JACARANDA WEEK IN GRAFTON
CHINESE IN NEW ENGLAND. A post by Jim Belshaw.
Life could be dangerous. In May 1852, the Phoenix sank on its way to the Clarence River with 12 Chinese on board[ A thirteenth was found wandering the beach with the Aborigines. He was reportedly quite mad, although no-one knew how he had got there.
That response was motivated by the DRAGON BOAT RACES. I was given a potted version of when they came to the Clarence and under whose auspices but have since heard several variations on that. Controversy has been an underlying thread of this very impressive week. I shan’t mention much of it due to being under a self-imposed regime of cynical minimalism. It has, however, been there – or rather “here”. Even the Jaca King was heard to utter withering remarks from the stage in Market Square as the Country Energy skit was cut short due to gathering clouds.
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This final stage of the Festival has encountered flooding rains – again. Coffs and Bellingen have taken the worst of it – again but I didn’t go to the VENETIAN BOAT PARADE which I had fancied and won’t be trying the TAFE MARKETS today nor, most likely, the STREET PARADE tonight. The Galahs are truly enjoying themselves and I see that the purple on the trees in the Showground here in Ulmarra is almost done. There’s something poignant in that for me. |
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One of the ‘disputes’ this year seems to have been over the location of the ‘ commercial ‘ markets and the conclusion came that they went ‘round the corner’ , leaving the main street, PRINCE STREET, to the the businesses and shopkeepers. I almost missed this experience and am very glad I didn’t. I have almost forgotten the time before Commercialism. The time when Street Parades were improvised, ‘local’ and inclined to all manner of adventure and misadventure. |
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I should like to travel more and see more places, more towns. There are subtle differences between towns and communities and I like this town- and would like to see others. They closed the Main Street and the population was dressed in all flavours of purple and other madnesses. The businesses were the ones who put on acts and shows. I do like walking down streets which are otherwise vehicular. |
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I was heading up Prince Street, well pleased at the mayhem when we encountered some Emporium acquaintances who directed us to Market Square, where, they informed us, the businesses would be putting on their final performances for the judges. |
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ROY BOWLING from Tucabia was making his farewell appearance as Town Crier after Many Years. That had a poignancy for me as well. I have seen him cracking whips at the Nursing Home Fete. Times pass and memories – particularly some fragile emotional recalls – have been tickling me since I came back down to this Mid North Coast Area in May. |
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The thought that these people are our Country Energy People is a little challenging. NO ENTRY FEE. No hidden charges. Wonderful. Simple Community Life. In an old newspaper from the NLA ONLINE NEWSPAPERS, I read of an early Tweed River Xmas ( 1800s) where some Gents climbed Mt Warning while the Community partied in a hall at the Sugar Mill in Murwillumbah. the Gents then let off fireworks at midnight from the top of the mountain. Jaca Day had some of that same heady elixir for me. Very little political correctness. Crossed and included all the generations. No more than a touch of the generic globalisation. Home baked cakes and preserves. |
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Our CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCIL. I shall say little more. These links will show more dimensions. Now the rains are here – and yet, I suspect that somehow the Floats will proceed right through town tonight. The flame trees are red. The Jacas had a perfect week as well as behaving ideally for my birthday and all is well on the Clarence. |
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| http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119380&id=547151341 | GCOUNTRY |
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I am closing with a few images from WESTLAWN Finances. I did not expect to see a CAN CAN in the middle of MARKET SQUARE – nor the stunning beauty of these girls, their outfits and dance. Splendid ! |
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JUST GETTING STARTED http://theoldproverbialrecovery.wordpress.com/
DRAGON BOAT RACES 2009
http://www.jacarandafestival.org.au/other_events.htm
TIMES APPROXIMATE.
Music starts at 9.00a.m. Izzy Foreal is Emcee for this day of boats, dragons and music. Down near the Crown Hotel in Prince Street Grafton. Its JACARNDA tme so come along for a Sunday filled with all manner of antics and activities.
The morning opens with Tycho Drums. A Japanese form of drmming ( Taiko). The Dragon Boats take off to this mixture of adrenaline and martial arts discipline.
