On the afternoon of Sunday July 27^th, twenty-five members of our community braved the cold weather and ventured to the summit of Mount Rouse for our annual tree day.  This group is to be congratulated for the spirit with which they approached the tasks set down for the afternoon.  Two trays of trees, donated by ERA from Hamilton, were planted on the slope of the mount, above the walk track.  Removal of wildlings and the weeds from the steps leading to the summit were also tasks needing attention.  The track was sprayed for weeds and unsightly rubbish removed.

This event was a great family day with the children obviously enjoying their involvement.  A chance to catch up with newer members of the community over a cuppa with Devonshire Tea brought the event to a close at approximately 4 pm. 

Many thanks to all who attended.

Marcus Rentsch – Site Coordinator.

A recent visit to Mortlake and Mt Shadwell was undertaken by volunteers from the Centre, to collect more samples for display.  This time the focus was on the crystals inside volcanic bombs, the result of molten rock being thrown out of a volcano and solidifying while spinning in the air.  The crystals are called olivine and have a green colour.  Mortlake is a special source of olivine and is highly recommended for any mineral buffs.

The activity involved fossicking in the council quarry where scoria is mined for roadworks.  The bombs occur as frequent potato sized rocks that are very heavy in contrast to the scoria.  Broken open with a hammer they reveal the olivine.  Most usually the olivine crystals are small but occasionally a large crystal can be found that is worth cutting and polishing.  We spent our time breaking open numerous bombs and found some very interesting ones to display but nothing of a decent size.