On Friday the early-birds shared the lunch break at Karatta School fire-ring, followed by a leisurely wander down a marked ring route trail, but as usual only a few actually completed the entire walk because the photographers were fully engaged capturing images of the many wild flowers that were in bloom.

The next day a favourite location - Hanson Bay - was visited. The beach is never the same and it proved so again at this visit. The South-west River was down and fresh water was rushing swiftly out to the ocean. We walked behind the fore-dune and the river and were met with calm water that was reflecting the coastal dune vegetation on its surface. This sight proved to be a show-stopper for the photographers as they photographed the scene before a breeze begun to ruffle the water. Further along we inspected holes in the wet sand among the reeds and rushes, and eventually discovered that they were made by crabs. Meanwhile our most senior member was re-visiting old family holiday haunts, and after much searching she and her helper found that the historical bush turkey nest (mound) in the vegetated dune system was active. Afterwards we visited Hanson Bay Wilderness Sanctuary and with their guide we strolled down their walk. What usually takes other groups ¾ hour took us 2 hours while we inspected the changing habitats and discovered a rarely found orchid.

On Sunday, we all piled into vehicles to begin a close inspection of the roadside vegetation along Church Road. A visual feast awaited us, and with cameras, note pad and pencils to the ready, we wended our way to Walsh Track where we partook of lunch before heading down the hill towards the creek line. More habitat changes and a comparison with bush burnt in 2007 on the northern side and unburnt bush on the south that had many of us wandering into different directions.