Together with the usual action packed events calendar and some great reading courtesy of Bushcare Officers Lyndal and Jill and volunteer Bushcarer Lesley, this issue brings a fresh new face to Gecko for the New Year! Please let us know what you think of it – after all, it’s your newsletter and we value your feedback. All comments are welcome – go to www.bushcarebluemountains.org.au or ring Erin on 4780 5320.

Our feature story about the Popes Glen project made it in to the BM Gazette in November following a well organised and well attended Councillors’ briefing. The briefing was informative and enjoyable and both it and the project are a great testament to the joint effort by volunteers, Council staff and contractors alike. Well done to the Popes Glen project steering committee and to Emma Kennedy for the media release.

In September I had the wonderful experience of trekking “The Great Ocean Walk” along Victoria’s coast. It is a magnificent landscape and a highly recommended week-long walk. Sadly though, several areas it traverses are badly infected with Phytophthora. I was interested to see Parks Victoria’s excellent system of hygiene control – the boot cleaning stations are well positioned (almost unavoidable) and well designed. The hygiene control is backed up with clear, information in all the tourist brochures, maps and signage associated with the walk.

I left confident that I wasn’t bringing back any unwanted guests on my boots, but also made sure they were clean (I put them through the washing machine) and disinfected before I wore them again at home in the Blue Mountains. Not only are we privileged to live in one of the most spectacular world heritage areas in the country, so far we haven’t seen the damage Phytopthora can do. Seeing whole eucalypt communities dead or dying from the Phytopthora related dieback made me all the more determined to do all I can to stop the spread here. Once its on your Bushcare site, there’s nothing that can be done – so please, make sure your boots and tools are clean before you start your next Bushcare session.

Enjoy the Summer reading, and the Summer Bushcaring,

Monica Nugent