From the strange and the entirely unexpected start to 2020, some heartening things have emerged.

Click counters on the High Country Rail Trail are telling us that double the number of people are out walking and riding in our local parks, staying safe, keeping fit and staying sane. From what we are observing this is likely to be the case throughout Albury Wodonga. Here is a short story from the Sunrise show about the bike boom in the cities – great to know some small businesses are doing well!

Meanwhile local nurseries are full of gardeners old and new, looking for everything from fruit trees and vegetable seedlings to specimen trees and those amazing natives we see featured on ‘Gardening Australia’. Our local native plant supplier has been inundated with last minute orders after the best autumn rain in decades, and Parklands Rangers, along with local Friends and Landcare groups, are eager for the lifting of restrictions to get thousands of new plants in the ground this winter.

Here at Parklands, plans are afoot to extend the at-capacity community farm, with demand for garden plots greater than supply. In the bush, we have observed the remarkable recovery of our bushfire and drought impacted native plants with these wonderful rains. We are so looking forward to opening up our events and activities program again, with such a bountiful spring on the horizon.