9.20-10.05. HEADLAND follows. Local group – Woopi and Corindi. Some Irish Music with orginal compositions and contemporary music.
10.10-11.10. LA BIA ZULLI. 4 powerful women with vibrant harmonies and cross cultural influences.
11.15 – 12.00 LOST IN TEXAS. country pub rockin’ blues. 4’seasoned’ musos so they tell me.
12.05-12.35. DRUMS ON FIRE. djemba drummers. Local Drummers to keep you going.
12.40-1.25. TYCHO DRUMS are back for 15 minutes.
1.50.-2.2.0 DRUMS ON FIRE.
2.25-3.25. MR KRANKY. a 5 piece band. Mix of originals and covers from ‘The Legends”.
60 YEARS OF LYNNE
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I like roses. Have done so for a very long time. I called my Company in the 1970s, “THE WHITE ROSE TRADING COMPANY” and I still like them. My sister and brother and brother-in-law, arrived with two huge bundles of roses from the ROSE FARM at HALFWAY CREEK, halfway between Grafton and Coffs Harbour along with a potted miniature white rose. Take a look at the pink and the deep traditional blooms. BENEFIELD’S ROSE FARM it is.
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In the week since the Lazy Weekend in Ulmarra, I have thought about many things. There were things I could have done better or worse, things which could have gone better or worse – what actually happened was a weekend which I now place amongst the happiest of my memories. A Seal of Approval. |
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My Mother collected buttons and I have them now. The Mob from Armidale spent hours on the living room floor sorting them into colours but were defeated in the end by time and numbers. Quite a few are back in jars but the remainder is in the big papier mache fruit bowl my brother once gave me. |
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My sister gave me the spiralling selenite on the left. She tells me that if it were wet enough, long enough, it would dissolve. Behind it are the books we bought for $9 at a garage sale in South Grafton and which we find to be worth a nice little amount. |
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A good deal of the things which made this birthday special, were the things which are not ‘special’. The ordinary things of life which are not always there and not often there en masse. This time, the stage was set, the characters well chosen and ready for their performances and the props and stunts were spot on. The little doings of life – how sweet they are !
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We don’t do all that much ‘family’ due to distance but last week we did and then after my flock left, in came Izzy’s brother and his wife. I was feeling a bit at the outer limits of weariness but it was an easy and happy visit as well. Lots of laughter and talking and off they went in the Focker Mobile. Another good one ! |
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Can’t pull the essence of the Weekend out just now. Its something to do with the sum of the parts being greater than the whole. And some of the parts were : For the first major occasion in my life in more than 20 years, I have a good man in my life. The family came from distant places. Its a grand thing to look up and see your kids arriving. Grandkids and Pregnant Daughters. |
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We sat on outdoor furniture in a large backyard. With a Hills Hoist. I had both my siblings here. Its done. There were many years when none of these things was in my life. There were many years when – life didn’t seem destined for the good times. So when they come, I live well within them.
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60 YEARS
BIRTHDAY COMING UP
Phone calls are coming now and the MOB from Armidale will be here tomorrow night or early Friday. The Bello people on Friday. For now the dust is here and the wild winds. No matter, Ulmarra Pool is opened and the Grandchildren have their swimmers on.
Two Kingfishers.
I looked out the backyard the day before yesterday and on the Hills Hoist was a kingsfisher, much the same colour as my pegs. Yesterday, a mate joined it.
TATTOO
Today I went to Pariah Piercing and got my first tattoo ever. I now learn that it was Tommy Baker I first went to in Kings Cross in 1969. I didn’t get tattooed then but today I did. Very small and very diffident but it is done.
REFLECTIVELY INTO 60.
