On a wet and windy Saturday morning at the end of October last year over 30 vehicles and 70 club members turned out on Wellington’s South Coast to help clean-up the beach.

Days like this one are nothing special for the 4WD club the members belong to, Wellington’s Cross Country Vehicle Club (CCVC). On the contrary, members of the cub spend a lot of time on the South Coast, replanting the dunes and maintaining Capital Kiwi’s traplines through Te Kopahua Reserve as well.

Actually , as it turned out, the Saturday, October 31 day did end up being a little bit special as we kicked off with speeches from the NZFWDA’s (and CCVC’s) Grant Purdie National PRO, Wellington Mayor Andy Foster, old mate Rob Goulden (ex-City Councilor) and our kaumatua of the Coast Barry Insull, all to mark the 20th anniversary of our beach clean-up, brilliant.

People toiled out in the weather for a few hours hauling in a ute load of trash for Ranger Frank to get rid of including somebody’s stockpile of pallets for firewood and the usual tyres and glass. Grant and Mayor Foster referred to the policy work the club had done dating back to 2002 to ensure that access is still available to Council land for recreational use. This combined with our ongoing hands-on work for the last 20 years keeps the club on excellent terms with the Wellington City Council.

Today the beach clean-up was on the South Coast, but we also do a clean-up on the Eastbourne coast and Makara beach as well, annually and once a year too! The South Coast replanting has occurred for over ten years and yet another chance for us to support the Council on the coast. The latest effort is to maintain Capital Kiwi’s trap lines every three weeks. Current results are over 100 stoats and weasels in addition to the rats, mice, possums and hedgehogs.

Thanks to CCVC Life member Ross Perkins who welcomed us to his bach for the windup sausage sizzle, Bev Insull and Rob Goulden for the cooking and Ranger Frank for the additional food and spot prizes.