Twenty-five volunteers from the Great Lakes area joined locals to plant the dunes in front of the Hawks Nest Surf Club on Friday 10 July.

The visitors, which included Dune Care Tuncurry and One Mile Beach Forster groups, travelled by coach to help the Dune Care Bennetts Beach project and the  Bitou Busters Hawks Nest & Tea Gardens, 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. Great Lakes Council provided the plants.

The visitors got to know their hosts over morning tea with a selection of homemade cakes they brought with them.

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 volunteers returned to the dunes where Steve Howard of Great Lakes Council had prepared a BBQ, supplemented with donated salads and delicious desserts and 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.