BVRT Trail Angels Update.

We had a situation a couple of weeks ago when a female cyclist developed a non-emergency medical problem and was unable to continue, so needed to be picked up from the rail trail near Ottaba.

Unfortunately, local commercial transport providers weren’t immediately available, so she had a long 2-hour wait in stormy conditions with hail until Maureen from Fernvale Transport and Shuttles was able to pick her up.

This inspired me to follow through with an initiative I’ve had in mind for some time. I’ve long thought it would be a good idea to have a network of volunteer ‘trail angels’ who would be willing to assist in such situations when trail users are unable to self-rescue.

This is not a new idea – trail angels provide a service to many trails in the U.S. and in other parts of Australia and New Zealand:

“Trail angels” are people who help hikers on long-distance trails through spontaneous acts of kindness, known as “trail magic”. This can include providing food, water, and shelter, giving rides to town, or doing laundry. These individuals are often motivated by a desire to give back to the hiking community and can be either locals or former hikers themselves.”

I posted a callout for volunteers on Facebook, and we had a very positive response. We now have 22 BVRT trail rescue angels offering to help and located in every trail town along the rail trail.

Four of them are commercial operators so obviously may charge a fee, but the others are volunteers providing a free service. Trail magic. 😊

To ensure the service is only used appropriately, their contact details won’t be published but the service can be accessed either by calling me on 0417 342854 or Chevonne Arrowsmith on 0423 477 137 and we will coordinate a response.

Thanks, Paul H for BVRT Users Association