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.

Back to the Index Page

Eat lerp – twenty million Silvereyes can’t be wrong

Waking up to a view of Mt Warning is a very good way to start the day.  Frances commented that it could be the most photographed mountain ever.  I’m not sure about that, unless she was forecasting the number of images taken over the next week, but it is certainly one of the most spectacular views in Australia.

 I referred above, with a small amount of contempt, to us being close to Queensland.  I think that, rather than anything to do with electronics, is to blame for us getting ABC Kids programming rather than ABC News Breakfast from 6am to 9am.  Looking – very briefly - at the program on offer I could see that it had been designed to be very politically correct: about 6 kids of all sorts of races (possibly even one gringo).   A more hopeful note is that the CGI characters all floated off with big eyes and silly grins, although neither Timothy Leary nor Ken Keasey were given credit for the script!  Bleccch!

I spent some time on the deck watching Mt Warning change colour as the sun came up and noting down the few birds who either came into view or whose calls I could recognise.  There are a lot of Whipbirds in this area.

Our main aim of the day was to visit a Market or two.  The first of these was intended to be Nimbin, not because I particularly wished to go to those markets but I did feel the village had an important role in Australia society (from the Aquarius Festival) and I wanted to see what it was like now. 

As we headed off towards Murwillumbah a strange looking bird flew into a tree.  It was sufficiently odd looking for me to back up for a good look.  What an excellent  idea: this was only the second Pacific Baza I had ever seen!

Once we turned off the Kyogle road towards Nimbin the quality of road declined dramatically.  (Taking another trip down memory lane, on our previous visit to the area I attributed the state of the Kyogle road to the Shire being unwilling to put money into a road serving a bunch of goddam hippies.)  I suspect the same still applies to Blue Knob Rd, plus the boundary between Tweed and Lismore Shires is about halfway along the road so there would also be a reluctance for one Shire to do up a road to somewhere else.

We found the market which was not exactly a hive of activity. 

Frances wandered in and acquired some bromeliads while I stayed out with Tammy and acted as referee in her discussions with a large Border Collie type beast.  The funniest bit was the BC keeping trying to pat her on the head.  It didn’t know that it was likely to lose a foot if it persevered in that approach.

The village was very interesting in a strange way.  The whole place seemed to be set up as a tourist trap but there did seem to be an underlying philosophy being marketed.

 I referred above to a couple of writers who would certainly approve of the emphasis given to certain hemp products around the town.  

This topic rears its head again in about 5 days time: it may also explain why there was a 4x4 full of NSW finest wandering around the town (it is unclear whether they had come to hassle the local entrepreneurs or to get a sack of goodies for inhalatory purposes).

The message on a door about stopping coal seam gas

 was reflected in signs in a number of spots around the area opposing fracking.  (Apart from the many problems with this nasty technology which can be supported by logical facts, the observation that it was invented by Halliburton should be enough to condemn it on emotional grounds!)  Later in the week I read that 3,000 people had attended a recent Lock The Gate rally in Murrwillumbah: well done Tweed folk!

I have since come a cross a copy of the Nimbin Good Times (describing itself as the Alternative Journal of the Rainbow Region) which has a front page story about a proposed development of a Zorbing site in the village.  The proponent thereof seems to be associated with the YHA and has all sorts of “good ideas” about making the YHA independent (from what, is not specified) plus planting 500,000 trees over 150 acres (what metric system?).  It will get tourists to spend more time in the village (current visitor stay is 4 hours).  The opponent as quoted lives next door and talks about the dam into which the Zorbas get deposited having some rushes that ducks breed in and having filmed swans there.  He also mentions “commercial venture” as though it is an obscenity (probably a fair call) and talks a lot about destroying the peace and quiet.  He is probably getting into NIMBinYism – and in his circumstances so would I: ban the Zorb!

As well as all the hippie stuff Nimbin had the usual facilities of a small country town.  The work on the outside of the bowling club was rather innovative

as was the attire of the bowlers (and the rock music being played to accompany the game.

Of course with all the tokes being took around the town there was the possibility of a roach ending up in somewhere combustible so they had a Bushfire Brigade.  The signage on the outside of the shed is again innovative.

We have got a guide to birding spots in the Tweed Valley which included the Clarrie Hall Dam.  As we were passing I thought we’d drop in for a look.  The biographical material about Clarrie started off with several words about him being hard working lad on his Dad’s selection: this had me wondering why a cow cockie got a Dam named after him.  Then it emerged that he had been Shire President for some 17 years which explained everything!  There were not a great number of birds around, but we had a great walk through the forest beside the dam and spotted a Jacana trotting across the lilies on the far side of the dam.

As we headed back we found that the Uki market was still in operation.  They had a very good musical duo doing their work, which I listened to while overseeing Tammie’s interaction with a Pomeranian.  Astonishingly the Pom seemed to be faster than she was!  Frances acquired some olive products from one of the stalls.

After getting home I spent more time on the deck looking at the hordes of Silvereyes flitting through the treetops.  I have no idea how many there were but an awful lot.  I’m not even sure they were eating lerps (ie scale insects) but I did like the reference back to a famous Australian saying about blowflies.   On continuing to watch them they seemed to be eating berries (or possibly bugs that were eating the berries).

The other notable thing about the Sunday afternoon was the number of motorbikes thundering up or down Tomewin Rd.  Obviously it is seen as a challenging road to ride hard so the lads were out and getting into it on all sorts of bikes: from the exhaust notes both Harleys and Ducatis were popular.  Presumably the cops don’t fuss about this unless the death toll gets out of order.  (Another interesting memory is that this time last year we saw the same sort of behaviour on a road across the North York Moors.)

