Over 20 years ago my partner Nigel and I purchased an 11 acre property on Coolart Road which was part paddock, part bush.
We wanted room for a horse as that is my hobby and we liked the bush surroundings. Little did we know it would be a lifetimes work to maintain the bush as best as we can and that this area is part of one of the few areas of remnant bushland on the Peninsula.
The property is about half bush and we have fenced off the paddocks so the horses and the bush are kept seperate.
In the beginning we were lucky to have some help to identify the weeds and the good things we had. We recieved a grant from Melbourne water to start weeding the pittosporum and blackberries from the bushland and then we took it on ourselves.
We have a small dam for the animals and recently I got rid of my water lilies and most of the rushes after attending the 'Dan' talk at Equine Landcare.
The bush area was called swampy bushland, but we nowadays wonder if we can still call it that after the dry!
Nigel has made me a riding track through the bush and I really enjoy this with the wallabies and the birds and the occasional echidna and the peace.
Nigel started our real interest in bush care completing a course on identifying the plants, birds and native animals and I have followed him.
We have been a member of different landcare groups over the years.
I particularly enjoy riding down at Kingsthorn on the riding track, admiring the trees I helped plant years ago!
We have opened our home up for landcare groups in the past and I would hope we can continue this. In the meantime we continue to try and keep the balance between running the horse and donkey and keeping the bush in good heart.
Elinor Hannay.
