Blowing in the wind by Sandy Shore

Bird of the Day:   Brahminy Kite

Plant of the Day:  Banksia sp: this includes both Banksia serrata (old Man Banksia) and B. marginata (Coastal Banksia).

Scene of the Day;  Looking North from Bangalow Rd.  Covers down the hill to the sea, up the coast and then across to the mountains behind.

Art of the day;  Crab shop front at Terranora Broadwater.  Apart from the nifty artistry they need praise for erecting an Osprey nest platform on top of the shop!

Typically Australian thing of the day:  A 'real town' has four religious type places.  Anglican, Catholic and 1+ non-Conformist (mainly Presbyterian) churches plus a Masonic Lodge.  A contender here is “man wearing shorts (with elastic sided boots and straggly beards)” but that may be a local problem.

Maximum Temperature 21 Minimum temperature  9

Distance travelled  with camper  0 without camper 190

This morning we decided to walk down towards Stokers Siding to see what was there.  Our departure was watched Hosanna's avian answer to Vultures: the Australian White Ibis that scavenge in the garbage trailer.

As we got down to the village some White-headed pigeons were evident and one posed for a photo.

The bus stop was well muralised ...

.. and some other work, the meaning of which escapes me, was nearby.

This honour roll was ...

in the Memorial Hall.

A new memorial for the Register!

We then set out for the Byron Bay area.  Our first passage was through the interesting village of Mooball.  Despite the Friesian motif that decorates most of the town.....

 ... the name is apparently pronounced like a petrol company 'Mobil'.    Go figure.

Before getting to 'the bay' we swung in to Burleigh Heads, where not a lot was happening except a rather nasty wind, keeping the birds away.

Then inland to Mullumbimby, in the foothills.  They had a generally very pleasant main street and a major side street featuring the Court house.

Next door was the very well set up War Memorial.

As some bits of it looked very recent additions I snapped them for checking against the content of the Register.  (It wasn't there, but it is now!)

At the next intersection this fountain had been created to celebrate those members of the Council who developed a hydro-electric scheme for the town.  Done in 1926 it is thought to be the first hydro-electric scheme in Australia.

One of the historic pubs!

It was not far in distance to Byron Bay.  Unfortunately  it took some time, as the concept of easy traffic flow is alien to the minds of the simians who run the Council there (I suspect they haven't been told what to do about it by the misanthropes of the NPWS who seem to run Byron Council).

Whatever: we pressed on to the beach we walked when we stayed at this burg a few years ago.  In birding terms part of the appeal is that the path to Talley Beach takes you past the poo pits, which are usually covered with waterfowl.  However a strong wind had risen and most of the birds were elsewhere.  Getting to the dunes we found many Banksia flowers both B sericea ...

.. and B. marginata.

Also some large and lurid Hibbertia flowers.

The beach was as crowded as ever.  Both to the South ....

... and the North.

However the wind was howling and blowing sand like nobody's business.  This seemed to be dissuading most of the sea-birds and all the whales so we beat a retreat to the comfort of Woolworths to get some groceries.  While Frances was doing that I snapped this character walking across:

I used up my quota of 'head' comments yesterday, but if that dude is one, his given name is Richard!

We then found our way to the memorial, one street back from the main drag.

As Byron hadn't really been that exciting we headed off to Bangalow, not having felt like stopping there a couple of days earlier when we passed through.  An excellent view across to the Coast was available once at the top of the range.

This purple flower is undoubtedly an exotic but could be the emblem of the Northern Rivers area.  It is everywhere.  My friend Alison has suggested it is probably Tibouchina sp.

After parking we were walking back to the main street when I spotted the RSL with a small plaque commenting on the nearby avenue of trees being a memorial.

This mural is adjacent to the main street ...

... where there are many interesting old buildings.

Shortly after this we were amused to meet up with the folk with the old terrier who we had met at Nimbin yesterday.  A small world indeed.  By this time we had finished with this part of the Coast and it was still early afternoon.  We're on holiday, can't waste time: what to do?

I remembered comments from the birders about Terranorda Broadwater being very interesting so we set off for there.  The drive had a few moments of interest but we eventually got to the Seagull's Club and parked.  The walk started a few metres away next door to the Crab and Oyster shops.  The crab shop included an Osprey nest (erected by the shop owners who hope to attract an Osprey)!

They could be on to a winner as we spotted an Osprey perched on an oyster lease not too far away.

Here is a view across the Broadwater.

Back to the camp with an interesting day under the belt.

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