THANK YOU VETERAN RURAL FIRE BRIGADE

A very big thank you to the members of the Veteran Rural Fire Brigade who gave up a whole weekend to conduct a much needed pre-season environmental burn at the Victory Heights trails. The burn will greatly assist us in managing the environment for our resident wildlife and aid us in preparing the trails for the upcoming summer

The volunteer members of the CTCA will be making every effort to keep the Victory Heights trails open to the community for the obvious benefits of healthy outdoor recreation. All usage of the facility however must be in compliance with the recommendations and regulations of the Federal, State and Local government authorities. Please expect that conditions of entry may change in line with any decisions made by the above government bodies.

The world body for Parkrun has announced that:

“Following government advice and public health guidelines, we are suspending events in Australia and New Zealand from this weekend until at least the end of March”. You can keep yourself informed on the Victory Heights Trails Parkrun Facebook page.

The Victory Heights Trails remain open as usual to the community for your continued recreation, walks, running, cycling etc.

After good January and February rains and a lot of volunteer hours on the chainsaws, brushcutters, mowers and shovels we are seeing the facility returning to it’s usual beauty. A big shout out to the CTCA volunteers and a big thankyou to the community of users who respected the short unavoidable closures to prevent unnecessary damage to the trails.

Congratulations Jody, CTCA committee member and Gympie Parkrun organizer. Jody’s efforts and enthusiasm have seen the establishment and rapid growth of Parkrun at the Victory heights trails with this weeks event hosting 136 participants. That total included regulars, first timers to Parkrun and a number of participants from England, Ireland and Switzerland. A great effort all round by Jody and a dedicated band of volunteers in making this event such a success and a valuable addition to the Victory Heights Trail complex.

Recent storms in the Gympie area haven’t spared the Victory Heights Recreational Trails with a lot of fallen timber and debris on the trails. Volunteers have done a great job to clear the larger objects and will continue clean-up operations as time and conditions permit. Be aware however that caution is always advised as even quite a lengthy time after storms dislodged branches etc can fall without warning from damaged trees.  Other conditions in the natural terrain can also be affected by climatic events and it is always the responsibility of patrons to assess the expected weather conditions before entering the facility. Patrons are also advised to leave the facility promptly with any sign of approaching storms.

Our local Gympie Landcare contractors have made a great start to the Victory Heights Trails Habitat Restoration Project with over 200 native species planted during their first visit. This is around 5 percent of the projected plantings designed to restore the natural habitat for our valuable Koala population and the other important species of flora and fauna which can be found in the Trails area. Clearing of pest plant species and further plantings of natives will continue through summer as weather conditions permit.

A great turn out for this week’s Parkrun event with over eighty competitors of all abilities taking part and having fun! Parkrun is a nationally co-ordinated event which takes place every Saturday morning Australia wide at 7am, the Gympie run taking place on a 5klm circuit through natural bushland at the Victory heights Recreational Trails. Head over to the Victory Heights Trail Parkrun page for more info.

Some interesting species photographed by Dave Walter on a recent visit to the Victory Heights Recreation Trails by the Gympie and District Field Naturalists Group. Recent storms have caused some havoc but also brought much needed rain to the many species of flora and fauna which inhabit the facility.

Parkrun, the nationally recognized fitness and fun activity makes it’s debut at the Victory Heights Recreational Trails on 27th October 2018. Parkrun is a regular event at 7am each Saturday morning over a selected 5klm circuit with full timing facilities so your efforts can be compared with those of competitors all across Australia. Registration and entry is free. See the CTCA Facebook page for details