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I turn 60 on October 19, 2009. Ulmarra has developed into a very reflective place for me and so I am taking advantage of introspection as this fortnight passes. Today, one of my random photographic wanders through my hyphenated head. On the left are the parents of my Father. The little lady is ELIZABETH CRAIG, daughter of Thomas Craig and Martha Julian. The seated gentleman is JOHN GEORGE SANDERS. They married on the Macleay River in Northern NSW. Then lived in Sydney for most of their lives. At Hurlstone Park. I didn’t meet my grandmother. She died during WWII while my father and his brother were overseas. |
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The inner ceiling of the shed at CLARRIE HALL DAM, Just out of Murwillumbah. |
For this introspection, I am letting my thoughts hop like grasshoppers – landing where and when they will. I was born in 1949 in Sydney. Summer Hill Sydney and live my childhood in the suburb of Belmore. Summer Holidays we went north to Urunga for 3 weeks at a time. I had a lot of stability and reliable frameworks in which to grow. It was not until 2001 that I did more than pass through the far north of NSW briefly. In 2001, I moved to the Tweed River and lived there till May 2009. It was only last year, 2008, that I began to discover the presence of the BELL family on the Tweed in the 1850s-60s.
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The MOB went to live in Armidale in 2004 or so. That re-introduced COLD to me. I don’t do COLD very well. I am not one who enjoys the wearing of beanies and thick socks. |
I wasn’t raised on the Aussie BBQ. I think we had ‘PICNICS’ when I was little. ‘PICNICS’ have their own unique beauties and travails. The one on the left is a combo. BBQ and Picnic out at GARA GORGE.
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My introduction to the New England which took me, as a Coastal Woman, past my natural resistance, did show me places I had not seen before. Took me into BIG SKY COUNTRY and even to LYNLAND. I do keep a bag of clothing up there in Armidale. Clothes which I have not needed in my 8 years on the Tweed where winters are warm. |
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I don’t like the GOLD COAST. I am glad to have left there. I DID like parts of the Tweed River although “progress” is eating at its spirit as well. Living there was a ‘temporary’ thing. A ‘diversion’ of some kind. It was a detour which at times seemed to me to be very much along the ‘wrong’ road. At other times, I was able to learn from it, rest within it and simply wait for a Caravan to come along , hoist me onto a camel’s back and lead me out of there and across the deserts to a new home. |
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I lived for a period of time , in Tumbulgum, a small village on the Tweed. In 2008, I discovered it was the homeplace of the aforementioned relatives in the 1850s-60s. The BELLS, the MACLEODS. Grandfather John Bell was there with his wife, Mary Ann McNeill and the children. I then moved to Bilambil , an even smaller village nearby. I moved onto the property of the Bulpitts and lived in BILAMBIL COTTAGE, where I encountered much kindness and stability. We also had a few BBQs there in the BILAMBIL COTTAGE. |
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I have also spent a good deal of time involved in activities which mean very little to me. That’s something I want to pay attention to and do less of. For a time, I did little of that. Then, when the MOB went west I began to FILL my time a little less thoughtfully and found myself BORED. I don’t often get ‘bored’ at home but I DO get bored doing things I would prefer not to be doing. That needs some looking at. |
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One of the things I am gradually missing is the sheer exotic subtropical beauty of the Bilambil Cottage. Those of us who MOVE a lot, well we get benefits others don’t – but we also have sorrows others don’t. Not even true nomadics or Sundowners – just movers-on and evictees. I would struggle to name or number the places in which I have lived in 60 years and they are all contained on the east Coast with only some brief ventures slightly inland to Canberra, Tumbarumba and Armidale. The only cities I have lived in are Sydney and Brisbane. I have , however, lived on the Hill in Bilambil, with the sun rising of a morning. Now, I sleep in an old wooden room with curtains and the sun rises on the other side of the house, way east of here. |
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My Kids are grown and I have 2 granddaughters and another grandchild due in January 2010. Tomorrow I am getting the Nana Tattoo from South Grafton Tattoo parlour. I went for a tattoo way back in about 1969 in Kings Cross. I didn’t get one that day and I haven’t had one since so tomorrow is significant – TO ME. It was that or University for the first time. That might still come. They were both on my list for 60. |
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One of my children, the younger one, likes to take photos of flowers, amongst other things. These blossoms are up in Armidale in A November. |
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Sitting here this afternoon, pondering – when the clouds come over and now HAIL. So far, it has been , since May - FLOODS , SMOKE, DUST AND HAIL. Interesting times indeed. There IS a rainbow across the paddocks. |
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I am trying to reflect on earlier times and places and to locate myself on the North Coast. Each photo I stumble across seems to lead me back up into the mountains to the Armidale Clan and the Cold Places. I did like being in Armidale, highest city in Australia, when the roses came out in January and the perfumes scented the streets.
