SUMMER IN ULMARRA
SUNDAYS@WIDERIVERCAFE LIVE MUSIC 10.30.2.30. EVEN IN THE HEAT AND STORMS.
BEEN A HOT SUMMER.
My first summer in Ulmarra. Here’s a pictorial run through of Summer so far.
Down at the end of Coldstream Street, and a quick right hand walk is the boat ramp. Walked down there one morning and saw two water craft coming in. Turned out to be Edwina from the Ulmarra Hotel and Friend in HOBIES. They’re looking to open a hire business down there at the back of the pub. Pedal, Paddle and Sail on the Hobies.
Summer came in with a strange full moon in a daytime blue sky. It was to be the month of the Blue Moon. December 2009.
Same December Moon at night.
Ulmarra gathered en masse for the Christmas Party at Wide River.
That meant Carols strangely interpreted by the DROUGHTBREAKERS. Good Food and Friendship. I have made some good friends in the brief half year I have lived in Ulmarra. The Clarence has treated us very well.
Out the back of the Wide River Cafe is the TREASURE TROVE of Giirwaawa Ceramics. Local artists of the Clarence: painted and fired right here in the Village. There’s some beautiful work from Lizzy and Leanne and Debbie. Brightens my summer, so it does.
Kerrie di Mattia, Brit and Robyn provided a fine chorus line. Kerrie has a Hair Salon in Grafton and Robyn owns SHELLBOUND next to the Wide River.
Sundays became a gathering place for locals. It lured unwary travellers who stayed on for the music and delayed their pacific Highway Journeys.
The days have been long and hot and most afternoons a storm comes over.
Turns out that Ulmarra is a bit of a storm chaser’s paradise.
I took my first trip to Iluka early in December. I like Pelicans. There was, so I am told, one in the backyard the other day but it left before I saw it.
The Beer Garden of the Ulmarra Pub became a fine place to eat and hang out. River side. Good Food. Got it all going.
December still saw Ulmarra mists and dejected birds. The day to follow was a blisterer.
Summer meant noisy hanging to scare birds off the vegies. The cattle were in the back paddock and way across – big bamboo.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND BEST WISHES FOR 2010
♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪
To all my readers and to the people who contribute and to Family and Friends. my thanks for your participation this year. All the very best for the Holiday Season to you and to yours. I look forward with pleasure to more adventures and mysteries shared with you in 2010.
♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪
DAWN AND NEW DAWN.
I shall leave the interpretation to the readers – merely pointing out access points.
(Dawn closed in 1975 so these articles are all earlier than 1975 and later than 1952)
http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/dawn/docs/v09/s12/25.pdf
During the progressive dances one had the unbelievable
experience of seeing respected citizens of Grafton of
both sexes dancing unrestrainedly with the dark people,
If ever prejudice took a holiday it was on this occasion._____________________________________
And it was for Costume and Towels – we could do with more importance paid to swimming here in 2009.
__________________________________
http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/dawn/docs/v11/s08/18.pdf
In this topsy-turvy world,
Sincere and lasting friendship is a rare gem;
How good and kind you were
throughout the years to me.
A cheerful word and kindly deed,
A helping hand to all in need;
Always sincere in heart and mind,
And whom God called upon heaven,
Your last thoughts unknown,
My saddened heart was riven
For you did not say good-bye.
You left suddenly,
Freddie Skinner,
Through Street, South Grafton.
___________________________________________
http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/dawn/docs/v23/s01/13.pdf
1974
LEGAL SERVICE OPENS AT GRAFTON
The Aboriginal Legal Service has recently
opened an office at Grafton. The office is located
at 34 Prince Street, and the telephone number is
42 1800. The lawyer is Mr Jim Curtis and the
secretary, Denise Kapeen, who studied a full-time
secretarial course last year. The Grafton field
officer is Mr Tony Barrett, who is also a member of
the N.S.W. Aboriginal Lands Trust and of the
Advisory Council. The Grafton office brings to
six the number of Legal Service offices throughout
the State. Other offices are located at Cowra,
Nowra, Sydney, Brewarrina, and Moree.
