Nimbin - the town the 70's forgot

The public washrooms at Nimbin

We decided to take a road trip inland to the little town of Nimbin, then out to the coast to Byron Bay and back home to Surfers Paradise.  Although it wasn't planned, how could we not stop in a town with a name like this?

Tumbulgum - just down the road from Murwillumbah.  

There wasn't much there, except for a lovely little riverside park.  And then we saw this house with a rather extraordinary decoration on the front verandah.  No idea why they chose this, but I had to take a picture!

A gun-wielding scarecrow on the balcony of this house.  Love the
gangster hat.

Nimbin came highly recommended by our relative Brian, and by our daughter Allison.  It was a step back in time to the early 70s - wow!  It was kind of fun, but kind of weird at the same time.  Apparently there was a quirky museum here, but it burned down last year.  It's likely there was quite a 'heady' scent in the air that day, as I understand it had a large collection of cannabis leaves!

A little history on the area - the first white settlers were a surprise to the local aborigines, as the area was considered to be a place of male initiation, and not a place for women.  However, the family stayed and soon the area was a large dairy and beef cattle raising zone.

Well, what else would you call your soccer team in Nimbin?

A very colourful village.

The main drag of town.  

The people of this region call it the Rainbow Region.  Apparently, because of all the valleys and hills here,  rainbows are spectacular and frequent.  That's one reason.  The other is that since the early 1970s, and the first Aquarius Festival, Nimbin has been home to people who are focussed on developing alternative living styles.

It's not just fences that get painted like a rainbow here.

You can buy tie-dyed bedspreads.  I resisted.

Nice decorations :-)

Pretty much says it all

This probably captures the essence of the place best of all.

OK, I can work with this.

No library here.  Just a book exchange.

Aboriginal rock garden sculpture.

This is remarkably similar to west coast Canada first nations art.

The rainbow theme continued.

Fence decor.  This was a large stuffed flying heart.

This camper fits right in.

Pretty leaves growing beside the parking lot.

The Nimbin Rocks outside of town are considered to be mystical by the local Bundjalung tribe.  The legends say visitors are welcome, but should not set up homes here as nothing will prosper in the shadow of the rocks.

Famous Nimbin rocks outside of town

We wandered around town for an hour or so, and then headed to Byron Bay.  The drive through the hills and valleys to get here was really beautiful.  Lots of winding little roads and several macadamia nut farms.  I've never really thought about such a thing, but clearly they would have to exist.  Now I know.

Beautiful tree we saw on our drive.

We actually turned the car around so we could
go back and take a picture of this!

Byron Bay is a sweet little town, with what else?  A beautiful beach.  We wandered through town, did a little shopping and then headed back home.  Our hosts told us there was a shark attack there recently on a tourist taking a surf lesson.  I don't think it ended well.  Glad I decided not to go swimming there. Allie spent a fair bit of time in BB when she was in Australia a few years ago, so it was fun to see one of the places she had told me about.

Byron Bay lookout.  I don't think there are shark nets on this beach.

Glen did a little more exploring than I did.

Looking down the beach the other way.

The Australians have a wonderful sense of irreverence.  The photos below are good examples of what we've seen while here.

Seen at a shop in town.  

The sign on the back of that truck?
"You Dump It, We Pump It.  Dr. Pooh"

A Tale of 2 Paddle Boarding Lessons

Getting some instruction before we head out on the water

During the time we've been in Australia, I've admired the surfers and paddle boarders and wished I had the nerve to take a lesson.  I finally decided to push past the "I don't think I can" and just go for it.  I bought a Groupon for a paddle board lesson . . . and then called to book it.  Of course, the guy was 'busy' and couldn't fit me in until after we were leaving - grrr!.  So I decided to go pay full price elsewhere, and took a private lesson at the Currumbin estuary near Surfers Paradise.  I checked with the instructor about sharks, and he said none had been seen in the estuary in the 8 years he's been working there, and he reassured me regarding the waterway and various reasons why they wouldn't be there.  Lots of people were swimming, so I figured it was ok.

