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Posted by: FWDQLD on Sep 29, 2007 - 03:50 AM
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Fraser Island - long known as a mecca for travellers from all over Australia, not to mention the backpackers. But for South East Queenslanders it is our backyard. Many of us here in the bottom corner of heaven try to get over to the island whenever we can and our kids much the same as we were when young can’t wait between visits.
Once a year the local 4WD Clubs get together and do their bit to “Clean Up Fraser Island”. Over the Australia Day long weekend in 2007 21 4WD Clubs from all over Queensland and Northern New South Wales descended on the Island, volunteering their time and sweat to the task. This is the seventh year that the event has been running, organised through Four Wheel Drive Queensland (the State’s 4WD Association) in conjunction with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Rangers, the event is a credit to both organisations. The key person is Jeff Chase, who along with his long suffering wife (Nola) put in all of the time beforehand setting it all up.
This is no mean feat, with messages to be sent to clubs, camping and driving permits to be organised, areas allocated and event sponsors to be brought on board - nobody should underestimate the time and effort that goes into planning and organising this weekend.
Everything is coordinated directly with the Fraser Island QPWS rangers, who have a say in what jobs are done. In 2007 the usual rubbish collection along the Beach between Hook Point to Indian Head, stretching almost 95Km, and the popular inland lakes and camping grounds were augmented by a back-breaking weed eradication program (Easter Casia, Mile-a-Minute and Lantana) in some of the islands hot spots.
With the squeeze on QPWS’ budgets, they just haven’t got the resources to tackle these sorts of problems without community involvement. This year also allowed QPWS to survey the size of rubbish being found in the area with items placed in separate bags depending on if it was small (Cigarette buts and can rings, bottle caps) or larger.
The clean up efforts are usually conducted on the Saturday leaving the rest of the weekend for the participants to relax and enjoy the wonderful things that Fraser Island has to offer.
It is truly amazing what can be discovered during these weekends with 45 Cubic Meters of rubbish collected in all and the winner of the strangest item found was a $50 note. Of course there were the usual items as well like enough beer bottles and cans to set up Roothy’s home brew for the year and enough pieces of rope to keep Milo together for one more trip. Also notable was a matching pair of bra and panties, with many a young man volunteering to go looking for the owners in case they were in distress.
QPWS make the event easier by waiving the camping and driving permit fees for registered participants over the weekend and this is backed by the Barge operators halving the normal charges as well. To cap this off a Function is provided on the Saturday night consisting of an extensive feed and (professional) live band. Throughout the night many gifts and prizes are handed out to individuals and clubs, thanks to the generosity of the major event sponsors Toyota and others like EvaKool Eskies, who provided two 60l eskies as prizes. The night however goes to Nola Chase who uses all of her skills coordinating the tucker for the vast majority of the 935 participants.
The efforts of these volunteers like many similar clean up activities by the 4WD community are very important to assist in maintaining our recreational areas and ensure the sustainability of our recreation.
Particular thanks goes to:
Four Wheel Drive QLD,
Jeff and Nola Chase,
Toyota Australia,
EvaKool Eskies and
All of the participating clubies
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