_____________________________________
http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/dawn/docs/v06/s08/5.pdf
In the past, some famous sportsmen have come from
the North coast districts of New South Wales and
the present crop of athletes from that area are no
exception.
They include Ray Laurie, an outstanding footballer
from Yamba, Kevin Randall, a police tracker who is
also a fine footballer and boxer, and two railway workers,
Edward Kapeen and Edward Walker, who are also
prominent footballers.
(Dawn closed in 1975 so these articles are all earlier than 1975 and later than 1952)
______________________________________
http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/dawn/docs/v10/s06/18.pdf
WHAT IS WOOLOWEYAH
CAN ANYONE HELP?
Writing to the Editor of Dawn, Mr. W. B. Fleming,
Box 14, Maclean, New South Wales, says:-
“ I would appreciate any assistance you could give
me in ascertaining the aboriginal significance of a local
place name.
Near a place called Angowie, some three miles south
of Yamba, Clarence River, within the Parish of Yamba
and county of Clarence, there is a large sheet of water,
joined to the Clarence by two anabranches. Locally
it is generally referred to as “ The Lake ”, and is well
known under that name as a fertile fishing ground. On
the Parish map it is named, and it is also widely known
as, Woolooweyah Estuary.
Further south along the coast there are two large
freshwater lake-like sheets of water, in an area known
as Wooli Wooli. I would not doubt that double name
has the usual significance, referable to the two such
waters in close proximity; and I assume that the ‘ wooli ’ means water, or some attribute of fresh water
perhaps. I imagine that the name Woolooweyah is
a bad rendering of the original descriptive name given
the estuary I refer to; and that the ‘wooloo . . . ’
is a corruption of the same sound as is applied in the
name Wooli Wooli.
I have bought, for my daughter, quite an area fronting
the estuary, and we would be very glad if we could
learn what the name Woolooweyah is likely to have been
in its original sound, and, particularly, as to what is
likely to have been the significance of ‘ . . . weyah ’.
Mr. Allan Cameron, of Ashby and Ulugandahi, tells
me that there is no member of the aboriginal race in
this area now upon whom reliance could be placed in
a rendering of the name and its meaning. The suggestions
offered as genuine and correct meanings of the
name by the older white residents are remarkable only
for their variety and unlikeliness. As owners of a
station property known as Ulah, on the Barwon, we
are aware of just how little is correct in the local
renderings of the origins, correct basic sounds, and
meanings of what pass for aboriginal place names.”
Can anyone help Mr. Fleming?
http://www1.aiatsis.gov.au/dawn/docs/v10/s06/18.pdf
__________________________________________
(Dawn closed in 1975 so these articles are all earlier than 1975 and later than 1952)
HALF A YEAR IN ULMARRA
2009 enters December and I am doing the end of year reflections. I moved to Ulmarra in May, just before “THE FLOOD”. And I am still here. Lets take a look at the first 6 months.
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One of the attractions for me on the Clarence is the presence of car ferries, running free as a part of the RTA system. We used to call them Punts when we were children and they were used on most of the Northern Rivers before the bridges came through. This one is the Lawrence Ferry. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I take this ferry and enter Grafton through the beautiful western drive. |
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We began our Grafton experience with Simon and Robyn in their Bunkhouse off along the Gwydir Highway. Solar powered , wallabies browsing, Orara down the back. Long talks over home cooked dinners and shared meals. |
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We made the choice to initially locate ourselves in a Village Lifestyle and chose the 100 year old house in Ulmarra which the RTA possesses and takes NO CARE of AT ALL. In fact, the original wee settlement on Coldstream Street featured three houses in a row. One has fallen down. The next is on offer free to anyone who wishes to remove it and this one remains.Over 100 years of history. For now – it is Home. |
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Now – to life in ULMARRA. It is an ‘historic river port’ on the Clarence River. It was a trading centre and once was filled with activity and river life. The 2nd remaining Clarence River ferry is on the Northern edge of Ulmarra. Half a kilometre South, Coldstream St terminates at the wharf on the left. |
