Last week as part of my Outward Bound course, we performed a community service job. The job in question was helping to clear Water Hyacinth off Toonumbar Dam near Kyogle. The job was supervised by Craig Gascoigne, a local asparagus farmer who loves kayaking on the dam.
When Craig saw the weed taking over the dam and clogging up his kayaking playground he figure something needed to be done. When he heard that a “Licence to Pollute” application had been lodged with DECC to permit aerial spraying on the dam with herbicide, he feared that the native plants would be killed as well. He then set about physically removing the plant himself.
Hundred of hours and tonnes of weed later, the job continues, although the scale of the problem has reduced dramatically. One of our party said of Craig, “You always say to yourself, ‘Someone ought to do something about that.’ Well, I’ve just met a someone.”
Craig is a typical Aussie larrikin and reminds me a bit of Steve Irwin, enough for me the christen him “The Hyacinth Hunter”. By co-incidence, Craig is also a bush poet and entertained us with a few yarns before we went on our way.
As a tribute to Craig I have come out of poetry retirement and penned The Hyacinth Hunter which I hope will inspire Craig to carry on his good work.
Tags: hyacinth, outward bound, weeds
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