THE WEDNESDAY HACK

Sometime during 2004 Edward Silberbauer (Ed) noticed Pieter De Waal (now sadly deceased) hacking on the verges of Betty’s Bay roads in a random fashion. Ed suggested to Pieter that he would like to join Pieter and formalise the time. And so the Wednesday hack was born. The original members were soon joined by Tom Dreyer and then John Whitehead. Various other people from both Betty’s Bay and Pringle Bay came and went over the years – and the present group consists of about 13 members. Some members are swallows and are only present at certain times of the year. Attendance at hacks varies between 5 and 12.

The members of the group obviously share the same ideals and aims as the Sunday Hack, but tend to do heavier and more difficult work.

The group is generously supported by the Kogelberg Branch of the Botanical Society.

Some of the notable areas that the group has worked on over the last 12 years are:
Ed’s Valley (including Three Flavours and Avril’s Dump) – 143 visits
The Jail (Glen Craig), including the stretch of land to the R44 – 95 visits.

Over the last month the group has hacked at Three Flavours (Pines, Rooikrans, Port Jackson Willow and Hakea), a plot in Sunny Seas (New Zealand Christmas trees), Ed’s Valley (Rooikrans and Port Jackson) and the WWF property at the top of Stream Road, Pringle Bay (Rooikrans). The area north of the R44, stretching from Three Flavours to the east of Avril’s Dump is practically clean and a truly delightful example of pristine fynbos. A tribute to both the Hacks!