Going to the Heads

It wasn’t unduly cool overnight but it did seem to rain most of the time and certainly is doing so right now (7:15).

With the grotty weather I chose to spend a little time reading the latest edition of the Byron Shire Echo.  There were several interesting points in this.  

The previous edition had been their 25^th Anniversary and they had duly had an awards night, featuring Julian Morrow (from The Chaser) as guest speaker.  This edition included the text of his remarks.  Apparently he has been lodging a classified ad in the Echo seeking work, but as it was positioned between “Deep Masculine Honouring“ and “Best Body Rub Anywhere” he wasn’t getting  much action.   He thought the headline for the ad – Non-Tantric Wanker – was a fair description.

There were several letters about new restrictions on dog walking.  It seemed that the main idiots in this business are the jobsworths of the NPWS (see entry about the lighthouse).  They also seem to be responsible for the restrictions in Great Lakes and Eurobodalla.  I repeat my question as to why they are not fighting the coal seam gas interests instead of tourists or pensioners walking their small dogs.

On the subject of gas, there was also a comment from a media relations factotum at Origin Energy saying how folk have got it wrong about coal seam gas.  Apparently they are not using potable quality water so it is OK.  This dude is such a goose he doesn’t realise that such an obviously misleading statement reduces everything he says to the level of bullshit (as that substance is also accompanied by methane it seems a particularly apt analogy).

After a short visit to the Pacific Highway to Brunswick Heads we went for a walk along the banks of the Brunswick River, where the most interesting birdlife were some very lairy chooks.  I couldn’t bring myself to claim them as lifers (and since they were all roosters could hardly claim they were a self-sustaining population). 

 We then went for a walk in the Dog Exercise Area at Brunswick Heads (just North of Byron Bay.  This was such a short area as to be pointless: the main reason for stopping seemed to be a Nature Reserve immediately behind the beach.  In the hours we have spent on these beaches I have not seen a dog leave the beach to go into the dunes: the ones that are likely to do so are going to be strayers, and they will not be stopped by the signs.

In one community we drove through we saw a young woman exercising two ferrets,  on leads.  Since the livestock subject to bans appear to be dogs, horses goats and pigs we presume she can take her ferrets wherever she pleases.  As can the owners of alpacas, llamas and cows!

A better walk followed at Ocean Shores.  By this time the wind was really howling (the rain had stopped) and the blowing sand was probably unpleasant for a small dog.  She didn’t complain however.  At the entrance to the beach there was a notice about Pied Oystercatchers breeding in the area, and asking folk not to let their dogs chase them.  As far as I could see this was put up by the community rather than NPWS.  It does offer some rationalisation for restrictions on dogs near suitable habitat, but in this season I doubt if there is an Oystercatcher of any species breeding nearer to this beach than Kamchatka.  And if the restriction was for the dogs to be on leads in the breeding season then they shouldn’t chase anything.

 By the end of this we had had enough hopping in and out of the car so went home.  I gave my legs a bit of work riding the bike around various parts of the area near our house, but couldn’t bring myself to ride up to the lighthouse.