Roadside conversations

For some reason my legs felt rather stiff and sore this morning!

We started the day by taking the small dog for a walk along Garden of Eden Rd (carrying her through the jungle  - aka rainforest – up to the road).  This was a very pleasant walk, especially compared to battling with the trucks and bikes along Tomewin Rd.  A ute full of DPI blokes went past soon after we had started and then came back out.  The second time they stopped for a chat.  This could have been:

• rural sociability; 
• rustic curiosity; or 
• checking up on suspicious characters 

(or any combination of the above).  However it was all very friendly - after nearly 5 years we can do country bumpkin quite well.

When we got to the start of the walk (or the end of the road: your call) I took a photograph of an abandoned Kombi-type vehicle.  It was unclear whether this was the jungle taking over or a deliberate bit of artistry.

At some point in this expedition I scored a photo of a spider - one of the very few we saw on this trip.

Just as we started to drop down through the jungle Frances noticed an echidna wandering across someone's lawn.  As well as the echidna, this shot shows the thatched roof over the cabana next to a pool: such an approach would be very unusual on the South Coast but fairly common up here (which probably says something about the relative ease of gathering palm fronds).

Then in to Murwillumbah for this and that.  This included me checking my emails and Frances sussing out the op-shops.  I took a few snaps of the more interesting architecture in the main street. 

When I got back to the car after that - Frances was sitting in the car doing quality assurance on a date scone- some guy was standing beside the car yelling at her.  Was he a National Party supporter objecting to us not driving a V8 ute?  Nope, all was cool: he was an honest electrician (possibly still a National Party voter, although the word honest may have to be retracted in that case) working on the shop outside which we were parked and he wanted to bag our spot when we left.  He was having to yell because the windows were up!

Frances commented that the punters of Murwillumbah – at least represented by those in the street and the op-shops - seemed a tad down-market compared to Woolgoolga.  I suspect her sample wasn’t exactly unbiased but it being court day probably didn’t help!  (The latter judgement was by me, having seen all the smartly dressed lawyers and their not-quite-so-well dressed clients sitting outside an edifice labelled ‘courthouse’.)

We headed off and as we went along had some discussion about how to get to our destination.  I knew it was in one direction and Frances kept talking about it being in another.  This became clarified when we realised I was heading for Liquorland while Frances was interested in the whereabouts of the Regional Art Gallery.  Since we went to both, this was really a question of priorities.

Liquorland seemed to offer what was needed (ie beer and red wine) for a reasonable number of shekels.  The only interesting bit there was a brand of beer called something like “Ïron Bar” complete with a picture of someone looking rather like Chesty Bond on the carton.  On reading the carton closely it turned out to have been brewed in Vietnam!

The Tweed Regional Gallery was a ripper (Frances rated it as the best Regional Gallery she had visited).  Rather large and with several display spaces.  One had a collection of Indigenous Artist prints with just about every big family (and most areas except the desert and Kimberly) represented.  That turns out to have been a touring exhibition from the Australian Maritime Museum.  They also had the Olive Cotton Photographic portrait competition which is run through this Gallery.  A very interesting set of work, including explanation of the various types of printing used (NGA take a hint).  The Gallery also specialises in collecting portraits and an excellent display of them around.  (I initially thought this was the Archibald on tour, but the quality was too high.) 

One work which seemed to go against categorisation was representations of each State’s floral emblem.  It was interesting that 7 of the 8 had labels of the form <State name> <vernacular flower name> <scientific flower name>.   In a display of typical arrogance the 8^th just had “Waratah” “Telopea speciosissima”.  Of even more interest was that the material used to create these works was cane-toad skin!

To top this off I stepped outside and noticed a large farm dam which managed to add three species to the trip list (of which Forest Kingfisher was the pick since they are supposed to have migrated away by now). 

Going outside also let me get a snap of some rock sheep.  Mounts Cougal form the far background.

As we passed back across the plain on the way home we got some photos of the after effects of canefield burning and stubble burning as it happens.

I took a walk up the road to get some snaps of this and that which I had noticed on my camera-challenged run.  The second image was not taken in Queanbeyan (perhaps this is something to do with names starting with 'Que..?).   If that was a crash from the road, I doubt if anyone survived this 20m drop.

 Mission accomplished, and as I was walking back a Ford Laser pulled up beside me.  It appeared to contain 5 lads whose appearance (such of it as could be seen around the sunnies and hoodies worn by most of the 5) and accents suggested they may have just come from Friday prayers.  The conversation went as follows:

• Driver “Excuse me, does this road go to Nimbin?”
• Me “Yes follow the road into Murwillumbah and there are signs to Nimbin.  Follow the road to Uki.”
• Front passenger “Ah.  Thanks mate.”
• Voice from back seat “Do they sell a lot of weed in Nimbin?”
• Me “I believe they have been known to do so.”
• Omnes “Ha ha ha!”

and off they went.  Obviously I am safe from charges of impersonating a police officer!

By this time the sky had become clouded over, and a couple of hours later it was drizzling when I put Tammie on the lead for a toilet stroll.  The moister weather had got the toads out, as I realised when I looked down and saw her nose to nose with one.  Fortunately she didn’t seem to realise what it was so didn’t try to eat it: cane toads are poisonous.  The required first aid is to stick a hose in the dogs mouth and make it vomit up the eaten material.  Trying to get Tammie to open her mouth when she doesn’t want to is a task removed from the labours of Hercules as being too hard!