An enthusiastic group of eight volunteers and two Parks staff assembled for the first Friends of Lake St Clair group working bee.

Fo Lsc Fmc Nov 2026 B Ferguson (3) Group Picture in Front of Fmc Sign (landscape) Cropped

It was planned for the group to get a helicopter lift into Lake Vera as part of Parks maintenance activities however the West Coast lived up to its reputation and the weather required a change of plan. Instead the group headed out along the Frenchmans Cap track towards the Loddon River.

Fo Lsc Fmc Nov 2026 B Ferguson (8) Cropped

The morning was spent trimming vegetation and clearing drains on the way up to the Mount Mullens saddle before heading downhill to make camp at the Loddon River for two nights.

Fo Lsc Fcm Nov 2026 H Venz (13) Cropped 2

A full day of vegetation trimming and track drainage work was completed east of the Loddon River on day 2. The group put in a long day and worked very hard tackling bauera and button grass, and managed to get 1.3 km of track back into great shape ready for the summer season.

Fo Lsc Fmc Nov 2026 B Ferguson (40) Cropped

Fo Lsc Fmc Nov 2026 B Ferguson (39) Cropped

The group enjoyed some downtime along the track and at camp there was plenty of friendly banter over dinner.

Fo Lsc Fmc Nov 2026 B Ferguson (12) Cropped

Forecast rain and snowfall down to 500m had the group retreat back to Lake St Clair on day 3 for some shelter and a warm shower. The next morning the temperature dropped and with it came large snowflakes with some settling on the ground. Always up for a challenge the group headed out into the snow flurries to tackle trimming and drainage tasks along the Lakeside track (Overland track) north from Watersmeet towards Echo Point.

Fo Lsc Fmc Nov 2026 B Ferguson (46) Cropped

The bracken slowed them down a bit, however another day of great progress was made with 2.6 km of the track back in good shape for the upcoming season.

Fo Lsc Fmc Nov 2026 B Ferguson (31) Cropped

Fo Lsc Fmc Nov 2026 B Ferguson (43) Kathryn

A huge thank you to all the volunteers, some of whom had taken time off work to attend, and to the Parks staff at Lake St Clair. Despite the unfavourable weather the group did a fantastic job working together to help maintain these two popular tracks in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Friends of Maria Island

Behind the idyllic scenes of Maria Island - volunteers are working hard