Trips To Australia
2004 Trip
The Koalas left Heathrow on Wednesday 14th July with 25 team members from the Midlands, Wales and the South West of England and 3 team leaders. They flew to Hong Kong where they had a 10 hour stopover which allowed them a chance to spend the afternoon and evening experiencing Ocean Park (a theme park) and a tour around the town of Stanley.
They then flew to Melbourne where they stayed in the Queensberry Youth
Hostel. They visited the oncology ward at the Royal Children’s
Hospital taking gifts for the children and went on a trip on the “Puffing
Billy”. There was some free time to explore Melbourne itself.
After this they went to Shiloh Ranch to begin their conservation work.
Some spent their week at the Royal Botanic Garden Cranbourne, one of
Victoria’s most precious areas of native bushland. The gardens
are home to thriving bird and animal life, including several rare and
endangered species. During the week they were involved with tree planting
and also visited Phillip Island Nature Reserve, an important habitat
for little penguin colonies and koalas. The rest of the Koalas went
to the Bass Coast, Victoria, working on the Powlett River Project which
involved planting trees on land in the Powlett catchment and tributaries.
The project aims are to increase biodiversity, provide habitat for native
animals, and reduce erosion around the Powlett River and tributaries.
They also visited the Phillip Island Nature Reserve.
The Koalas then flew to Sydney on the 23rd where they met up with the
Wallabies, Dingoes and Possums who had flown out from Heathrow on the
21st. There were 20 team members in both the Wallabies and Dingoes and
17 in the Possums. They were accompanied by 6 team leaders. All the
teams spent five days together; they climbed the Harbour bridge, visited
the Jewish museum, took a Harbour cruise, went to Bondi beach and went
on a day trip to the Blue Mountains. Some team members unfortunately
came down with gastroenteritis and a couple of the Plymouth girls managed
to get mumps. However, on the evening of the 27th July all team members
and team leaders were fit and enjoyed a party at the Hard Rock Café.
The Koalas flew off to Hong Kong the next morning to begin their journey home, the Possums flew to Brisbane, the Wallabies and Dingoes to Melbourne. The Koalas stayed overnight in Kowloon, Hong Kong and took a junk boat trip and a tram ride to the Peak.
The Wallabies and Dingoes spent a couple of days in Melbourne similar
to the Koalas but unfortunately, due to the risk of infection after
the gastroenteritis, only representatives were able to go to the hospital.
All gifts were taken and will be distributed over a period of time.
Both groups then went to Camp Aginda, Halls Gap to begin their conservation
work. The Dingoes’ conservation work took place in the Grampians
National Park, Victoria. The park is an important flora and fauna sanctuary
and features many significant Aboriginal rock art sites. Conservation
work involved assisting local conservation groups with weed removal,
tree planting and track maintenance. The Wallabies went to Shiloh Ranch
and did their conservation work in Cranbourne Botanical Gardens. They
did a similar week’s work to the Koalas and also visited the Phillip
Island Nature Reserve.
The Possums spent a couple of days in Brisbane and visited the oncology
ward at the Royal Children’s Hospital. They went to Steve Irwin’s
zoo and stopped at a theme park on their way to Lismore Caravan Park
where they stayed whilst undertaking their conservation work. The project
location was Imogen Farm, a private sanctuary that borders the Whian
Whian State Forest, situated on the southern slopes of the Mount Warning
volcano. It is an important habitat for at least 50 birds and animals,
which are considered endangered or vulnerable. Conservation project
activities involved restoring the riparian zone along branch creek to
allow for rainforest regeneration.
The Wallabies, Dingoes and Possums then flew from their respective conservation
areas and met up in Hong Kong on the 5th August. They also stopped over
in Kowloon before arriving back in the UK on the morning of the 7th
August.