Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc Bulletin #75 Aug 15 2013
Meet the New Committee
This week we are introducing our new club secretary Lin Starke - Lin has a rich, colourful, international past.
I grew up on a sheep farm inland from Ashburton in New Zealand's South Island. As kids my siblings and I would head from the farm,1500 ft above sea level and with our picnic lunch we would follow the trails on the neighbours hill steadily climbing to the tops of the hills, climbing on one occasion to 4000 ft where we could see 100 miles of coastline Christchurch to Timaru. Behind us would be the Southern Alps.
I bought a camera with my first pay as a farm hand and have taken many photo's since, in my travels through New Zealand and Australia, and on a cruise to new Caledonia, Wala, Ouvea and Vanuatu. I snorkelled in Vanuatu, and on the Great Barrier Reef as well as in the Far North of New Zealand where I lived for 5 years.
Other cities I have lived in are Christchurch, Auckland, Newcastle, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as in smaller rural areas. I've done quite a bit of fishing, surf casting on NZ's west coast till my ex and I got a 17 ft Fyran fishing boat and then the fishing catches got serious.
Other adventures include having a HUGE shark swim underneath our group when over the edge of the Great Barrier Reef snorkelling, helicopter rides in NZ and on the Gold Coast, climbing 60 ft up the mast of a sailing ship under sail and gliding in South Auckland. I have travelled extensively through New Zealand and have now been to all of Australia's States and Territories. I also used to go with intellectually disabled adults on their annual holidays and that included leading a 10 day trip to Kangaroo Island. Through Rotary International I have taken one exchange student to Broken Hill and another to Sunshine Coast and Fraser Island.
I love learning, and have done a number of training courses over the years and am currently doing a Diploma in Visual Arts at Riverina Tafe. I have also done 25 years in pre-school education and since then switched to Adult Education getting my Bachelor of Education, Adult Teaching in 2002 as part of a Maori Cluster Group through Massey University. I was working for a year in Kaitaia at a Maori Training centre when I started the B.Ed course. That was a busy year as I had to write up the course using NZQA requirements and then teach it to my students. Since arriving in Wodonga a year ago I have become involved in Murray Valley Bushwalkers group, the Albury Wodonga Art Society, do a bit of teaching at the Albury Wodonga Community College on Mondays and volunteer at Art Space for 2 hrs most weeks. This has allowed me to meet many lovely people, and gives me scope to keep myself busy when not gardening or painting or writing up my family history.
I huff and puff a bit on the steeper hills when out walking these days but love the opportunity to be in the outdoors with a group of friends.
Looking forward to seeing you soon in the great outdoors.
Lin Starke
Next committee meeting
This will be held on Monday August 19th at the Commercial Club Piano Lounge (upstairs next to the bistro) at 7.00pm. Email Lin at secretary@mvb.org.au if you would like something added to the agenda for discussion.
Welcome to New Members
Chris and Marie Squire joined MVB recently and walked with a group of 13 in the Chiltern Mt Pilot NP last Sunday. And while on the subject of members we currently have 64 financial members. We have to pay insurance for 85 members shortly so hopefully we will regain that number soon. Thanks to all who have renewed membership recently.
Recent events
Sat Aug 3 Nail Can Hill Wildflowers
Another delightful walk led by Hans Kaspers
Sun Aug 11 Intro to Snow Sports
Five of us had a wonderful day at Falls Creek snowshoeing and cross country skiing - the club has funds to cover costs and have money left over - we had so much fun we are going to do it again this coming Saturday
Sat Aug 10 Bushwalking and Geocaching
Mick Webster offered another fantastic walk in Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
Whats On? heaps of stuff as usual!
There are so many advantages to getting out and about in Winter - no flies, not much UV light to worry about, you have to try pretty hard to raise a sweat and best of all Spring is just around the corner.
Sat Aug 17 Beginner Snowshoe / XC ski
We are blessed with a winter wonderland at our back door. The club has received funding to help cover the cost of a snow sport orientation event or two. Here is a second chance on August 17 to have a very cheap day of fun in the snow.- click here for more details
Sun Aug 18 Nail Can Hill Gorges
Hans and Peter recently reconnoitered a walk to explore little known gorges on Nail Can Hill and are offering the chance to explore these on day walk - click here for more details
Tues Aug 20 Huon Hill morning walk
Join Hans to climb one of our favorite local hills click here for more details
Sat Aug 24 - Huon to Tallangatta Walk
Join Hans for a delightful walk on the High Country Rail Trail which will undoubtedly include a lot of fun finding geocaches along the way - click here for more details
Sat Aug 24 - Kangaroo Hoppet Ski Event
The annual Hoppet is a celebration of xc skiing with a huge number of international participants - this year there is a "pouch class" for the first time
Sat September 8 Barambogie to Eldorado Mountain Bike ride
Peter has planned an interesting and exciting MTB route to Eldorado for lunch and return. This will start and finish on the Chiltern - Beechworth road. click here for more details
Down the Track
The grand tour of north east townships resumes on September 14 click here for more details
Grampians one week base camp in October 18-15 click here for more details
Cocoparra National Park a weekend base camp in early November click here for more details
Having trouble viewing photos in this bulletin?
you can view the bulletin on the club's website here.
