Centennial School Teachers Louise, Anna and parents arranged for 43 young school students to WALK from the school to visitthe Point Bush Ecosanctuary. They all made it and were encouraged and engaged along the way talkingabout the Hunter hills that were once covered in Totara forests and looking to spot the Whitehorse Monument visible on the hillside. It was a good 2 Klm walk (and uphill) but everyone arrived in good spirits and the youngsters wereso taken with the view from this vantage point across town and out to the coastline. They delightedly searchedfor where their homes and streets were and pointed out familiar landmarks of the St. Patrick's Basilica, grain silos,Arcade and their school! Whilst the energy levels were still up there...we continued on with the walk and into the fenced ecosanctuary. The day was sunny and bright and we walked to where the grove of Kahikatea treesare and everyone very impressed with these giant ancient trees that would be hundreds of years old and would havesurvived the Great Fire that swept through the Hunter hills destroying much of the native forest in 1878.We walked a loop walk through the lower section of the Ecosanctuary, pointing out species of native trees, listeningfor birdsong and talking about our trapping programme to protect the native birds. Back at the Ecosanctuary Meeting Room, we had a display of informational photo boards depicting the native birdswithin the sanctuary and talked about the pest predator fencing and the work being undertaken of pest predator control and further planting of native trees now that the wallaby have been eliminated and no longer a threat to graze on the new plantings.By this time it was Lunch time and a very well deserved break! We thoroughly enjoyed hosting this group of Centennial school students, teachers and parents and were delighted in their interestand understanding of the need for conservation work and protection of the environment.