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I took some walks and photographed what were then unknown buildings and features – unknown to me. After 6 months, they are increasingly familiar and this interesting village emerges more and more from the mists for me. Coldstream Street runs east/ west with River Street following the River. |
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Down on the river, at the end of Coldstream Street, is the Ulmarra Hotel. They serve brekkie every morning, lunch every day and dinner Fri and Sat nights. Heading west along Coldstream are the shops. Most of them. 6 months along – I know a little more about them. |
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May 2009 saw the coming of THE FLOOD. One of the chilling comments that came to us was – THE COLDSTREAM IS FLOWING BACKWARDS. That sounded grim. The street began to fill with water and the Inundation began. |
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The Coldstream Street went first – that’s our street – with the bins afloat. Introduced us to the neighbours pretty quickly. Sooner than might have happened otherwise. It also explained why the rent was so cheap. |
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Before long, the Neighbour’s advice to get the vehicles out was making sense but we were less sure about HOW to get them out and had no idea in this flat village about WHERE to get them out to. The SES hotline didn’t know either. |
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By June, the floods were down and Izzy was eating lunch in the Beer garden at the Ulmarra Pub. Lawns to the River. Fine Foods. We often have trouble getting fed, due to the ‘no meat’ request. Down at the Pub, they fix meals to suit us perfectly. My own favourite is the stuffed mushrooms. Edwina , who has the restaurant, was the one we met pedalling the canoe early yesterday. Check her HOW TO vid on you tube ready for the canoe hire. |
| http://gcountry.ning.com/
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Mid way through the year, one of the empty shops filled with BOOKS and BRIC A BRAC and opened its doors as ULMARRA BOOKS AND BRIC A BRAC. This one is a treasure trove alongside JACK A DANDY and LILY’S LAIR. Russell deals in secondhand books. Having a quality bookshop just down the street is a long desired thing for me. I often browse for a goodly time and we talk of this and that and listen to retro music. Russell has a shop at BROADWATER if any of you are looking for him and now is based down in ULMARRA.
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http://gcountry.ning.com/  |
Next to the Bookshop is JACK A DANDY’S and the diminuitive Lily’s Lair. I don’t know how to describe these two shops. Impeccable good taste. Like Russell with his books, Paul in JACK A DANDY “KNOWS HIS STOCK”. They also know their trades and how to run a business. I always enjoy dealing with experts and these are experts. In JACK A DANDY, there is some scrimshaw work. I LOVE scrimshaw. |
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Ulmarra is an Heritage listed Village. It is also a septic village and with floods like this year, there have been some odd smells. Sandy from Wide River tells us that some of the smells are Dairy Smells. We have a dairy over the back paddock and a lot of Friesian Cows. |
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Its a place of Mists. A Village along the river. The mists come down and the Highway traffic slows. |
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In October , the dust came. It covered most of the east coast of NSW and Ulmarra didn’t miss out. Huge storms of dust. |
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October also saw my 60th birthday and I had planned a lazy weekend in Ulmarra. I had been concerned about the dust but it passed, the weather warmed and Ulmarra delivered the perfect weekend. It has become, for me, a landmark in my life. Wherever I go from here, I take this period as a Gem. Village, Community and Companions. |
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November brought jacarandas and the festival. Down Coldstream Street, behind Dorothy’s Coldstream Gallery, is the RATHGAR LODGE opshop. Open Thurs-Fri all day. The Opshop was in the Jacaranda shop display comp and I believe it won – again. Opshop is another treasure trove down there in the shopping centre. We acquired our yellow click-clack lounge there. At the time of purchase it was covered with a purple fuzzy cloth as part of the jacaranda display. Just by this Fairy section on the verandah. |
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Last thought about the Village for the moment is the WIDE RIVER CAFE. My 2nd home and 2nd family.
