Sue, Jon, Niall, Jan

​Double report today. Yesterday and today. Our friends came out yesterday: Niall, Jan, Sue and Jon. Keen trappers all of them. The idea was to get the new traps down to the walkway. Craig actually drove them down on Saturday as far as he could but from there it is still quite a walk to the lookout point.
 
So we set out about 1.30 and were also able to drive down to the pile of traps. Then we loaded them on to our packs. I had three, Jan had three, Niall had two, Sue had two and Jon, who was a bit behind came in the end with five! Crazy. I told him not to take this many. Three at the most! But no he had to take five! So that meant with one go we had already 15 traps down there. So only one more trip. By 2.30 we had them at the lookout point!
 
They want to do more work so we start taking them down onto the walkway. Each trap we measured how far we went so all are in same distance. I hoped we would make it down to the other traps so that the trap line would all be joined up. But when we deployed our last trap we were three short! But it was enough for a day and we headed back where I cooked dinner. And we had good wine too and a whiksy after by the fire. Great day.
 
Plus on the way down we also got a possum!
 
Then today we headed out a bit earlier in fact 10.30. I decided that we take the first three traps at the top down to the bottom and join it all with the ones already there and then work our way up and maybe space all the other traps a bit more so the whole of the walkway would be covered with traps.
 
It was great team work. I showed them the first trap and what to do and then Jon and Jan were in charge of baiting the traps with egg and peanut butter and set the mechanism plus label the trap. Then Sue and I went ahead to next trap and I put trap on phone with GPS and numbered it. Niall was in charge of distance. So from each trap he would measure 60 steps, then make a mark and go further up and fetch a trap and bring it down. Then he also made little platforms for the traps to sit on. Then Sue and I would come along do again GPS and I would nail a blue marker thingy on to the trap for Jon then to put the number on to it.
 
So it took a while and the line stretched more and more and in the end Niall caught up with the traps from yesterday only now he had to take them further up again because his 60 steps were a bit longer as our measurements yesterday. In this way we made steady progress and almost reached the top of walkway!
 
But then I counted the traps and we were at number 88 but the last trap should have been 89! Niall must have missed a trap somewhere. He decides to go down in search of it. Then Jan follows him a bit later and she finds the trap not far away! Niall had walked right passed it again. Anyway Jan brings the trap up and I put it basically at the top of the walkway. You see it in the photo. Then Niall turns up again and he had gone all the way to the bottom. He deserves a beer tonight.
 
So magically we have covered the whole walkway up to the lookout point now with traps! What good work that all was. Now they have gone home and we have quiet evening. You can see the traps on website numbered 70 to 89!