When we first saw the 42 acres on the edge of the Alstonville escarpment in 2003, we were stunned by its natural beauty. There were stunning ocean views and the established rainforest which covered three quarters of the property, was part of the Big Scrub subtropical rainforest remnant. But there was no driveway, no buildings and all the open pastureland was covered in tobacco and fireweed. But as the real estate agent pointed out there were four cows and a water trough!
Was the natural beauty and the hidden valley with Duck Creek flowing through it going to be enough to build a house and sustain a family business. We did buy the property and as we hacked our way through the tobacco bushes we found a flat enough area to build a house. Fortunately or unfortunately it was the furthest point from the entrance. We then carefully designed a driveway which negotiated the steep hillside and the ancient fig tree, red bean and stinging trees. We fenced off the riparian zone to stop the cows causing anymore erosion and make them use our only asset, the cattle trough!
As we built our house and developed our vision of an ecotourism business, we met with bush regenerators and attended a multitude of workshops, hungry to learn about the rainforest we now owned and wanted to preserve. We started up Duck Creek Landcare with other interested neighbours and worked on cutting down the Lantana and discovering the wonders of Red cedars and giant blue Quandongs as well as the horrors of scrub itch and ticks. We joined Land for Wildlife and applied for grants to help us with our work. With Ballina Council and the Big Scrub Rainforest Landcare Group we’ve developed a Vegetation Restoration plan to guide us.
We made a sensitive but practical walking track down to the creek so visitors could access and share our joy of the forest and the delightful Duck Creek. Everyday, it seemed we would discover more native species in this diverse and rich wonderland. We began to beat the privet and the madeira vine and the lantana.
So now in 2021 we have come a long way from our four cows and a cattle trough and have established a popular ecotourism business. The weeds still need to be managed and more trees to be planted, more camphor to be injected — but we feel more confident in what we are doing and we are proud of our achievements to date and the ongoing restoration of our piece of rainforest.