Membership Renewals
Lots of people have successfully navigated their way around the new system to renew their membership. If you've tried and got into strife help is at hand - email Tony at greencomputing@gmail.com or phone him on 0417687842 - note if you wish to join an event and you are not financial you will need to pay the visitor fee of $5 and submit an acknowledgement of risk form for each event.
Catch you on a club event soon!
regards
Lin Starke
Secretary Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc
Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc Bulletin #74 July 30 2013
Meet the New Committee
Murray Valley Bushwalkers proudly announces our new club president is Jan Douglas and her welcoming smile tells a story.
I was born in Altona a bay side suburb of Melbourne so spent the first 22 years of my life at the beach. I then had a tree change to Albury before I moved to the Corowa district which I still call home. Hours at the beach were replaced with hours spent driving around in a 4wd and car based camping in some very out of the way places. My love of the great outdoors grew.A couple of trips to New Zealand touring around and doing a number of walks there just confirmed my love of the great outdoors. In more recent years the 4wd has gone and I now explore even more remote places on foot and I love it. With multi-day walks allowing me to experience the Milford Track, Maria Island, Freycinet Peninsula and the Overland Track. Growing up near the beach has also meant I love being near water, I have spent many hours canoeing up and down the Murray river , locally near Corowa as well as Albury. After work canoeing is one of my favourite activities. Overnight canoe trips between Albury and Lake Mulwala rate fairly highly also.
Some of my favourite places to walk include the Bogong High Plains, Warby Ovens NP, Chiltern Mt Pilot NP and Mt Buffalo NP. Since the first meeting of the club, I have been on some fantastic walks, spent many hours canoeing and even tried cross country skiing. My favorite activity? How do you choose between so many great times spent with some fantastic people????? Its great to see how much the club has grown. With enthusiastic members putting on a variety of activities, I am sure that growth will continue. So if you would like an activity added to the program or if you would like to lead an activity just let Tony know.
Looking forward to seeing you soon in the great outdoors.
Jan Douglas
Recent events
You've got get out of bed early to keep up with Hans lately. Winter is clearly his favorite walking season and he moves into overdrive!
July 23 Hidden Falls on Nail Can Hill - Leader Hans
This walk involved finding a new set of waterfalls and installing a new geocache for the club - and 6 days later it was found for the first time and here is the report
It was an early start this morning on the deadly treadly for a quick blast across the border.
The fog was thick, the breeze was cool, the climb up the hill at Nail Can was slow, by the time i ditched the bike for the last 165 metre walk i was well and truely warmed up for the hike in to the Falls. The bush at this time of the morning is surreal, with mother nature waking up - i was enjoying every step. At Ground Zero soon enough, the creek was flowing & the water was falling & after a quick search the cache was found at 6.30am and a "White Blank Page" greeted me, FTF (first to find). Thanks Team MVB for a neat cache in an almost unknown part part of Nail Can.......Cheers.
Hans is always on the lookout for a great flora photo - check out this amazing macro of an insect eating plant called Sundew
July 27 Sugarloaf Hill Chiltern Mt Pilot NP - Leader Hans
Another fascinating loop walk in the Chiltern Mt Pilot National Park
July 30 Budginigi Hill Ettamoogah - Leader Hans (again!)
Today there was yet another attempt by Hans and Peter to find the extremely elusive geocache on Budginigi hill, a fascinating pimple named by Hume and Hovell at Ettamogah - and this time they had success!
Spot the cache rock in this lot if you will! and if you click the photo you will get some serious clues.
Evening Bicycle to Barnie Pub
3 members and a guest braved the crisp night air for this 50km cycle - sadly too dark for photos! Thanks John for putting this event on.
Whats On? heaps of stuff as usual!
Its Winter - in case you have forgotten we have a wonderful winter wonderland at our back door.
The club has received funding to help cover the cost of a snow shoe event or two. Here is a chance on August 4 to have a very cheap day to try out snow shoeing
Sun Aug 4 Intro to Snow Sports
Come and try it - click here for more details and hit the join button to communicate with Tony
Sat Aug 3 Pub to Pub XC Ski
A classic ski event led by John Jamison - click here for more info
Sat Aug 3 Nail Can Hill Wildflowers
An easy half day walk with Hans - click here for more details
Sun Aug 4 Easy Abseiling
There are still vacancies for easy abseiling with Neil Brown next Sunday August 4 - more details here
Tues Aug 6 Mungabareena Birding
Bird watching and easy half day walk with Hans - more details here
Sat Aug 10 Bushwalking and Geocaching
Mick Webster is offering another fantastic walk in Chiltern Mt Pilot NP - a 10km loop walk amongst granite tors spiced with a couple of geocaches on Saturday August 10 - limit of 12 participants so book in early Click here for more details
Tues August 13
Nail Can Hill Wildflowers
An easy half day walk with Hans - click here for more details
Sun Aug 18 Nail Can Hill Gorges
Hans and Peter recently reconnoitered a walk to explore little known gorges on Nail Can Hill and are offering the chance to explore these on day walk - click here for more details
Down the Track
The grand tour of north east townships resumes on September 14 click here for more details
Grampians 1 week base camp in October 18-15 click here for more details
Cocoparra National Park a weekend base camp in early November click here for more details
Having trouble viewing photos in this bulletin?
you can view the bulletin on the club's website here.
