Greetings Swampcare People,

My current period of unemployment is going well I still haven’t decided what is next but I have had the opportunity to work with Aunty Sharyn and a number of other people and groups over the last few weeks. Whilst working with GAHAI I picked up a new nickname. The Dingo doesn’t cope very well in amongst people and Darbo is Gundungurra for strong black tea. So a few close friends now call me Dingo Darbo.

We start at 9am finishes at 12pm. Our goal at GTO and Garguree Swampcare to reconnect community and Country so please feel free to enjoy yourself as well as helping restoring Country.

The Gully, Garguree Swampcare, meeting point for this Sunday will be middle swamp enter the path from 23 Gates Avenue and head up until you see the BMCC work truck where Jane will be. If you drive please park in the cul de sac.

Under the guidance of Jane, you will be guided around the area to start the continual restoration of this weed heartland.Some of our plantings haven’t worked out that well, some of our plantings have been highly successful, some plants need to be found again and set free, some weeds are trying to overtake our plantings, there always seems to be a blackberry, some of our plants are standing strong, so over the next few workdays we will address this area.

Morning Tea from 11.30am until 12pm (We might go until 12.30pm). Our brilliant morning tea lady Sandy Holmes will be there once again supporting us with scrumptious delights.

We have an extra item this month thanks to all the brilliant work done over the years by everyone we have been honoured with the Indigenous Land Management award presented on site this Sunday. We will also be honoured by the presence of Chris O singing a brilliant song that was written about Country.

I will arrive around 9am after a Welcome to Country at Wentworth Falls and set up for 11.30am Morning Tea at the Heritage Centre (23 Gates Avenue).

We won’t have Ellen with us this month as Ellen has absconded to Uni at Geelong due to her artistic abilities plus all the free food. So you will have to put up with Dingo Darbo managing the table which is always a tough gig.

Thank You,

David King
The Tea Maker aka Dingo Darbo

Greetings this will occur at the end of our Weeding time from 9am to 11.30am around the middle swamp perimeter.

Garguree Swampcare in the regional “indigenous land management” category has been awarded “winner”.

Thanks everyone for all your hard work and dedication.

On June 4 we will be meeting in the middle swamp area which is passed Frogs Hollow (The Lake) and you will see the group on the left up the rise.

Photographic reflection of the Garguree Swampcare work day.

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You cannot beat the feeling of restoring Country. Thanks again Garguree swampcarers.

Join happy people like this bloke named Dave at Garguree Swampcare. BYO Cup and there will be some morning tea to go along with your cup as well as tea, chai. coffee and hot chocolate.

We are continuing the creation of a Bush Tucker Garden whilst addressing the weeds and runoff.There are still a few plants to plant and some watering to be done. There will be a campfire and time for a chat.

A relaxing morning free of stress and no direct pressure to work hard for 3 hours. Dave may looked stressed but Jane will be relaxed and Ellen will have the cuppas on. Rumour has it Kelsie Sarah will be visiting telling beautiful stories about her father Dave all of the stories will just be for laughs.

Reminder: Garguree Swampcare is on this Sunday coming May 7 from 9am to 12pm. Meeting place The Gully Heritage Centre 23 Gates Avenue Katoomba please park in the cul-de-sac. Back to normal regenerating from 9am to 11.15am then clean up and pack up with a cuppa and some morning tea from 11.30am to 12pm.

Just an update on some of the items around Garguree:

– The tyre and BBQ were removed by BMCC.
– If you spot that the second window is broken I have reported it and BMCC are fixing.
– If you spot BMCC changing the tap head it is because some local trades people and some people who are illegally camping have been using our water.
– I have reported the bin which is overflowing.
– I haven’t reported to dumped blue chair yet as I misplaced the photo. The chair is near the Garguree entrance from the pool.
– Thanks to Erin and Jane we will be getting some coir logs above the falls at Maple Grove. Some students from Sydney Coastal Walks planted 250 tubestock in the Maple Grove area and cleaned up a lot more rubbish for us. A big thanks to Shelley from KCC for getting this connection started.
– The drain problem above Katoomba Falls has been reported.
– The boggy track someone formed into the Gully now has sandstone rocks to try and stop them.
– The mulch is being laid out in preparation for one of our workdays towards then end of this year.
– I’m contemplating what to write to BMCC about our landslide issues.
– I have been checking all of our plantings and we are very successful.
– Thanks again everyone for your continued support and encouragement.

If you watched the infomercial (now deleted) Mothers Day is Sunday week May 14. I made a mistake and said it was this week, May 7, apologies about that.So no special events this Sunday just all of us, the weeds, the tubestock to plant and some tea.

If you are available to donate some time Saturday week (May13) we have a working bee at KCC from 9am to 5pm.
I can only stay until 12.30pm as I now have a date with both of my daughters they are taking me to the football for Mother’s Day which starts at 3pm in Penrith (I was informed yesterday).

Here is the registration URL as the working bee caters for lunch and we need to know the numbers

http://www.kcc.org.au/working-bees.html

Working this site enables us to close the loop between the ridge from KCC and Prince Henry Cliff Walk encompassing the work done at Birriban (Katoomba High).
It then connects to all the work Jenny Hill is doing in Leura Catchment. So we need to keep Shelley as the KCC Operations Manager for a long time.

Just an update on some of the items around Garguree:

– The tyre and BBQ were removed by BMCC.
– If you spot that the second window is broken I have reported it and BMCC are fixing.
– If you spot BMCC changing the tap head it is because some local trades people and some people who are illegally camping have been using our water.
– I have reported the bin which is overflowing.
– I haven’t reported to dumped blue chair yet as I misplaced the photo. The chair is near the Garguree entrance from the pool.
– Thanks to Erin and Jane we will be getting some coir logs above the falls at Maple Grove. Some students from Sydney Coastal Walks planted 250 tubestock in the Maple Grove area and cleaned up a lot more rubbish for us. A big thanks to Shelley from KCC for getting this connection started.
– The drain problem above Katoomba Falls has been reported.
– The mulch is being laid out in preparation for one of our workdays towards then end of this year.
– I’m contemplating what to write to BMCC about our landslide issues.
– I will post photos of a lot of the above.
– I have been checking all of our plantings and we are very successful.
– Thanks again everyone for your continued support and encouragement.

Hope to see many of you on Sunday May 7 which isn’t Mothers Day. Apparently my oldest daughter will be visiting us whatever Kelsie says about me I’m certain it will be incorrect.

David King
E-mailer and Tea Maker.