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Its coming on for darkness now in the first week of this year’s daylight saving. There is some hail damage to Izzy’s Starwagon and the house seems to be off one of his stumps which is a little worrying. The Charade is under the house where I managed to get it while the hail hit. Across the way, the paddocks are white from the ice mists rising. It has a suggestion of the way it looked in the May Floods. Out back, the shed copped the worst of it. That’s because of the derelict iron roofs and gaps half a metre wide . The peach tree has been stripped of 100s of little peaches and the azalea which I thought would be in fine bloom for the party is now shredded. |
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I lived in Bilambil Cottage from 2005 – 2009. Quite a long time for me. For ne year of that time, I spent the weekdays and nights in Brisbane and came home on weekends. For the first year, 2005-2006, or so, I lived there alone. My father passed away during that time and my granddaughter was born in Tweed heads Hospital. At the Cottage, I was on the Hill looking East to the Coral Sea. The Whiskey Grass grew and shone with its own curious redness. My friend, Nicci, calls it molasses grass. The reasons are the same. The wagons which transported goods way back in the 19th century, carried the seeds in their wheels and spread them beside the roads. |
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One thing I have done for a lot of my life is sit at windows and LOOK OUT. I usually sit at a desk and WRITE. Way back, it was in Belmore at a desk my Dad built for me. It had its own fluorescent light above it. Must have been a new concept because I was very thrilled. He gave me a book of Greek Legnds at the same time and I thought the two things were the best ever to happen to me. Since then, I have sat at many windows and looked out on many things. Today, I sit up in an attic and look South over the paddocks to where my family lives . Not that I can see them. One is an hour and half south and one is 2 1/2 hours SW up in the mountains. Nevertheless, when I sit at this window, they are what I see – way past the cows and the farmhouses and the hail left from this afternoon’s storm. |
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Over at the auction before the hail destroyed the Auction Rooms. |
A few years back, 2006 as I recall, I took the Countrylink Train from Tweed Heads to Grafton, hopped the Moree Coach up the Gwydir Highway to Glen Innes. The MOB picked me up at the Information Centre and we headed back down the New England Highway to Armidale. Quickly. Due to Clouds and strangely dark skies. Near Guyra we were stopped by a police car ‘slewing’ to a halt across the Highway and re-directing us round fallen wires. We had already sheltered from one hailstorm under a garage en route. Off we went round the back roads on mud and dirt with the stream of highway traffic following us. It was a noble job of driving by the Wee Lass. Once we reached Armidale we were faced with the damage caused by a huge storm. Here’s a few links which might tell you a little. Christmas , it was and we were all a little shell shocked methinks.
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I can’t quite recall where this house is . It is one of the great aunts and uncles. It is also someplace on the North Coast of NSW. It looks too steep for the Laurieton houses and could be Uncle Jim at Wingham. That’s my Poppa Bell holding the child. I think thats my cousin Ross Carter in his arms. That puts the Photo in app. 1950-51. |
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Here’s the road to Bilambil Cottage and that’s my wee cottage at the end of the drive. Once, my children’s brother noted that I “ always lived in postcards” and this was one of the beautiful ones. |
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There is ice in our yard this evening and most of the peaches have been ruined. There was ice in the yard when my children’s father turned 50 a few years back. It wasn’t from hail. It was a July Birthday in Armidale and the birds were out of luck. |
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In 2007, I lived from time to time in Brisbane, a city I knew next to nothing about. I rather liked Brisbane but one thing I know about it now is that parts of Brisbane are HILLY. We lived in Red Hill and did some pretty bigtime walking. Morris Street near Paddington Woolies is a street where Izzy lived way back in 1970 just prior to attempting a one stage drive back to Sydney which left him floating in the Manning River at Taree. |
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With sleep approaching on the eve of my first tattoo, I shall leave you with the view from a jetplane flying out of Coolangatta and heading South to Sydney in 2006. That’s Kingscliff and the mouth of the Tweed River down below. I feel a little clipped of wing at the moment – ah but the SAAB flies in and out of Grafton Airport so we shall see. Sleep Well. |
SIMPLE JOTTINGS
2 weeks till I turn 60 so I am truly in reflective mode now. Its cool and wet today and a Public Holiday. I am sitting at the back of the Living Room, looking out over the paddocks and wondering about a great many things. Corrugated iron and frogs croaking in the pipes. At the Showground, jacarandas are coming into flower and bagels and tea are heating in the kitchen.

