Our Hiking Blog: Wollangarra needs our help

Wollangarra is an independent non-profit outdoor education project established in the firm belief that young people and mountains are natural partners with a great deal to offer each other.

Through outdoor education, Wollangarra aims to provide a small but vital step towards a healthier environment, a stronger community and happier young people. We believe that by "doing" rather than "talking", and "fixing" rather than "complaining", we can help young people to see environmental issues as exciting and demanding challenges to the way we live, rather than as endlessly depressing and negative threats to our future.

We got a sad letter from Wollangarra today, unfortunately they in desperate straits because of a couple of Dorothea MacKellar events recently:

Remember her poem?

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of drought and flooding rains,

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel sea,

Her beauty and her terror -

The wide brown land for me.

Well, Wollangarra and all the staff have been having a really tough time.

In December bushfires burnt half the river flat and many of the trees. It was a very tense time and Clare (our daughter) was over there for a few days helping out.
In February stormy weather and a huge rain dump brought tonnes of brown silt from the fires down the river which caused a land slip that filled the swimming hole. (I remember swimming in there about 10 times one fruit bottling Australia Day weekend because the temperature was 43 degrees in the shade!)
Finally, in June the Macalister River flooded to record breaking levels and the whole of Wollangarra was under water except the homestead.

The place has effectively been trashed. Both flying foxes gone, the pump shed trashed and much damaged has occured from mud and water. They have had to cancel courses therefore their income is almost nil.

Wollangarra are therefore having a fund raiser and I know many of our readers have either been to Woll or have children who have ,so I thought I would post a request here to help with their fundraising target of $40,000 over the next two months. This is a lot of money for a small organisation like Woll but is necessary. They are up for $20,000 to replace the flying foxes and $10,000 a month for ongoing expenses (remember they have no income)

Cheques, simply made out to Wollangarra can be sent to The Directors, Wollangarra, Licola, Victoria, Australia, 3858. There is tax deductability for larger donations (contact Josie or Simon at Woll to arrange it)

Hit the link above to read more about Woll and check out the pictures of the floods and fire.

There are also working bee weekends over the next couple of months and we will try and get over for one to help clean up.