The visitors from Dune Care Tuncurry and One Mile Beach Forster travelled by coach to help the Dune Care Bennetts Beach project and the Bitou Busters Hawks Nest &Tea Gardens (BBs), who have been clearing invasive weeds from the dunes near the Surf Club on Bennetts Beach.

In four hours they planted 1,500 native plants to help stabilise the dunes against erosion, provide a more attractive view across the sands to the sea, attract native small birds and trap litter.

The visitors were met on arrival at the Surf Club car park on Friday 10 July and got to know their hosts over morning tea with a selection of homemade cakes they brought with them.

Steve Howard of Great Lakes Council organised the joint working day and provided the plants, which included Lomandra, wattle, Westringia, Correa, Dianella and Myoporum.

After the planting, the volunteers boarded the bus for a sightseeing tour around Hawks Nest while BB coordinator Jill Madden and Ian Morphett, Secretary of the Myall Koala & Environment Group, spoke about their work, the local environment, plants and animals. The tour visited Winda Woppa where the BBs had recently finished clearing weeds and planting bush plants and Jimmy’s Beach where the BBs had laid hay bales to stop sand erosion.

The volunteers returned to the dunes where Steve had prepared a BBQ, supplemented with salads and delicious desserts, over which new friendships were formed.

Jill Madden thanked everyone for their great work and hoped in the near future they would be invited up to Forster and Tuncurry to work on one of their dune care projects.