Atrocious weather on the east coast of NSW postponed many Clean Up Australia Day activities scheduled for Sunday 6 March. However, some great events did take place, in spite of the conditions and a brief synopsis follows.
Thank you to everyone who participated/will participate in the weeks and months that follow. Keep us posted and we will share your great achievements.
Western Paddlers (photos above)
Clean Up Australia Day was busy and productive for Western Paddlers NSW in Dubbo and Wellington on Sunday 6 March.
15 participants aged 10 to 70 years amassed 102kg of rubbish including a road barrier, inflatable dinghy, chair plus a whole lot of small plastic. The Macquarie, Wambuul River, Devils Hole and Wellington were targeted. It was a beautiful day on the rivers although it was overcast and rained briefly, spirits were never dampened. Members of the community were interested in the club and their industrious environmental activity and even shouted “well done” as they passed by.
Congratulations to all of you who assisted on the land and the water.
Kayak Share Club (photos above) postponed their “official” Clean Up Australia Day event to April due to the prevailing east coast bad weather. 2 keen paddlers persisted on 6 March however – determined to get out. Reviewing BOM and Windy from the comfort and warmth of their beds, they decided at 9:30am that there was a gap in the storm front from 10:00am.
They paddled from Hayes Street beach, around Kurraba Point to Shell Cove collecting rubbish on the way. They then did a detailed collection along the shoreline on the way back. Over the 7km, 7.2kg of rubbish was collected, including over 25 masks, 12 or more tops of sealant tubes and numerous polystyrene lumps. Other items included the usual food and sweet wrappers, cigarette butts, bottle tops, bottles, coffee cups, a plastic milk crate, a red plastic something, some fishing tackle, a bunch of party balloons, a shuttle cock, 9 balls, 4 packets of Durex and 2 babies dummies – what a mix!. Furthermore, many, many bits of plastic were unwound from tree branches.
The rain cleared for this clean up couple, but they did get wet from waves crashing over their kayaks on the way back around Kurraba Point in 35+km winds. They couldn’t use a spray skirt whilst having the rubbish between their legs! All good training for their next adventure though.
On arrival back at Hayes Street Beach, a young man was collecting rubbish from the high tide mark and reported picking up many masks. Everyone exchanged thanks on their joint clean up efforts, but unfortunately there will be another band of rubbish at Hayes street beach soon, brought in by the southerlies that always deposit rubbish at this beach. If only we could keep the rubbish off the streets and footpaths, it would make such a difference to the waterways.
Thank you both for your efforts.
LANE COVE RIVER KAYAKERS (photos above)
A massive 135kg of rubbish was collected by 20 paddlers on Sunday 13 March on Lane Cover River – from Fuller’s bridge to Sugarloaf. After the weeks of Sydney rain, the debris was atrocious and included crab pots, a big tyre, garden rake, plastic buckets, milk crates, a lot of small plastics and fishing line. 10 bags full were safely removed and it barely rained on our keen, clean up community – what a bonus!
Thank you all for clearing up such a lot of rubbish!