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.)

The Doctor’s run

The first business of the day was to visit the Caldera Farmers Market at the Murwillimbah Showgrounds.  The use of the term caldera refers to this area being the cratered remains of a massive volcano which went feral some time ago.  Mount Warning is a plug left over from that explosion.   The market was less explosive but full of very good produce, some of which was acquired by Frances while I escorted our small friend around the showgrounds.  There were various rules about what could be sold, ensuring that it was ‘farm grown’ and not someone flogging off a bunch of stuff they had just acquired at the back door to Woolworths.

We then headed back up the road a short way to watch some cane being harvested.

 Frances commented that this didn’t look much like the “Summer of the Seventeenth Doll”.  It was quite skilful keeping the trailer in position with the harvester, and the turns at the end of the swath were an intricate dozy-doh. I was most impressed with the movements of the flock of Cattle Egrets flying out of the way of the harvester and dropping immediately in behind.  At another field nearby (cut yesterday) White-faced Herons and Masked Lapwings were also getting on the deal.  A little further up the road a Black-shouldered Kite found a cleared paddock a good place to ingest a mouse plucked from an uncut field of cane.

We next headed to Tumblegum (mainly because I liked the name).  It turned out to be an historically interesting village with an old cemetery that had been ‘restored’ by a community group.  They had done a great job of putting up an access path (more like a long flight of stairs) and some interesting notice boards.  However nature was striking back with ferns in particular covering much of the ground.

 In one case a tree had obviously started growing soon after the little boy was interred. 

That was North Tumblegum and the village proper was on the other side of the Tweed.  A nice little place, although the river appeared to be used for water skiing (which probably explains the 74dB limit signs).  Another sign indicated the height of the 1959 floods – about 2m above the road beside the river. On the dry side of the road were a few shops, one of which had some very nice wood carvings.  Frances was taken with a wooden seat (referred to as a Jack and Jill seat because it was set up as a two seater with a small bench – suitable for resting pails of water or glasses of wine – between them).  Surprisingly the statement by the owner of the shop that he had shipped a seat like that to Melbourne for $370 didn’t get the credit card to appear (yet).

After a quietish afternoon I decided to go for a run up the road.  There were two possible routes: along the Garden of Eden Rd (there may well be more about this thoroughfare tomorrow) or continue on the Tomewin Rd to the Queensland border.  I decided that the latter was the go, despite the lack of a verge in some places.  This led me to think that the run should be sponsored by a doctor. I just wasn’t sure which doctor, with the choices being Phillip Nitschke or (the late) Jack Kevorkian.  I did survive it, as (apparently) did the surprising number of push-bike riders using the road.   My visit to the North Eastern State was even briefer than yesterday’s, at about 15m.  The most amusing sight was a pair of White-headed Pigeons with the male attempting to impress the female.  His routine consisted of two quick steps and then a hop, the latter causing him to jump about 5cm in the air. 

Tammie posed nicely on the deck with some mountain or another in the background.

After dark, and while preparing a barbecue, I noticed what appeared to be a very long line of flames to the East of Murwillimbah.  Obviously a large cane field has been lit up – this one was still going some 45 minutes later.  In fact it was still “going” about 3 hours later, which made me think it was actually some street lights or suchlike.

No horses, goats or pigs allowed

Sorry about the boring title but my wit was on hold today.  Probably a good thing!

I began the day by taking Tammie for a walk round the ‘hood, specifically looking for the cemetery (our abode was in Cemetery Rd).  This revealed some excellent rainforest remnants.  Bush regeneration seems quite important to the locals and a development a little bit up the road has banned cats and dogs.

On advice from Cynthia we took ourselves off to Bangalow Markets, about 15minutes drive away.  They advertised parking for $2 so we cheated and parked a bit away.  Just as well the traffic jam to get in was horrendous, completely filling the main street for at least 100 metres in both directions. 

In the middle of all this was a parked truck, possibly selling lawn ornaments.

They had banned dogs from the markets (and quite reasonably as they were very crowded) so Frances dived in while I walked round the town.

The churches were (architecturally) good examples of that sort of thing.  Some of the shop fascias were quite interesting – obviously from an age where the shopkeeper lived about their place of business.

The markets were very good.

 When my turn came I didn’t buy anything but had we any room in the car there were a number of items that would have been acquired.   For example ....

 Frances had given a bit of action on fruit and some more bromeliads.  There were a number of ‘alternative’ stalls offering: various sorts of massage (most any part of your body could be rubbed by most any part of the massagers body and/or tool kit); jewellery and/crystals; and occult nick-nacks.  The best sign was on a stall selling fire-juggling rods ‘Unattended children are welcome and will be given an expresso and a free puppy’.