Currumbin River Estuary - lots of people in swimming.  No sharks!

Away we go!

We've been out for about 45 minutes and I haven't fallen off yet!

Getting ready to dump myself.

It was quite easy and a lot of fun!  My instructor Paul was so impressed with how quickly I picked it up that he moved me up to a less stable board, and taught me some 'advanced' paddle strokes!  He probably uses that line on everyone, but I fell for it hook, line and sinker and felt quite pleased with myself.  He made me fall off deliberately so that I could learn to get on the board in deep water if I fall when I'm out on my own.  We went all over the estuary and into the river together, and he gave little suggestions on where to place my feet on the board, and small adjustments to where I had my hands on the paddle.  He made sure I was comfortable turning, and gave some tips with regards to wind and tides.   It was a really fun and informative afternoon.

I make a fairly large splash!

Quick out of the water . . . just in case!

Back on board - now to stand up again.

The next morning, I got a call from Groupon guy, and he said he could fit me in with another group in the afternoon, so I thought why not and went down to the Nerang River, a main river in the middle of town in Surfers Paradise.  I checked with him about sharks - he said they were there, but only at dawn and dusk!  Yikes.  I stayed very close to shore, but a few times I didn't turn fast enough and found myself out in the middle of the river.  This guy was a bit off as an instructor - he gave us a 5-minute rundown on how he needed referrals, showed us how to get on the board, and then said we should just go out and 'get a feel for it'.

Part of his advertising was that he gives a Tai Chi warmup before the lesson.  That consisted of a couple of ankle turns, a figure 8 with our hips, and pretending we were being pulled upwards by a piece of string through our bodies.  Took about a minute and a half!

Fortunately I had had my lesson the previous day, and I wound up teaching the other 4 people how to turn and how to stand up.  The instructor went to the picnic table and had something to eat.  He never called out suggestions, or tips.  He did come out at the end of the hour to take pictures for his Facebook page?!? Some lesson!  Seriously, we all could have rented a board and done it ourselves.  Oh wait, that's what we did.  Glad I only paid $19 for the groupon - I suspect that lovely New Zealand family paid full price for their lesson, and got a rental board value.

So I can balance really well on my knees.  And there might be
a shark down there.  Shall I stand or not???

This is where I got a little too far out into the middle of the river.
The two young girls behind me were part of my group.

The instructor finally came out at the end of the hour to
take photographs of us for his Facebook page.  No suggestions or
teaching happened!

As I was finishing up, he told me he'd like me to help take the board and paddle to his truck as it was the last lesson of the day.  He then had the nerve to ask me for a good rating on TripAdvisor.   Anyhow, paddle boarding is fun, great exercise and actually kind of relaxing.  I'll definitely do it again.  Now I want to learn to surf!

Looking down the river from our paddling site

A follow up to all this - we went out the next day on a canal/river cruise which was mostly on the same Nerang River.  Part of the commentary by the hostess was that the river was home to bull sharks, and officials had been monitoring a 3.5 meter bull shark for the past few days, which was why we wouldn't see any swimmers in the river.  As she was telling us this, we were literally passing right by the spot where I had the lesson the day before.  EEEEEP!

This is fun!

Fraser Island - a LOT of sand!

Cars headed down the 'highway' on Fraser Island.
4-wheel drive only here, please.

We decided that this is probably the closest we'll ever get to Fraser Island, so it would be smart to take a tour bus up there.  Our day started at 6:30 am when we were picked up by the bus right outside our house, and then we drove for 90 minutes to the Great Sandy National Park.  On the way, we saw a group of 4 kangaroos hopping in the distance through a farmers field.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo!

We drove through the little town of Hervey Bay out to a sandy tip of land, and drove onto a large barge of a ferry.  No dock - they just put down the car gangplank and on you go!  It was about a 15 minute crossing to Fraser Island, and once on the island, away we drove along 75-Mile Beach.  Fraser Island is a giant sand dune - it's 123 km in length and 22 km at the widest spot.  It's covered in freshwater creeks and lakes, as well as beautiful rainforest.  Sharks are common in the ocean off Fraser, so the lakes are a better bet for swimming!

