t think I was going to be able to lead after doing a pre walk with Merv and Dave the day before. The knee had swelled up and with little movement and much of the right leg, what should have been an easy walk turned into a marathon. An early morning rising and the knee felt much better, at least the pain had subsided so I decided I was not going to miss out on a walk I hadn’t done before, at least I had all day to make it back to the top of Mt. Archer.

Six of us, all male witch made for some interesting conversations along the way, made our way down the walking track towards Moore’s Creek. We stopped for smoko in the usual spot at the first crossing. From there we made our way upstream negotiating the winding rocky creek-bed, the surrounding vegetation changed from the semi-rainforest scrub to open woodland further up the creek. We made good time in the lower section of the creek with it being easy going all the way, however the further we proceeded up the creek the more the lantana started to close in on the narrower gullies. We stopped for lunch and decided it was time to leave the creek-bed, we had made to within a couple of hundred metres of the source so was happy we had pretty well reached the objective of traversing the top end of the creek. We scrambled up the last few hundred metres to the ridge and made our way back to the top of Mt. Archer. The knee had settled down quite nicely with the exercise witch made yet another great day in the bush.

JH Upper Boyne River and Mt. Jacob Gold Mine Capricornia and Gladstone Clubs Combined Campout 31 March – 1 April

Saturday morning saw 19 Happy Campers assembled and moving off in a convoy of 12 vehicles at the appointed hour from Miram Vale. Howard and Joanne had already established the camp facilities including fireplace, pit toilet and shower at the campsite beside Oaky Creek on private property just off Blackman”s Gap Road. With plenty of good sites from which to choose and no hurry to get moving we were able to set up our cams in a leisurely manner. All manner of abodes appeared ranging from very comfortable through the utilitarian to rather makeshift arrangements. There were some (who shall remain nameless) who considered that a giant refrigerator and a hammock provided only the basic level of comfort. The only clue to his identity is that he also took his rocking chair on the last campout! I think he must be getting soft.

After an early lunch a group assembled into three 4WD’s drove for about an hour crossing the Bobby Range and the Boyne River at Flat Rock Crossing to walk down into a tributary creek. We scrambled down into the first creek surrounded by rainforest, walked downstream along the creek bed and then followed a side branch climbing back up to the vehicles. While both creeks were dry there was one deep plunge pool which one walker decided to take literally and did! He too shall remain nameless as only a short time before he was heard to say that he was a non-swimmer and had no intention of going in the water! This called for a rest for all of us. Time to observe the rainforest pocket surrounding us with its great variety of vegetation species. Returning to the camp we stopped briefly at Flat Rock Crossing so that at couple of the hardier types could indulge themselves with a dip in the murky water.

Back at the campsite another 5 campers had joined us. Happy hour was decreed. Our relaxation was terminated abruptly by a brief rain shower, after which we set about the serious business of cooking. Well some of us did. The meal arrangements were as varied as the accommodation ranging from campfire cooking through simply prepared meals to fully pre-cooked, ready-to-serve. For some it was early to bed for others campfire story telling (someone should have told Bevan that it was not yet April Fools Day). Meanwhile the Frogging Foursome following the source of the water eventually arrived at the shower – occupied at the time. A blissfully quiet night made for a good sleep. Sounds of movement about 5.30am, with most of the camp astir by 6 o’clock, leaving plenty of time for breakfast with the trimmings before our 8am departure. A 5km drive brought us to our departure point on a ridge top above the Boyne River. Down a steep track and along a dry creek bed to join the Boyne River, we were soon overwhelmed by lantana and other feral vegetation. The Boyne was now reduced to a series of stagnant waterholes. We had come to visit the Mt Jacob Goldmine workings dating from the 1890’s. A short exploratory excursion from our smoko stop soon revealed a couple of old mineshafts we had not previously found.

Reaching the main workings in late morning we parked ourselves among the remnants of the workings – a tramway, steam boiler, a steam engine, parts of a stamping battery and numerous other artefacts. Fascinating yet melancholy. To sit and ponder the thriving community which ones worked here in search of an illusive wealth – drilling, blasting, mucking out, digging, pumping, stamping and slushing. Today the only sounds were those of the birds in the bush surrounding us, the bush itself reclaiming the benches, tramways, machinery and the memories. Armed with torches some members of the group engaged in deeper exploration but none progressed too far as the shafts had either collapsed or were water filled. Lunch was a leisurely affair before the return trip by the same route.

Due to the low water levels in the waterholes we could clearly see abandoned bits of mining machinery lying on the bottom of some pools. Despite the lack of water Howard and a few others still found a pleasant swimming hole for their obligatory dip. Then it was back to the campsite to strike camp, tidy up, and say our farewells. Manny thanks to Howard and Joanne for another great weekend with some historical interest as well as the joy of just being in the bush.

Neville Gersch

Treat water with caution

The temperature of the water and the presence of other organic matter are important factors when determining the amount of iodine and the contact time to destroy the pathogens. The normal dilution is 1mL of Betadine Antiseptic solution to every litre of water. It is preferable that the 1mL is measured with a suitable graduated measure or dropper. Once the Iodine Antiseptic solution has been added to the water, it should be allowed to stand for a minimum of 1 hour before drinking (the longer the better). If the water is cold i.e. mountain stream then it should be left over night. Water that is cloudy or appears to be heavily contaminated 2ml of Betadine Iodine Antiseptic solution should be added to each litre of water and again left for as long as possible.

Naturally, boiling water or using a high-grade micron filter to extract drink water will just be as effective producing good drink water. Alternatively, using a combination of filter plus iodine treatment would be a very save and lightweight option for long walks, particularly when walking in the tropics.

Jeff Aust Momentous Meandering Milestone

To all the doubting Thomas’s – it has now been proven – we are women – we are invincible – we can set out on a Bushwalk and not become geographically embarrassed, ahem… On a cloudy and coolish morn – seven of we “game birds” met at Woppa Munga and entrusted our selves to the capable care of Leader Dot.

From there we set off across fields – scoring man – made roads! We enjoyed smoko under the gum trees at Serpentine Cattle yards, much to the amusement of the assorted cattle eying us from the other side of the fence. Onwards we trekked until we crossed over a break in Hedlow Creek, which we followed for some time, enjoying easy walking and companionship and the ever-inquisitive attention of the herds of cattle along the way.

Lunch was savoured under a sprawling tree beside the creek whilst we pondered and discussed some of life’s most perplexing topics. Reluctantly, we gathered our bits and pieces and ourselves and “walking in 5!” Onward we sallied, ever mindful of keeping the creek on our left. Further along…, ‘ullo, ‘ullo, wot’s this? The creek’s on our right, huh? How’d that happen??? Never mind, we’ll just backtrack a’ ways.

Came upon a fallen log in the water with a carcass of some poor critter hooked over it, “nothing else for it”, says Leader Dot, “but run across the log, step on the carcass and jump to the other side of the creek. “Yeah, right! You first Dot. So – we continued until we came to another break in the creek – the water level is quite low in places.

By 3pm our objective was in view and before we knew it we were inspecting and choosing our bunks for the night. Talk about doing it tuff! The cabins at Henderson Park are a dream, so comfy, clean, modern and well equipped. Owners David and Marie Barrett have missed nothing, right down to outside BBQ’s, fireplaces, canoes and a brekky basket – no less! My, how these walks have progressed since my first, back in ol’ 88!

After such an arduous day, we were all keen to rest up (I think we all just wanted to try out the beds!) Things were very quiet for an hour or so. David came by to see how we had settled in and insisted on lighting a campfire, which he had roaring in no time. A couple of lazy hours were spend around that, while we enjoyed nibblies, and I have to admit, male presence was missed – briefly – when trouble struck trying to open a bottle of wine. Ingenuity prevailed and we were able to have our wee drinkie. Reluctantly, we left our fire to have tea, which most of us only needed to heat up. We ended the evening with all of us crammed into the one cabin and having a cuppa.

We had an unhurried start on Sunday, mostly rising about 7.30 (and there’s no truth to the rumour that anything kinky was going on when were seen four to a bed in one cabin! Just wanted to show how wonderfully comfy the mattress was – true!)

Would you believe, we had to cook our own brekkie? Which we did over the open fire, the sausages, tomatoes and eggs provided by our hosts were a great way to start the day; sitting by the creek with Rocky Cone, etc… in the background. Listening to Fay’s account of her adventures on the Outward Bound Course and her daring do’s filled us with awe. Almost made me feel I ought to at least do a bit more tougher walking!

But…, all good things come to an end and we had to pack up and head down to the canoes. We were going to paddle across from where we were and walk back towards Mt. Hedlow. Can you picture it – 8 ladies, 2 canoes, and only 3 of us could paddle (and me afraid of water!), not to mention those of us who can’t swim!!! Oh boy! Three ladies volunteered to go first (we won’t let on here who almost capsized the craft and shipped water, will we?)

By this time, David and Marie arrived, ostensibly to retrieve the canoes from the other side of the bank. They could hardly do anything for laughing and David commented something along the lines that he thought a group of school kids were a worry but that we took the cake. Not too sure what he meant by that, really. David kindly took the rest of us across the creek and we could hear him chuckling to himself as he paddled back hat we had made his day, so that was nice.

The walk back was fairly uneventful and leisurely. Although it was very overcast I seemed to be the only one a few spots of rain fell on (or was it a passing bird?) A well-deserved lunch break by the banks of Lake Mary followed by a short siesta was the order of the day. Fay once more regaled us with a tale of how poor Garth was left behind on one of their trips, not funny to them at the time, I’m sure. Before setting off, we lightened a couple of trees of bush lemons, mindful of the fact that we would have to carry extra weight in our packs. Then – SHOCK – GASP! A hill we had to climb to gain access to Dot and Ron’s property, leaving behind lovely Lake Mary. Oh Dottie, you’ve forever spoiled us for any future walks. BUT WE HAD A BEAUT TIME. And be warned David and Marie..…WE’LL BE BACK!

Thank you so much, Dot, it was a tonic to the frazzled nerves to have such a laid back weekend. A big thanks you to Ron for picking up our extra baggage and taking it to the cabins. BLESS YA, luv.

Maxine Maunder

LAKE STEVENS WEEKEND

The group met at the turnoff from Woodbury Rd. to Byfield Rd., seven of us in all ready for the weekends planned bushwalking activities. We proceeded on to Lake Stevens and readied ourselves for the days walking. The first part of the walk took us around the edge of the lagoon and then through a patch of paper bark tee tree that had never been cleared, good to see so much natural timber. We crawled through the boundary fence into forestry country where we stopped for smoko.

With our appetites settled we made our way through wattle and bottlebrush scrub to the base of the hill to be climbed. The going was reasonably easy with the vegetation not to thick; we made the 238-metre summit in good time. The top of these couple of hills yielded some nice rock outcrops and great views of the surrounding forest areas. Lunch on top of one of these rock outcrops was very pleasant with a breeze to cool us down The northern end of the ridge was an easy decent to a forestry track that led back around the base of the hill to where a slightly different trail was taken back to the camp. Back on private land we walked through a stand of banksias that had finished flowering about a month before, the flower heads were some six to nine inches in length and up to three to four inches in diameter which attested to the plants being very healthy and would have been good to see in full bloom. Three more of our bushwalkers turned up for the evening and a quite night around the campfire under the stars finished a perfect days bushwalking. Next morning brought on another beautiful day for us to enjoy, Merv joined us for the day as we set out once again around the lagoon to the foot of The Blue Knobs. We made our way up the ridge pushing on through an increasing amount of scrub, amazing I couldn’t remember it being that thick the last time I was up there. We stopped for smoko just short of the summit on a rock outcrop with a view back towards Yeppoon and the Keppel Islands.

After our smoko break we made the last fifty metres to the top, no views so we kept going, taking a south, south easterly path down the steep side of the hill to a saddle that was to take us up the ridge to Mt. Steven. The going was much easier with little scrub, unlike what we had just came through, however the ridge closed into a line of rock outcrops with more and more scrub covering the closer we got to the top. One of our walkers had a fall negotiating some of the rock, which left him with a few good scratches and bruises and a bit of blood just to make it look a bit better (he tried to tell us his wife bashed him up). The going ahead to the top of Mt. Steven was covered in scrub and on viewing the short heath in the path of our decent and that was only for twenty feet before it dropped away in small cliffs, it wasn’t hard to decide that we were running out of time and with one injured walker it was time to turn back and take the more easy path back down the ridge we had just come up. We made our way down the ridge to emerge into natural untouched open forest country, making our way back around the base of The Blue Knobs, with Merv trying out his new toy to see if it would get us back to the waypoint on the lagoon he had saved earlier in the morning. It actually worked with Merv happy with his investment in technology, so only a short walk around the lagoon to the campsite.

Sadly to say that it was time to pack up and head for home after another great weekends camping and walking in the Australian scrub. JH

Donny Macdonald

22 November 1915 - 3 April 2001

In 1978 Peter Lutton and I were returning from a pre-walk of Bouldercombe Falls when we started chatting with some of the Bouldercombe locals. We explained how we were setting up the new Bushwalkers Club in Rockhampton and were looking for places to go bushwalking. Their immediate response was: "TheThe man you need is Donny MacdonaldMacdonald". They gave us directions to his home and so we drove up the mountain and called in on him. Donny was pleased to be included in the starting of a Bushwalking club in the district.

From then and for many years Donny lead all walks for the club in this wonderful part of the world that he loved so much. Bouldercombe Falls, Belgamba, Struck Oil, Plumtree Falls, Archer's Plaque, Mt Dovecott, St Mary's Falls, Mt Warner, the Dee Range, and Mt Hopeful. He also planned and led thru-walks. There was his classic 2-day or preferably 3-day thru walk from Mt Hopeful down the headwaters of Raspberry Creek, camping overnite at Mt Hoopbound, and via the blue holes of Capella Creek to emerge at the Fletchers Creek weir. A magnificent trek thru some wild and very scenic country.

Donny always put a lot of thought into planning his walks and was very inventive in how to cover the same country via a different route for the benefit of those who might have been on that walk before. He was a bit like "Uncle Arch" of Bill Scott fame - he had a fertile mind and used it well to make every walk interesting for those involved. And it was his intimate knowledge of the bush that was so great. (Map & compass story) Anyone can lead a Club Bushwalk. Many of us here have done that quite a lot. But what intrigued the rest of us was the sheer popularity of Donny's walks. While most of us would have a day-walk with the average numbers of about 15 or 20, the number of people who would turn up on a Donny walk would be 30 or 40 or more. The Club’s record for the highest number of people ever, on a bushwalk was set by Donny when 67 people turned up. I am sure that record will remain unbroken forever, as even Donny himself admitted afterwards that it was a few too many.

Now it did not go unnoticed that there was sometimes a bit of gender imbalance with the numbers on a Donny Bushwalk. As we all know, he was very good at looking after the girls, and he was such a gentleman that the girls all appreciated it. But, I must say, he was also good at looking after all-comers on a bushwalk particularly those who were there for the first time.

Anyway Donny's efforts and contribution to the club were recognised when on 13 Feb 1983 the club awarded him with Honorary Life Membership, the first person to receive such an award.

His trademark stance was leaning on that old staff of his, while we stopped for a breather halfway up some never-ending climb up a mountain, and telling us the history of that hillside, and how some gold nuggets were found in that creek over there, and how he had once held them in the palm of his hand. He would tell us how high the floods of 1928 ran down that river sweeping away a farmer and his family, or how, in his earlier days he used to cut timber in Nine Mile Creek valley during the week and after walking all the way home on Friday night would hop on his bicycle and go down to Bouldercombe for the dance. On other walks he would describe such things as how the termites always build a nest on the North-West side of a tree, or where the various types of wallabies preferred to live.

