Step into the world of Newport Lakes through the voices of those who know it best.
Walking with Maarten Hulzebosch – pumps, towers, regrets, joys, and remnants from 1800 quarrying
In this episode, Maarten and I walk along the south side of the lakes and then walk up along the top of Johnston street, to Bruce street and end at the picnic area. We talk about the paths, the plants, the ideas of the different level and the micro climate opportunities that gives. We also talk about the tower that used to look over the lake, the concrete pad of which is still there. Maarten talks about the plants he planted, his regrets and what he would do today, including introducing mistletoe! We look at the flower garden that the Friends of Newport Lakes have been working on and then walk down to the picnic are and Maarten talks about his visions for it. I also get to ask a question I have been waiting to ask… the quarrying artefact at the top of the picnic area, was it placed there to tell the story… and now it is original!
Walking around Newport Lakes with Maarten, from birds to diamonds
In this episode we start at the middle path of the north part of the lakes, walk down a little path that leads to the small path to the amphitheater, we end up on the path above the waterfall, past the basin that meant to feed the water fall back to the carpark. We walk about birds, cliffs, plants, what things looked like when Maarten first started, birds and a fun story about diamonds and money. Enjoy!
Walking aQuarrying, terracing, change since 1980s, birds, trees.
In this episode we walk from the middle path above the stepping stones, towards the picnic area at the north east corner. We visit Mary’s plaque, look at quarrying remnants, look for the tawny frogmouth, listen to birds and discuss the plants planted in the late 80s and early 90. Maarten Hulzebosch talks about the difficulty bringing life to the soil and his strategies. Then we walk along the concrete path around the dog park towards the middle of the road through Newport Lakes, along the path between the oak trees and pine trees towards the little bridge over the swale. We talk about the swale and the trees planted and finish with Maarten talking about the long term he was thinking about in working on Newport Lakes.
Lookout 1, 2 stepping stones and birds
This first episode Maarten introduces himself, his role at Newport Lakes and shares the stories from look out 1 near the entry of the lakes, down to look out 2, over the stepping stones and then up towards the middle track on the north side of the lakes. We discuss what it looked like back in the 1980s, all the planting activities that failed, the carp, the turtles, the birds and even meet a fellow bird watcher.