Hey there,
Went tree planting 2 hours up north from Melbourne last weekend. I had always been a bit keen on greening the planet and I thought that mucking around in the dirt and a bit of physical labor during the weekend sounded like fun.The tree planting is to help reconstruct green corridors and habitats for native species like the birds, sugar gliders and squirrel gliders (flying squirrels) and to replenish native australian plant species. You could either be a planter, a shoveler or a hoer; someone who uses the hoe – my own term – not an individual of dubious morals. It was all organized very well, they had regular tea breaks for us with a campfire, hot drinks, catered dinner and barbeque lunch the next day.
After a full day of digging, popping baby plants in holes, we also got to try bush dancing! Here’s a video of one of the Australian bush dances we did: The Heel Toe . This one left my hands a bit sore when the guys really went full throttle on the slap slap slap. But lots of fun with all the dances, a lot of collisions and a heck of a lot of twirling. There were also a bit of gender benders when we didn’t have enough women, so some of the bearded men became bearded women. Completely collapsed into a deep sleep straight after.
We also go to visit mature replanted areas and see some of the sugar glider boxes. The country is just gorgeous.
Enjoy the pics!
Shi