I am feeling a little trapped on the North Coast again, and I am, so I’d best do some reclaiming again today. Some exploring perhaps.
Yesterday, they held the goanna pulling championships at Wooli. That’s something I have never seen and don’t particularly wish to. The bridge to bridge boat race was on the Clarence and WIDE RIVER CAFE had live music all day. The Pacific Highway weaves its narrow snaking way North, South through the northern Rivers and the slight edge of madness which accompanies a 3 day holiday in Spring touches the entire village.
WIDE RIVER MUSIC TODAY
SUNDAY and that means the Breezeway at the Wide River Cafe for me. It means music, and home cooked food. It means – the Bookshop and Jacka Dandy and Village Life. Its colder today. My Mother always said that my birthday could be as cold as winter or as hot as summer or anywhere in between. Today its cooler and clouded. I shall take a walk along Coldstream and join the Band,
DUST STORM
I am watching now as a dust storm comes across from the West. The wonders of Facebook had already let me know that it had hit Copmanhurst and now its here. Izzy went walking in it but I am INSIDE tille it passes. Now that’s eerie. The sky yellows and a darkness comes.
Best go shut some windows. The airports are shut. Sydney is RED.
NOVELS OF THE 1812 WAR
Really hard to find novels on the subject. I only found 2: Voyage to Honor: a historical novel:the War of 1812 by Robert H. Fowler; Beyond the Thunder-of-the-Waters: a novel of the War of 1812 by Janice Doyle Collins
MONDAY IN SEPTEMBER
I have always had a fondness for MONDAYS – perhaps because its rarely been the start of a working week for me. I like this Monday , which has the blessings of a Northern Rivers Spring. Tweeting birds and sunshine with a fresh edge to the day. Fond memories, though unprocessed as yet, of the weekend and pleasant prospects to contemplate.
That doesn’t entirely neutralise the enemy within, if enemy it is, who would paint the days grey for me. It does, however, help.
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I often need to consciously programme myself out of the deception of misery. I find it easier to do on a Spring Monday in September than in the middle of a Winter. Yesterday at the Wide River Cafe, the general complaint was of the Heat. As for me, the hot setting suits my broken emotional thermostat. |
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Another way in which I keep Acedia at Bay is the Wandering Reflection. Particularly appropriate in this month which completes the first 6 decades. A Wandering Photographic Reflection. Yesterday at the Opening of the Wide River Cafe Breezeway, Andrew Hegedus interrupted his service of home cooked food and fine coffee, to join Izzy and KSM on stage. Andrew vibrates with energy and vision and has been a Good Friend to us here on the Clarence. With my own inclination to Morbidity, I do well with the company of the kindly and the vibrant. |
Andrew with Karl Mullan from Busby Flat. |
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Sunday lunch has become a Tradition for us. A walk West along Coldstream Street, across the Pacific Highway and into the Village. I often intend to keep going until the River and maybe lunch at Ulmarra Pub , but inevitably turn left into WIDE RIVER and as of yesterday that seems to be official. Izzy is “ Entertainment Manager” as of this week. That means 4 hours of fun and music and the Good Cafe Vibes which he thrives on and which do me no harm at all. |
Leanne – master of the banana smoothie. |
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I had time to talk to Robin Bryant yesterday as well. That’s Rob talking to Robyn and Mereki. I have often seen him at WIDE RIVER and SHELLBOUND which is Robyn’s shop across the Breezeway, but hadn’t had the luxury of a real talk till yesterday. That arose from Jenni’s telling me that 11OCTOBER was to be the first WIDE RIVER FESTIVAL, right here in ULMARRA with stalls, music and MUCH MORE. That was a good thing to hear. I had been looking forwards to the RIVER FESTIVAL. There are signs on the Pacific Highway telling the North South Traffic that its on in September but recently I discovered that factional feuding and disputations had caused it to fade away. No, I am delighted to announce that there WILL be a Festival. In OCTOBER, one week before my birthday, 2 weeks before Jacaranda Festival, 4 weeks after Debbie’s 50th Birthday and one week after Bellingen’s Global Carnival. And it will be THE WIDE RIVER FESTIVAL. |
