On a cold but sunny winter’s morning in Port Macquarie, volunteers from Sea Acres Rainforest Centre joined the Friends of Kooloonbung for a guided tour of the wonderful Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park.
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The groups have many members with common interests. Among the group were bushwalkers, birdwatchers, plant enthusiasts and animal-lovers.
All have a love for the environment and enjoy volunteering outdoors whether tour guiding on the boardwalk at Sea Acres or regenerating the bushland at Kooloonbung.
The groups met to complete the Circuit 1 and 2 walks, and discuss issues relevant to all environmental volunteers in the Port Macquarie area.
Topics included urban pressures such as litter, pollution, roaming domestic pets, invasive weeds and loss of wildlife habitat.
It was good to hear the conservation and management of the site has really paid off in the past 30 years. Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park is now more accessible to ever increasing numbers of interested tourists and residents.
Sea Acres Rainforest Centre is managed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, with volunteer tour guides on site.
It is near the coast, at Shelly Beach, and provides rainforest tours on a 1.3km boardwalk daily between 9am and 4.30pm.
Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park is managed by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, with Friends of Kooloonbung volunteers engaged in most of the bush regeneration tasks. It is close to the CBD and has free access to all the walking trails at all times of the day and night. Guided tours are available by appointment, and there is a new self-guide app.
Friend of Kooloonbung and creator of the app, Michael Eddy said visitors can use their smartphones to access the izi.TRAVEL app. It provides information, photographs and audio commentary of features in the park as you walk around the 4.4km trail. So, even if you don’t have a knowledgeable local guide on hand, you can still have the full tour experience.
Jane Stevenson, an administration volunteer at Sea Acres Rainforest Centre, had not visited Kooloonbung Creek Nature Park before but said she enjoyed the experience and will take the family back there when they visit from interstate.
Friends of Kooloonbung are always looking for new volunteers, and at the moment a dedicated graffiti buster is needed. The main team has a work-bee on Monday mornings from 8.15am until noon, with morning tea at 10am. If you would like to join this friendly team, please call Rex on 0429 680 131.
