The Randwick Art Society’s fourth annual Art and Craft Exhibition was held 15-17 March 2013 at the Prince Henry Centre, Little Bay.

The Friends of Malabar Headland Prize (value $100) for the best work celebrating Randwick city’s native flora and fauna was awarded to Marilyn Kime for her oil painting of Xanthorrhea resinifera (grass tree). This remarkable plant is part of the distinctive native flora of the Randwick City coastline and can be found in the Malabar Headland National Park.

The Friends of Malabar Headland Prize section of the exhibition

Marilyn Kime’s winning entry

Friends of Malabar Headland Prize citation

Marilyn Kime with her winning entry

Marilyn has told us some of the background to her painting:

Margaret Vazey (long term Friends of Malabar Headland member) is a tutor at our Oil Painting Group at the Coast Centre for Seniors. She has kept us all informed of the Malabar Headland and encouraged us to be interested and this year to paint it.

I am not sure of the exact location, except to say it is on the Malabar Headland!

On Sunday 3 March, the Friends of Malabar Headland participated in Clean Up Australia Day.

The Western Bushland area (now Malabar Headland National Park) was accepted as an official Clean Up Australia Day site and FoMH members worked along the Broome Street boundary from the Thompson Avenue gate.

Claire Bettington, our Clean Up Australia day Coordinator wrote:

A very good effort was put in today for Clean Up Australia Day in the Western Section, now a National Park.

As you can see, Peter Garrett joined us mid morning to give us the latest news on the Headland, and to thank us for our work.

Right to left, Jenny Hunter (Peter Garrett’s Electoral Officer) and Peter Garrett talking with Peter Fagan (FoMH Chairperson) and Barbara Tooth (FoMH Secretary)

Peter Garrett with Claire Bettington, our Clean Up Australia day Coordinator and Don Kerr, Bushcare Cordinator for the Western Bushland.

We are very pleased to report that there was a lot less rubbish this year, and it was mainly building materials, rubble, bricks, cans and bottles, with the odd bit of broken furniture.

FoMH volunteers with the rubbish they removed from the National Park

FoMH volunteers with collected rubbish ready for removal

Apart from some low mounds of building materials dumped long ago, we are now down to picking up shattered glass, mostly a legacy of past car dumping and trashing, and bottles smashed on the rocks or dumped in the bush.

Claire Bettington and Barbara Tooth scrape out and sweep up broken glass at the entrance to the Western Bushland

Let’s hope that there is no further dumping over the coming year, now that the Western Bushland is a National Park.

Thanks very much to all participants, a great job!

Claire Bettington