A small group of ten for this week, with half being new to Lord Howe and the weeding program.

The first morning, after receiving tools, it was off to Middle Beach adjacent to the solar farm. Here the Friends have worked for a number of years clearing Cape gooseberry, Coastal morning glory as well as trimming some native vines to uncover small native saplings trying to grow. This is very satisfying work freeing up the native trees and seeing how they respond with time. Each year the weeds become less and the canopy of trees is recovering.

On Tuesday the LHI Board staff ferried our group to Blackburn Island to continue the restoration program on the Island. Blackburn Island will be considered as a trial site to release  the endangered stick insect known as the Lord Howe Island phasmid. For some ten years the Friends groups have been going out here; initially to remove large areas of Coastal morning glory; then assisting the LHI Board staff with replanting seedlings of native plants that will be food for the phasmids when released. Now the task is to maintain the plantings  by removing Coastal morning glory and other minor weeds such as Solanum nigrum and Bidens. This is always a most enjoyable day to be on this tiny island looking back at the main island.

On Wednesday and Thursday mornings we continued the restoration work above Middle Beach in two locations; very satisfying to see the changes that have occurred here with the Friends teams working each year.

The afternoon walks were enthusiastically tackled, to Malabar Hill with its fantastic views, Transit Hill for lots of stories on the plants of the Island. One afternoon we went south under the mountains for a close look at the volcanic geology and the Providence petrels returning after a day at sea fishing.

On Friday morning the group walked to Edie’s Glen, which has been the site of a long-term restoration by Friends of LHI groups. Initially this small gully was covered in a forest of Rice paper plant. The Friends groups have worked for twenty years now and removed various weed infestations such as Castor oil bush, Fleabane, Scotch thistle, Solanum nigrum, Crofton weed, Ground asparagus. This weed removal was followed up with assisting recovery by planting dozens of native seedlings and scattering hundreds of seeds on the site. Now most of the gully is filled with native trees to 6 metres tall. The task each year now is to expand out from this core area to allow the forest to recover more and completely shade out any weeds. This group planted 15 native trees at the site.

The afternoon was a brisk walk to Rocky Run, marvelling at the tall rainforest and the spectacularly tall Pandanus trees that line the creek gullies.

Saturday, and the morning activity was to search the dune behind Old Settlement beach and remove Sea spurge. Then over to Ned’s Beach as the tide had come around low, and ideal conditions at Ned’s beach for a reef walk. Always a favourite activity to explore this area and uncover a wealth of marine species and hear about their diet, reproduction and other life stories. After the reef walk we returned to the beach for a BBQ lunch with sausages and local kingfish, cooked by John Pemble.

The finish of the day was drinks at the museum, where everyone looked back at a very pleasant and productive week, enjoying Friends’ company.