Leaving the 'dock' at Hervey Bay

Looking back on the 'ferry terminal'

Tour busses on the ferry.

Arriving at the Fraser Island ferry terminal

75-mile Beach highway

After about 15 minutes, we stopped along the beach at one of the creeks and had morning tea.  From there, we drove up the beach a bit further and then onto one of the sand roads to go inland to Lake Mckenzie.  The beach sand here is pure white silica and powdery soft.  The water was incredibly clear and a perfect temperature for a swim.   We were told the water is so pure that few species of fish can actually live in it.  Weird!

We stopped by a stream for morning tea on the beach

Stream flowing - so clear you can barely see the water!

These little sand balls are apparently left behind by sand crabs.

Lilies in the stream

The super clear waters and white sand of McKenzie Lake

Glen went in the water too!

White silica sand - gorgeous to look at and lovely
to stand on!

We spent about an hour in the water, and then walked back through the trails to the picnic area where our bus driver had laid out a beautiful bbq lunch for us, complete with wine and beer.  We had pre-ordered our lunches.  I had fish and Glen had steak.  There were a few kookaburras lurking in the branches above - just waiting for someone to leave their lunch unattended so they could swoop in and steal it.  I don't think they managed to get anything!  The picnic area was all fenced  to protect against dingos, and the signs everywhere warn against leaving out food that will attract them.

Pathway from the lake to lunch.  They put down these
interlocking plastic tiles to keep the path intact
I guess.  This entire island is a sand dune - crazy
how much plant life lives on it. This was a lovely fern-tree.

Looking to share some of our lunch?

Glen enjoying his lunch

Kookaburras hovering above Glen's head

After lunch, we drove along the sand road ( it was really bumpy! ) to Wangoolba Creek in the heart of the rainforest and did a tour through with our guide who had a wonderful knowledge of the plants and trees we were seeing.

Near a campground - a locker for storing food so the dingos
can't get at it.

Looking down on the creek - it looks like I'm looking at sand.  The
water is so clear it barely registers to the naked eye.

Wangoolba Creek hike - beautiful!

Strangler fig tangling itself on a big tree

Beautiful - but I doubt the tree thinks so.  The strangler
fig will eventually kill it.

Ghost gums in the forest - startling white trunks
against the darker forest.

This plant is its own little ecosystem on the trunk
of the tree.  It traps water and sediment from the
rain, and uses that to grow on the tree.  It takes
nothing from the tree itself.  So pretty.

Same thing - higher up!

The great sandy road on Fraser.  You can see how deep and soft
the sand is.  The ride is VERY bumpy!  It's obvious why only
4-wheel drive vehicles are allowed on the island.

There is a lot more to Fraser Island that we didn't get to see on a one-day tour, but I was so glad to get to see the small part of it that we did - it's a truly spectacular place and well deserving of it's World Heritage listing.  If I ever get the chance, I'll go back and spend a few days there.

Our trip home was interesting as well.  We didn't take the roadways - instead, we drove along the sand highway of Rainbow Beach for a long ways.  Our final stop of the day was for afternoon tea and a good look at these beautiful sand cliffs - the colours were amazing.  We were advised to stay away and avoid climbing on them in case of a sand avalanche!

Colourful sand cliffs on Rainbow Beach!

This gives an idea of the height of the sand cliffs

The beach highway with some beach crab leavings

Afternoon tea stop

Only in Australia - speed limit signs on the beach!

So most of the traffic is coming from the beach - one wonders
about this set of tracks . . .

The bus dropped us back at home at about 5:30 pm - nice to have door-to-door service.  It was a really fun and interesting day, and if I had it to do over again, I'd sure have spent more time there.  Beautiful!

Flowering tree near the house

Flowers near the driveway

Love this bush - I don't know if these are berries or
flower buds.  They are a beautiful powdery burgundy colour

Pretty flowers growing near the house