The next stop was to go for a walk down the main street of Byron Bay.  This was full of young persons: I suspect the average age of folk here is about 20 years below that of Murwillumbah.  Shops were very varied from upmarket shop and jewellery fashions through new-age stuff

to standard beach crud.  However it all seemed quite mellow unlike the tawdry commercial shtick of places like Bateman’s Bay (NSW) or most anywhere in the UK with tide and sand.

We ended up at the patch of lawn overlooking Main Beach.  This had a wonderful notice outlining the many things that could not be done there.  I was VERY disappointed with the lack of (in)decent symbol for ‘no nudity’ and will refer later – possibly several times - to the range of livestock not prohibited in the area

Somewhere along the way I noticed what appeared to be the Byron Bay Environment Centre.  They had a message about coal-seam gas (click on the image to read it).

 Our stroll took us past a cafe where one of the local residents was sitting beside his foldable bowl.

Naturally Tammie went over to say hello.  At this point the Manuel responsible walked past and said  something about an upcoming dog-fight, and opined that his money would be on Tammie. Perhaps: we moved on rather than test the matter.

In the afternoon we revisited Tallow Beach.  This time we walked from the house to the beach.  This turned out to be a tad further than I had thought but still quite feasible.  The beach was as enjoyable as yesterday with many dogs paying their respects to Tammie.  One small fluff-ball seemed such fun I decided to let Tam off the lead to see what happened.  She had a great time chasing the fluff-ball around: they were both very fast and agile.  She was recaptured without too much trouble!

On the way back home I noticed a Byron Bay version of a roadside memorial.  One wonders if Donney was carrying his board on a bike when he passed on?  Few of the local cyclists wear helmets seeming to believe that scarves or dreadlocks will achieve the same effect.  However a closer inspection of this memorial showed it to include a stubby, so possibly he should have stuck to gaseous products.

 On which subject we have come across “The marijuana cookbook” which is quite amusing although the amount of butter involved in most of the recipes would do one’s cholesterol count no good whatsoever.

Many types of fings wiv wings

The day started with a few showers and continued strong wind.  This makes me pleased we had decided not to go whale watching here: the seas are rather bumpy and we haven’t seen a whale within 10 kms.

The first business of the day was to go to the Byron Bay Farmers Market.  As it didn’t seem to be on any of the schedules we wondered if it still existed but as it was only 2km away it wasn’t that much grief if it didn’t.  In fact it was there, active and popular with the punters.  My guess is that it was about 4 times the size of the Murwillumbah equivalent.  Frances got a few bits and pieces.

 The litter skips were an interesting design!

While Frances was shopping I walked around the nearby reserve with Tammie and found a fruit bat colony.  The bats given mention around here are Grey-headed flying foxes and reference to "Australian Bats" by Sue Churchill confirms that..  Looking at them closely, and comparing the head shape with that on a small dog and it isn’t hard to see where the name ‘flying fox’ came from!

 We then went for a walk along Tallow Beach in the gale.  There were not many people around (and only a small number of dogs).

One brave soul was doing something in the water- possibly body surfing.

 Just was we were coming off the beach I looked to the South and 4 kite surfers hove into view.  I was never able to get all 4 in shot at once but some images clearly show the riders.

 After this trek it was time to have a snooze.  Having recuperated I left Frances with Tammy and set off to ascend the Tallow Ridge trail to the lighthouse.  It was a very pleasant walk through brushbox and banksia (with a few palms and cycads for variety). 

Near the top a hang glider was being prepared for action and as I got out of the bush they took off (it was a tandem job – presumably for a fee).  The ride lasted about 20 minutes and should have been really exciting for the passenger as they seemed to just sit still in the air quite high above the ridge.  They eventually landed down on the beach.

 As they took off I was distracted by the sight of an Osprey in serious discussion with a Sea-eagle nearly at water level.  At one point the Sea-eagle became seriously annoyed and rolled on to its back, showing the Osprey its talons.  Sensibly the Osprey found it was scheduled for a meeting with some mullet at another venue.  Shortly thereafter the sea-eagle was up near the hang glider, but from a conversation I had with some other pilots these birds don’t attack gliders (unlike wedgetails, which do hit the gliders).  I just got a good view of Tallow Beach

and the lighthouse.

A second local paper was delivered this evening.  Again much coverage of the reduction of dog exercise areas.  There was also a story quoting the local fuehrer of the NPWS with the reasons why they have to exclude dogs.  She must be a media person: never have I read so much regurgitated corporate diktat.  I also had a conversation with some other locals (mature and very well spoken people – much like me) this evening and they said it was symptomatic of Byron Bay, with an elite concerned to maintain power and control and a very subversive majority fighting them tooth and nail.  Go for it people.