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November 2004
Darebin ParklandsAssociation Newsletter
Main Stream MelbourneScreenSound Australia’s Main StreamMelbourne video combines archivalfilms, amateur and newsreel footageand historic photographs to documentthe place of the Yarra River in our lives.At our next general meeting, onTuesday, November 30, we will viewedited highlights of this fascinatingvideo. The presentation will focus on ourpart of the Yarra River catchment,especially our very own Darebin Creek.The meeting starts at 8 pm, in theranger’s office. All welcome.
What a year!Fun, fun, fun – that seems to have beenthe DPA’s motto throughout 2004. At thestart of this year we decided to focus oninvolving children and families in theDPA, and this effort has well and trulypaid off. We already have almost 90new Junior Ranger members. Along withtheir families, these new youngstershave reinvigorated all of us with theirenergy. If you haven’t yet seen theJunior Rangers in action, I invite you toattend our next Park Care Day onNovember 21. Their enthusiasm andpersistence is really something to see!Another successful innovation in 2004was the introduction of a calendar ofcommunity events, including our nowlegendary bonfire nights and Catch-a-Carp Day.In between all the fun we also put in alot of hard work, cleaning up the parkafter the floods of last Christmas,
restoring and revegetating HiddenValley and planting beautiful wildflowersand shrubs around the main duck pond.We also helped with one of the biggestconstruction projects the park has seen,the Spiritual Healing Trail (see storypage 4).As this is the DPA’s last newsletter for2004, I would like to take thisopportunity to thank Peter, Rhys, Benand all the park staff for their supportthroughout the year. Also, the DPAcommittee – Sue Course, Monty Grover,Anthony Jones, Sue Kelly, Eve Recht,Isabelle Renaudin, Ingrid Svendsen andDavid Williams – for their efforts.I’d like to wish all of our members a safeand happy holiday season. We lookforward to your continued support in2005. If you haven’t yet re-joined, pleasetake a moment to fill out themembership form accompanying thisnewsletter.– Graeme Martin, DPA president
DPA Events 2004/2005November 21 Park Care Day 1–3 pmNovember 30 DPA quarterly meetingFebruary 22 AGM, 8 pm, ranger’s officeMay 15 Park Care Day 1 pm–3 pmMay 31 DPA quarterly meetingJune 19 Park Care Day 1 pm–3 pmAugust 30 DPA quarterly meetingSeptember 11 Park Care Day 1 pm–3pmNovember 29 DPA quarterly meeting
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Big changes – inside and outHello members,
We have been struggling to keep upwith our mowing regime and I apologisefor that. Our tractor slashing contractorshave not been available for the lastmonth for unknown reasons, which hasbeen frustrating from a parkmanagement prospective.Ironically these things happen in the onepart of the year you wish they didn’t.Moving on, I have been battling withpublic liability insurance, or more to thepoint, finding an underwriter that willinsure the DCMC Inc and the parklands.Insurance is a real issue fororganisations such as DCMC and theDPA. For a week or so it looked as if theDPA or any volunteer/s would be unableto work in the park because of the lackof insurance cover.We have resolved the insurance issuefor this year and we are currentlyinvestigating strategies for insurancewith council assistance for the comingyears.The official launch of the SpiritualHealing Trail is on November 12.You might notice that we have fittedplaques throughout the park, althoughvandals only took a week to rip out theMt Puffalo plaques. We used glue, nowwe will bolt them in!Darebin Council provided funds toconstruct the trail while Banyule Councilprovided funding for the trail brochureand map.Melbourne Water has committed torepairing the walking trail along thecreek just down stream of thefootbridge. Works on the trail willcontinue until the end of the year as weaim to make it accessible for as manypeople as possible.
We have completed several earthworkprojects including placing a powersupply around the picnic area and downinto the amphitheatre. We alsoconstructed and completed the earthstage and several landscape mounds inthe picnic area and one down along thebike path near Parklands Ave.Melbourne Water has told me that theywill start the works on Donaldson Creekand the Darebin Creek on the October25. Mind you I announced these sameworks this time last year in the DPAnewsletter.I have no news regarding the sharedtrial at this stage.Rhys and Katherine have been paintingthe Environment Centre to better suitvisitors, with colours representingdifferent themes such and geology,botany and water. It is hoped eventuallythat we will be able to host student studyarea with a dedicated computer andother resources.Thank you to everyone who came andenjoyed the bonfire on October 29, andespecially to all of the parents whohelped take the stress out of the night bysupervising their kids around the fire.Finally, Erin Roberts my trusty assistantof seven years has resigned from theparklands to raise her new daughterImogen and son Baily. I will miss Erin,as she was great fun to work with and aloyal employee of the DCMC.
Seeya in the Park
– Peter J. WiltshireRIC
Contact the DPAIdeas? Inquires? Contact us by email [email protected] call Graeme on 9499 3849.