ROB, ROBYN AND MEREKI in the new Breezeway. |
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I told Rob I had been hoping for a Festival and I also told him I was from Bellingen. He laughed at that. “Festivals !” said he, “Bellingen. Festival for this. Festival for that. “ That’s us alrighty. Right back to early 1970s. And October sees the GLOBAL CARNIVAL. My girl lives in the next street in North Bellingen as we once did. Be that as it may, WIDE RIVER FESTIVAL IS ON ! I wonder whether they will let us bring the little red car. |
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All businesses involved in the WIDE RIVER FESTIVAL this year are Indigenous Owned. Rob is the Mobile Umbrella for the other 4 Businesses. JTD MERCHANDISE.
My own hometown, URUNGA, is right smack in the middle and its nice to be back from the far reaches of the Tweed. Beautiful the Tweed is but its good to be Home. |
The train south from Urunga. |
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Rob was telling me that he does the Markets and the festivals for all the companies. He will have a stall next week at GLOBAL CARNIVAL. Then the following one is the WIDE RIVER FESTIVAL at the Cafe in Ulmarra. He ‘gets around’. I have the 5 business cards right here with me and the net addresses. Take a look at these.
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SHELLBOUND is Robyn’s shop. I have laybyed and paid off a black top for my 60th and have a swirling full length skirt tucked away at the moment. Robyn first opened in Casino and now has this branch down here in Ulmarra. On her card she lists: NEW CLOTHING INCENSE SOAPS OILS INCENSE HOLDERS SHOULDER BAGS CUSHION COVERS PASSPORT BAGS PURSES WOODEN PRODUCTS |
WOODEN BOXES
PAPER PRODUCTS MIRROR LIGHTER COVERS JEWELLLERY JEWELLERY BOXES BRACELETS BELLS RESIN RINGS |
SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND LIVE MUSIC
SPRINGTIME ON THE CLARENCE
Life remains hectic for me on the Clarence. I yearn at time for more Eremitic days and on others I simply gather in the breadth and depth of these experiences.
FOR SUNDAY IN TUCABIA FOLLOW THIS LINK.
http://whiterosetrading.ning.com/photo/albums/squatters-rest-markets-tucabia
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The expectation this morning was that Phil the Sax Player would be coming for rehearsals in the music room. Didn’t best please me because I had visions of SQUATTER’S REST Markets at TUCABIA on my mind and the 3 garage sales I know are on there today. A Sunday at that. One of them is at Eileen’s Place opp the Tucabia Store. I don’t know who Eileen is but I still want to go to the garage Sale. The Clarence is the Home of the Garage sale. |
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After some calm negotiation, Phill was relocated to a slightly later time slot and we headed East to Tucabia and SQUATTERS REST. I had not been there before. Izzy has done two music nights there and as part of my habitual information gathering, I knew a good deal about it. Weather is perfect. Springtime on the North Coast. Tucabia is app 10 kms from Ulmarra along a winding back road through paddocks and alongside wetlands. The Rest Markets – well, precisely what I was hoping for. Under gum trees. I scored a $100 pair of Dianna Ferrari shoes, new for $7. I bought home made soaps – made from goats milk and perfumed with essential oils. For $20, add a chopping table with knives for the kitchen and I am well pleased. |
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Then throw in a little gem of a museum and the day is fulfilling all the promise of a country Sunday. Squatters has a wee village of Collecteds. I am struggling to find the words for it. It was if I could almost smell and touch the eagle’s wings of Uncle Jim in Laurieton in some barely recalled childhood time. |












