Our scheduled tramp for today was Coalgate Forest – Frew’s Farm. However, the farm was inundated with over 300mm of rain in a recent storm and conditions were very muddy for walking. The Club offered to hold a clean-up working bee on the farm instead of doing the normal tramp and this offer was very gratefully accepted. Evan Frew and his family have been very supportive of the Club over a number of years and generally walk with us when we tramp across their farm Waeka which is next to the Coalgate Forest.
It was dull and cloudy when we departed on the bus from Bishopdale with our driver Alan. After picking up the rest of our crew at Yaldhurst, we had 49 eager volunteers on board including three visitors. The bus picked up Evan at Darfield and we continued on to the farm where we were introduced to the Farm Manager, Andy Keating. He gave an overview of what they would like us to do which was basically a farm fence clean-up.
There was a lot of debris in their fences from where the Selwyn River had come through across their farm and we needed to clear all the fence wires of this debris. There had been so much water pressure that fences were collapsed in places.
Everyone got stuck in with enthusiasm. It’s certainly true that many hands make light work. We started at 10am and had a quick break for morning tea at 10.45am before continuing on until 12 noon when we stopped for lunch. Our packs containing our lunches were delivered by the farm ute, so we didn’t have to walk back to where we left them at morning tea which everyone appreciated. The sun had come out and it turned into a pleasant day especially after the polar blast we had experienced the day before.
We were back on the job by 12.30pm and we had all the fences cleaned up to be back in the farm yard by 2pm. Tractors worked away shifting flood debris around and a digger will be needed for the hard stuff but overall the fences looked very clean compared to when we arrived. Hopefully the fences will now be easier to fix where the posts were broken and the wiring collapsed.
Evan and Andy kindly put on a BBQ and some drinks in appreciation for our assistance. Jan our President said a few words thanking them and Andy responded thanking everyone for the work they had done as it was a great help to them. Txt by Judy R.