Membership Renewals
Lots of people have successfully navigated their way around the new system to renew their membership. If you've tried and got into strife help is at hand - email Tony at greencomputing@gmail.com or phone him on 0417687842 - note if you wish to join an event and you are not financial you will need to pay the visitor fee of $5 and submit an acknowledgement of risk form for each event.
Catch you on a club event soon!
regards
Lin Starke
Secretary Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc
Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc Bulletin #73 July 19 2013
Membership Renewals
Thanks heaps to those people who have successfully navigated their way around the new system to renew their membership. Currently we have 50 financial members well down on the 106 we had a month ago. If you are unfinancial we would love to have you back! There are detailed instructions as to how to achieve this by going to the Join, Renew Membership menu item on the website or go directly to that page by clicking here. If you get into strife help is at hand - email Tony at greencomputing@gmail.com or phone him on 0417687842
Recent events
Old Coach Road Chiltern Mt Pilot NP
Hans has put on a number of delightful walks centred on the historic Old Coach Road near Mt Pilot - click the photo for more pics of this event.
Tuesday July 16 Maher Hill Bonegilla
Another mid week classic led by Hans. This is one of least known local hills and provides extraordinary views of the Hume Weir - who said we live too far from the ocean! - photo by Hans Kaspers - click photo to see wonderful panorama photos of this event
En route to Maher Hill - photo by Hans Kaspers
Whats On!
At the time of writing the natural snow base at alpine resorts has been trashed by heavy rain. The coming weekend promises to deliver very cold snowy conditions to put the snow activities season back on track.
As previously reported the club has received funding to help cover the costs of a snow shoe / cross country event or two - it will happen so keep an eye on the calendar.
Abseiling
There are still vacancies for easy abseiling this Sunday July 21 and August 4 - more details here
Evening Cycling and/or Dinner
At Barnawartha Pub Thursday July 25 - join John Jamison for a classic ride or just drive to the pub for dinner! Click here for more details
Bushwalking and Geocaching
Mick Webster is offering another fantastic walk in Chiltern Mt Pilot NP - a 10km loop walk amongst granite tors spiced with a couple of geocaches on Saturday August 10 - limit of 12 participants so book in early Click here for more details
Down the Track
The grand tour of north east townships resumes on September 14 click here for more details
Grampians 1 week base camp in October 18-15 click here for more details
Cocoparra National Park a weekend base camp in early November click here for more details
Having trouble viewing photos in this bulletin? - you can view the bulletin on the club's website here.
Catch you on a club event soon!
regards
Lin Starke
Secretary Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc
Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc Bulletin #72 July 10 2013
Annual General Meeting Friday July 5
The meeting commenced with an insightful and informative presentation by Bruce Key on climate change.
A new leadership team with 3 new executive members was elected for the next 12 months
President - Jan Douglas
Secretary - Lin Starke
Treasurer - Lena Sandstrom
Coordinator - Tony Marsh
Website - Neil Brown
Publicity - Peter Presutti
The past president thanked all members of the previous committee for their input into the running of this club.
Click here for minutes of the AGM
Recent Events
Kelly's cave Sun 7th July
Mick Webster led a group of 14 members to the elusive Kelly Cave last Sunday - by the look on Kaye's face it looks like the going got tough at times!
Click the photo to see more pics of this fabulous event.
Whats On!
For those of us who indulge in snow sports winter has finally arrived with some great falls in the nearby resorts. The club has received funding to help cover the costs of a snow shoe / cross country event or two - and these will be advertised in the next bulletin. This is a great opportunity to experience something new or renew experiences from the past.
Sunday July 14 Sugarloaf Circuit, Old Coach Road
Join Hans for another delightful exploration of the Old Coach Road near Mt Pilot - more details here
Tuesday July 16 Mahers Hill Bonegilla
This is one of least known local hills and provides awesome views of the Hume Weir Join Hans to enjoy this walk - more details here
July 19-21 Snow Camping at Mt Stirling
David Findlay is offering a great opportunity to join him for a great weekend in the snow at Mt Stirling one of the most beautiful of our treasured alpine resorts - cross country skiing experience required
Sunday July 21 - Easy Abseiling at the Albury Quarry
Join Neil for this exciting activity - more details here
Catch you on a club event soon!
regards
Lin Starke
Secretary Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc
