We had the most amazing walk through the Crooked River Estate Winery today!
Led by Sustainability and Operations Manager, Joel Walsh, we set of in glorious weather for a walk through the vineyards first, where Joel shared his unique approach to weed management and regeneration on the 40-hecatare site with a long history of agricultural usage.
We stopped under a magnificent Port Jackson Fig to see the Cabbage Tree Palms and Whalebone Trees regenerating naturally in the area protected from stock and pests. We snaked up the waterways, including Crooked River of course, to the remnant pocket of Illawarra Lowland Subtropical Rainforest, a NSW Endangered Ecological Community.
Our knowledgeable chair, Emma Rooksby answered all our questions about plant ID while we explored the rainforest and waterways. We had no luck finding the endangered Daphnandra johnsonii Illawarra Socketwood, though there were many Doryphora sassafras with the similar looking leaf.
Thank you to the Gerringong locals, and those who came from up and down the coast, all to find out more about the Endangered Ecological Communities in their backyard. We could have stayed all day in the rainforest answering questions!
We look forward to partnering with Crooked River Winery again for repeat walks, and seeing the progress towards innovative environmental restoration and regeneration on this important site.
