Elections were held for the committee members.
The following were elected:

The meeting included a discussion of the various orchid types found in the district, with a handout listing the types kindly being provided by Irene. The list can be found on Irene's website

A presentation on the early history of the local timber industry was given by John Goswell.

Discussions were held on activities to be arranged for the near future. these included a Night Tour by the Discovery Rangers, a seed collecting day, and the next Clean-up Day.

Spring is in the Air: and birds are nesting everywhere
When: Sunday, 26th September 2004, 8am
Who: Andrew, Colin, Pamela, Mick, Irene

     The tour was well attended. We met at 8am, at the Neath Hotel Fire Fighters Park and then travelled via Abermain and along Hebburn Rd to a track to the west, along the power lines. The habitat was spotted gum/ironbark woodland.

     The weather was perfect and there were plenty of birds to see and hear. We saw brown treecreepers, black-chinned honeyeaters, fuscous honeyeaters, dusky woodswallows, a little cuckoo-shrike, a brown goshawk, a white-naped honeyeater, noisey friarbirds, eastern rosellas, Australian ravens, yellow-tufted honeyeaters, variegated wrens and a willy wagtail.

     Nests seen included those of the little eagle, spotted quail-thrush, fuscous honeyeater (with chicks), eastern rosella (with eggs), tufted honeyeater (with chicks), eastern yellow robin (with egg), white winged chough, brown goshawk, dusky woodswallow and noisy friarbird.

     Numerous other birds were heard including spotted quail-thrush, bell miner (bellbird) peaceful dove, spotted pardalote, and grey shrike-thrush.

     We later moved to another area a little to the north-east. Here we saw a nest, with two young tufted honeyeaters, in scrub less than a metre from the gound! If you are using Internet Explorer you can use your mouse pointer you can find where the nest was.

Clean-up Day 19th September 2004

We met at Astills Park at 9am, and each group took an area to clean.
The day was very successful with numerous families turning up.
This effort adds to the work done by NPWS in its cleaning program which has resulted in very noticeable changes to the appearance of the Park.
Thanks to all who contributed.

Here are two of the "finds" of the day. The Stone Gecko made a narrow escape, having made his home in an old aluminium can which was partly crushed. He dropped his tail but was otherwise unharmed.

Tumblebee Treasures: A walk up Mount Tomalpin
12th September 2004: 10am to 2pm
Guides:Colin, David, Mick, Irene, Pamela

We met at Neath and drove to the Cessnock Archers area, and then continued on foot. Mt Tomalpin is known locally as "Tumblebee" and is a landmark in the Kurri Kurri area. It is surrounded by woodlands, with important wildlife and plant species. We followed the trails to the base of the mountain and then proceeded up the fairly steep incline. Our guides discussed the woodland types seen and demonstrated some of the endangered flora. The view from the top extended as far as Port Stephens, as the day was clear. The weather was very pleasant and the outing enjoyed by all.
Further details of this walking trail can be found here.
Below are some photos from the top:

First Meeting of the Friends of Werakata, Tuesday, 7th September 2004

At this meeting we discussed the aims of the group. It was decided that on the next meeting voting should take place for a chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer. Nominations will be received at the next meeting. Meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of each month at the Abermain School of Arts.

Tea and coffee were served and enabled some informal discussions afterwards.

Visit to Lane Cove National Park, 14th August 2004

We met at 8am at Cessnock and were driven to the headquarters of the Lane Cove National Park. Here we met with some of the Park Rangers and Melissa fron the Friends of the Lane Cove National Park. We learned about the activities of this group and how the group managed its many activities. Sources of funding for projects were discussed. We were shown some of the regeneration areas within the Park and the Park plant nursery. Morning tea and a BBQ lunch were enjoyed, and the day was a success in terms of education and as an enjoyable experience.
Click here for more details

First meeting, 19/6/2004

A meeting was organised by Deon van Rensburg to determine interest in forming a Friends of Werakata. The meeting was a success with about 25 people turning up to the venue at Astill's Park. As a result a list of interested people was formulated, and their interests were noted. Possible activities for this group were discussed.

Discovery tour, May 2004

Andrew Zoneff, Irene Richardson and Deon van Rensburg guided the group through the Park to for a wonderful morning of birdwatching and exploration of the plants of Werakata.