CANBERRA BUSHWALKING CLUB NEWSLETTER it Canberra Bushwalking Club Inc. GPO Box 160 Canberra ACT 2601 Volume 53 Number 10 www.canberrabushwalkingclub.org November 2017 GENERAL MEETING 7.30 pm Wednesday 15 November 2017 New Venue Weston Uniting Church 16 Parkinson Street, Weston A Trip to Antarctica and Patagonia Guest Speaker: Barbara Slotemaker de Bruine For years I have been fascinated by Shackleton's legendary Antarctic expedition in 1915, where he and his party were attempting to cross the Antarctic by foot - the first explorers to do so. They reached 74 degrees south only to become stuck in the ice and the subsequent journey of survival became legendary in itself. I travelled with Aurora Expeditions in January/February this year and also tacked on a 10 day trip to Patagonia. The trip travelled to Santiago, the Falklands, South Georgia and then on to the Antarctic Peninsula and Cape Horn before linking up with the Patagonia trek. The scenery was spectacular, with penguins, icebergs, wildlife and glaciers. My talk will take you on an armchair ride of this wonderful once in a life time trip. Contents All good in the CBC -President Reflections from a New Club Member Trip Report – Mount Annan CBC at Playfest – Walk Secretary CBC Christmas Party –advance notice CBC Committee contacts Membership Tassie Leeches Newsletter Contributions New PLB for CBC Training and Safety Tree Yoga Activity Program Editorial Collecting Percies Bulletin Board Broom Clearing - Conservation Geocaching and Bushwalking The Grand Canyon -Review of Oct meeting Canberra Bushwalking Club it November 2017 page 1 Committee News It’s all looking good in the CBC My first month on the job as President has been an exciting and enjoyable one. The new committee is working cohesively. The walking program is full of variety and adventure. Our it newsletter is packed with rich and interesting stories, superbly curated. Our new website is in final testing. Our monthly Club meetings are well attended and always share informative and inspiring experiences. Our membership continues to grow as people discover the joy of bushwalking. The spirit of our Club was shown in our recent Worn Boot Bash. This is an annual event and this year took walkers on a route in the southern Namadgi including 30km and a few hills. Walkers ranged in age and all completed the challenging trip tired, but smiling. Michael de Raadt President CBC stall at Playfest The Club was represented at Playfest on 24th October for the first time this year. Organised by the ACT Playgroups association, Playfest is an opportunity for clubs and other organisations to promote their programs to families with young children. An estimated 2000 to 3000 families attend each year. The Playfest venue in a park in Cook was a lively scene with dozens of stalls, colourful games set up for kids, and characters in costumes strolling through the crowds. Our modest table was fortunately located near to the petting zoo and by chatting to people in the queue for the zoo, I signed up 70 people who asked for more information by email. Four of them were among the families who turned up the following day at the Aranda Bushland Toddlers’ Toddle. I’m looking for volunteers who would be willing to lead one Toddlers Toddle a year in 2018, date of your choice – please let me know if you are interested. Linda Groom Walks Secretary and Family Activities Co-ordinator Club Membership The Club would like to welcome the one new member who joined the Club during Membership fees the month of October. Welcome Cheryl Smith. 2017/2018 Roger Edwards $33 per person Membership Secretary Canberra Bushwalking Club it November 2017 page 2 Committee News A New Personal Locator Beacon for the CBC Having given long and worthy service, the Club’s three existing Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) are being retired. The batteries in all three have expired, and the Club will not be replacing them. Instead, the Club has purchased one single new Australian-made KTI PLB. At 140g it is lighter than its predecessors in the Club and the battery is due to last for 10 years. It is easy to activate, and after activation the KTI can pinpoint your location to within three metres. As Training and Safety Officer, I will be the custodian of the new KTI PLB. It is available for loan to all Club members undertaking Club trips. Simply contact me on 0417 222 154 to arrange to borrow it. I do encourage all parties to have at least one PLB, if the party is heading beyond mobile phone coverage. With the start of November, and with the arrival of hot weather, it is always a good idea to have PLBs in the party. Heat stroke and dehydration are real risks in our increasingly