His other trademark stance was when he had finished boiling the billy for morning smoko and was going around the group offering a cup of tea to everyone, and he would get as far as that pretty young girl who had turned up on her first bushwalk. Donny would strike up a long conversation with her to make her feel welcome. After a while one of us would have to rescue the billy from him so the rest of us could drink some tea.

And then on the weekend trips, around the campfire Donny would always add to the entertainment, usually with a song or two. As well as being trip leader for the Mount Morgan area, Donny was also an active and valuable participant in many other club bushwalks. Club trips to Blackdown Tableland, Carnarvon, Mt Moffatt, Salvator-Rosa, Cape Upstart, Cunningham's Gap and Lamington were all enriched by Donny's enthusiasm for visiting new places with a like-minded group. He would marvel at how the same tree species that he knew from here would grow to a totally different habit in other climates. For example the humble Brush Box would be a superb forest giant in Lamington. (Mt Moffatt - fire starting in the floods)

In 1988 Donny received another official recognition with the Queensland Recreation Council giving him an award for his services to the club and the community.

After Cathy and I moved to Belgamba we set about getting rid of the lantana, and to help us we often had groups of young Conservation Volunteers staying for a week at a time. We always invited Donny up to meet them, and then for a barbecue on the evening before they left. Donny was keen on meeting young people from all parts of the world and was genuinely interested in hearing of their countries of origin, and the stories of their travels. Around the campfire Donny would entertain them with tales of his cricketing or wood chopping prowess, and maybe a song or two. A number of them continued corresponding with him with Xmas cards and letters right up until the present. We remember one group who were gathered around the campfire on their last nite and Donny had turned up with some chocolates as gifts for the volunteers, but somehow there happened to be only enough chocolates for all the girls.

Donny's contribution to the Capricornia Bushwalkers Club was twofold. Firstly there was his leadership and participation on countless trips, and secondly he had a big influence on the character and nature of the club particularly during its formative years. He made sure that people, especially newcomers, were properly looked after and made to feel welcome, and ensured that all the female members were not forgotten. (Quote from Mar 82 Newsletter, trip report of Plumtree Falls walk on 15 Feb, by Beryl Kane:- "Well, our first day walk for the year started with a record of 41 and to start the day right, Frances made and presented to our leader, Don, a St. Valentines Day card signed by his various female fans. We noted it was placed in his shirt, top left hand side. . .") moods. He may not have known all the trees by their scientific names, like Dianne Hoy does, but he knew them just same. He knew what trees were good for a fire or a fence post, or making a walking stick, or which ones might blunt an axe.

In addition to his part in the Bushwalkers Club, Donny has a special significance for Cathy and me. Of course we would not have come to Belgamba if we had not met Donny. With his stories and rich history of the earlier days in the district we have come to greatly appreciate the mountains and forests, the scrubby creeks and rocky gullies, and the long range views from hilltop lookouts that Donny so loved and was happy to call his home all around him.

While Donny is no longer with us, his name will live on as we have named the cliffs up on tabletop at Belgamba: "Donny'sDonny's LookoutLookout", because that was one of his favourite spots that he always took us to on a Bouldercombe Falls or Belgamba day walk.

We have all enjoyed your company greatly, Donny, and will miss you.

Ian Herbert

CAPRICORNIA BUSHWALKERS INC – MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

To: The Treasurer Capricornia Bushwalkers Inc PO Box 1130 ROCKHAMPTON Qld. 4700 I wish to apply for membership of Capricornia Bushwalkers Inc.

NAME(S) ______POSTAL ADDRESS ______

Number of members included in this application form: ______Phone (home) ______(work) ______Signed ______Date ______

FEES – either Individual/Family membership $13 or Student/Pensioner membership - $7 $______plus Insurance @ $5 per person $______TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED $______

NOTE: Insurance is compulsory; therefore the Total Fee is $18 for one person, $23 for two, $28 for three, etc. Minimum fee for Student/Pensioner is $12.

Our Internet page: www.geocities.com/capbushwalkers Our Editors e-mail: [email protected] [email protected] The Secretary’s mail: PO. Box 1130, Rockhampton 4700 The Secretary’s e-mail: [email protected]