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FOR MY ANNUAL REFLECTIONS ON THE YEAR JUST PASSED – GO TO
SOME LINKS TO SITES ABOUT ULMARRA AND CLARENCE
SUMMER IS COMING TO ULMARRA
| GCOUNTRY ON NING | |
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Took a walk down Coldstream to the boat ramp this morning, lamenting the brownness of the water which is deterring me a little from swimming in the Clarence at Ulmarra. Took some shots of the yachts moored on the far bank. Yesterday at Wide River Music, two of the yachties who had sailed up from Tasmania, were telling us that they had come up the river because they had heard it on the grapevine that the Harwood Bridge was to be permanently prevented from opening and allowing tall masted vessels through. Get a grip, Councils etc! |
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I have become reclusive again and haven’t been to the River for a while. I would prefer to live right on the river. Once, I lived in a boathouse in Urunga right on the Bellinger River and later in the Pilot House at the mouth of the Twin Rivers of Kalang and Bellingen but now I am 0.6km from any river at all. Saw two pedallers coming along from upriver and as they came in close recognised Edwina in a Hobie Cat. I have never seen one of these. They can be pedalled or paddled or sailed. Then, on alighting, just attach the wheels and they can be wheeled. Most impressed I am. |
I am even more impressed with the information that, within a few weeks, canoe and hobie hire will be opening from the back of Ulmarra Hotel. I haven’t written a lot about the Hotel or the other shops in the Village as yet – but I will. This Mighty River – THE Big River – which is still rather brown and a little intimidating for the Swimmer ( namely Me, This Swimmer) will then be accessible from your very own beer garden !!!!!! With the great meals and atmosphere. December 13 is the Social Clubs Xmas Party and the Droughtbreakers from Wide River are playing. 10-2 at the Cafe and then 4 onwards at the Pub. I LOVE VILLAGES !!!!!
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That’s the Levee which holds back the Floods. They build it back when Vision was operating. Its a fine , solid levee that one. I might once have thought it aesthetically unpleasing but 2009 means that anything which holds back the water looks ‘ beautiful.’
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There is a Big Boat moored up near the Norco factory. I don’t know her story but she was here when we came in May. There are more stories up at the Norco Factory where a lot of revamping seems to be going on. I like to take new communities in small morsels and let the Stories tell themselves. I think I might have met the owner in SLUGGO’S antique shop up along the Pacific Highway, just after the floods. The man I met was sitting in the front of Sluggo’s chatting with him. A lot of slow chatting goes on in Ulmarra and thereabouts. If that was indeed the Owner of the Big Boat, then his anchor chain snagged on the Ulmarra Southgate Ferry Cable during the Floods. |
HOT TIMES – THEN AND NOW
A NEAT CELSIUS/FAHRENHEIT CONVERTER.
100 F = 37.7777C
104 F = 104 C
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1894 – SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
ADELAIDE, NOVEMBER 20.
EXCESSIVE HEAT.
The heat to-day was excessive, the thermometer registering 107 degrees in the shade.
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http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3661497
SYDNEY, NOVEMBER 18.
INTENSE HEAT.
A continuance of intense heat Is reported from the country districts to-day, 100deg.to 110deg. being registered In many places.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3188474
WAVE OF HEAT IN NEW SOUTH WALES.
Sydney, November 21. 1897.
A wave of heat prevailed throughout the colony yesterday, and is ascribed to a monsoonal depression which has worked its way across the continent from the tropics. In Sydney the thermometer stood at 78.5deg. in the shade at 7 a.m.and steadily rose, until shortly after noon, when it recorded 99.4deg. The heat continued till 5 o’clock, when a "southerly buster" caused a fall of 24deg. in three hours. Several cases of sunstroke are recorded, but none have ended fatally.
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http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4984824
FIERCE HEAT IN NEW SOUTH WALES.
113 DEG. IN THE SHADE.
Sydney, November 28. 1905.
The heat wave has been followed by a cool spell. Light rain fell in Sydney today, and a cool southerly wind prevailed,the Acting Meteorologist said that complete reports of Monday’s temperature- showed that it was the hottest day this summer. At Jerry’s Plains, in the Hunter River Valley, the maximum temperature was 113 deg, and at 43 stations the maximum shade readings were over 100. The change brought with it light rain, but the falls were unimportant, and, with the exception of 37 points at Kiandra, ranged from 1 to 12 points.
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TUCABIA STORM.
http://australiasevereweather.com/storm_news/1997/docs/9711-04.htm
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. |
| FACEBOOK FOTOS | 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/
RATHGAR OP SHOP ULMARRA
Take a look at the Display Thelma has put together for JACARANDA Festival. Judging on Tuesday.