hot springs and summers. I will present the new PLB at an upcoming meeting and further promote its use. David Dedenczuk Training and Safety Officer Some interesting things to read in this newsletter Welcome to the November 2017 edition of it. There is something for everyone in these pages, covering a wide range of interesting articles, a trip report, anecdotes, photos, personal reflections, committee news, upcoming conservation activity, a review of last month’s Club meeting, as well as a loaded Activity Program. In particular this newsletter features a sub-group in our Club who are avid collectors of geocaches and Percies – I have long wondered what makes them tick. Read on and find out from Jonathan Miller and David Lee. A special thank you to all Club members who contributed articles to this month’s edition, including Janet Duncan, Stan Marks, Jenny Horsfield, Matthew Higgins, Ming Ling, Jonathan Miller and David Lee. There are so many interesting things happening in our Club almost on a daily basis, and we are greatly privileged to have so many members willing to share their own experiences through this newsletter. Happy reading Meredith Hatherly Editor Canberra Bushwalking Club it November 2017 page 3 Committee News 25 Years of Protecting Namadgi from Invaders On 23rd November, the CBC will celebrate 25 years of helping ACT Parks to prevent an aggressive weed – English broom – from taking over the Upper Cotter adjacent to the Cotter Hut in Namadgi National Park. Since 1993, dozens of Club volunteers have contributed hundreds of hours to controlling the spread of this exotic invader into an important and pristine part of the park. When the broom control project began, the Cotter Hut area was badly infested with thousands of very large mature broom plants. The seeds of these plants can lay dormant in the soil for more than 20 years, so it was clear that this was going to be a long-term Group from the first year 1993 outside Cotter Hut partnership. Over the years, the CBC has been involved in mapping, removing and reporting on the broom infestation, including early trials of an award-winning ACT Parks app for reporting on the identification and treatment of invasive weeds called ARC Gis Collector. In a typical year, more than 1,000 plants have been detected and removed. These numbers became even bigger after the 2003 fires, which led to a renewed explosion of growth. Now, 25 years on, the number of broom plants in the area has been dramatically reduced, with annual broom clearing days held to contain and control it. Roger Edwards (regular participant from 1st to present The senior weeds broom clearing), John Thwaite (founder and office for ACT Parks coordinator for 20 years) and ACT Parks Ranger Ben Stevenson at the 20th clearing day recently described this as ‘an incredibly successful and important partnership.’ John Thwaite, the founder and coordinator of activities for 20 years, describes the experience as: “A very rewarding conservation project that achieved results through the combined efforts of lots of Club members. Revisiting the site annually and removing as many plants as possible each time has curtailed the spread of this very invasive plant. Without our Group at the 20th anniversary outside Cotter efforts this area would now be Hut completely overrun”. Volunteers will once again make the trek to the Cotter Hut this year, with a special overnight car camp and lunch planned to mark the occasion. Cynthia Burton Outgoing CBC Conservation Officer The Conservation Officer position for 2017-18 is still vacant. If you are interested in this position please contact the CBC Committee at [email protected] Canberra Bushwalking Club it November 2017 page 4 Review of October 2017 CBC Meeting The Grand Canyon – a talk by Rowan Peck I visited the Grand Canyon in 1977. I remember vividly walking from my hotel to the edge of the Canyon and staring in awe at the spectacle. I decided, being neither old nor fat at that stage, I would walk to the bottom of the Canyon and back up the next day but I didn’t make it. I didn’t get half way. It was with interest that I listened to Rowan Peck on the ‘Where, What, How and Why’ of the Grand Canyon. The where is in the NW quarter of the state of Arizona. Getting there hasn’t changed much from when I was there: the access point is Flagstaff, Arizona and tourists stay on the South Rim at Grand Canyon Village. And, as the US is slightly larger than Australia, it is a long way from anywhere. I presume that this is why there is little access from the north though you can get in that way if you are energetic enough. The Gorge is 277 miles long and between 4-18 miles wide with the Colorado River at the bottom.