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Kids 5, Carp 0The first ever Darebin Parklands Catch-a-Carp competition on October 23 was areal hit, with around 75 kids taking part.This National Water Week event aimedto promote fishing as a fun way toreduce carp numbers in the creek.The fish haul for day was a lower thanexpected. However, the five fish caughtwere mature, and potentially would havespawned many thousands of eggs eachover the next month. The competitionwas timed to happen just beforespawning.
The parents and kids had a great time.The first 50 children received free fishingrods and reels, courtesy of WaterWatch, which was a very happy surprisecourtesy of Ben Scullin, our local WaterWatch officer.The competition winner for the day wasKyle Wiltshire whose prize catchweighed more than two kilos.One of the important outcomes of theday was that many people now realisedthat they could actually going fishing inthe creek. If you want to fish in thecreek, here are some tips:• You need a fishing licence if you are
between 18 and 69 years of age• Use plain white bread for bait: just
make a ball on your hook.• If you do catch fish, please let Ben
know what size and where you
caught them. You can email Ben [email protected]
• If you do go fishing and catchanything other than a carp, such asan eel or tortoise, please cut the lineoff and let it go. Don’t try to removethe hook; it will rust away.
• Humanely kill carp and take themhome. I suggest that you bury themin the garden for compost.
After the success of this event, wereckon we will put another carpcompetition on the calendar next year.We would like to thank the twocompanies that supported the day:COMPLEAT ANGLER (387 FlindersLane, Melbourne), which provided therods and reels at a very reasonableprice and AUSSIE ANGLER (30Sherbourne Road, Greensborough),which provided the prizes.– Graeme Martin
Last Park Care Day for 2004!At the September Park Care Day weplanted wildflowers and shrubs aroundthe main duckpond. At the November21 Park Care Day we will plant seeds togrow seedlings for the park, and alsoprepare the lower part of the new biketrail for planting next year.Meet at 1 pm, at the ranger’s office.BYO gloves. Afternoon tea provided.
2004/2005 Park Care Days
Sunday, November 21, 1 pm – 3 pm
Sunday, May 15, 1 pm – 3 pmSunday, June 19, 1 pm – 3 pm
Sunday, September 11, 1 pm – 3 pm
Cut out and keep!
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Healing Trail launchedAs this edition of the newsletter went topress, Darebin Parklands’ SpiritualHealing Trail was due for its long-awaited official launch.
The Spiritual HealingTrail is a gift from theAboriginal and TorresStrait Islandercommunity as a gestureof reconciliation. It aims
to promote personal good healththrough improving our emotional andspiritual well being and a sense of beingconnected to the land where we reside,to others and most importantlyourselves.How does the trailwork? The SpiritualHealing Trail issimple. All you haveto do is follow themap and directions in the brochure toget from site to site, and allow theinstructions for each site to lead youthrough your healing journey.The beautifully illustrated trail leaflet isavailable from the new noticeboard atthe start of the trail, near the SmithStreet entrance to the park.
All work on the SpiritualHealing Trail has beenundertaken withapproval frommembers of thetraditional custodians of
the land, the Wurundjeri people,members of the local Aboriginalcommunity, members of the generalcommunity and the Darebin andBanyule councils, with guidance fromrangers of Darebin Parklands.The DPA is proud to have played a rolein making this exciting and uniqueproject happen.
Winners are grinners!Congratulations to the winners of theJunior Rangers’ end of year competition:Lily R, Isobel S, Alannah J, Joshua Band Alice B. These five lucky winnersget to go to the Junior Ranger camp out.
Welcome new Junior RangersWelcome to: Ruby D, Angus D, EleanorF, Callum F, Sara W, Dan W, Dion W,Ainslee W, Morgan MacE, GwilymMacE, Matilda H, Adelaide H, Cedar B,Issey B, Felix B, Patrick F-S, Nathan F-S, Emerson S, Paris S, Cassi J, GeorgiaJ, Jesse J, Giacomo B, Miro B, Zoe R,Morgan N, Billy W, Alexandria M,Cameron M and James P.Did we accidentally leave your name offthe list? Drop us a line [email protected] we’ll put your name in the nextedition.
New Junior Ranger cardsPaid-up Junior Rangers will receive their2005 membership cards at the firstevent next year. But please don’t throwaway this year’s card! Do theenvironment a favour and help the DPAsave money: keep the plastic cover sothat you can use it for your new card.
Help us stay in touchIf you are not receiving your DPAnewsletter by email and you would liketo, please send a blank email with “DPAnewsletter subscribe” in the subject line.If you have already asked us to emailyour newsletter but not received it, wemay not have your correct address.Each month we have a number ofemailed newsletters bounce, so you canhelp us stay in touch by sending us yourdetails.
