After
leaving the candle factory back in Nimbin we headed back towards home with no
definite plans which brought us into another small place called Uki (pronounced
Yookeye in case you really are that interested).
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| Click here for more Uki photos |
We stopped there primarily for something to
drink but mainly due to the interstate time differences, all of the cafes were closed leaving us with the only option of a convenience store so, resigned
to the fact there was to be no fine dining, we parked up the old jalopy and wandered around on foot snapping at anything of interest as we went (photo snapping not moody snapping that is).
And
that seems to be the thing with Australia, it appears that no matter where you are, there
always seems to be something well worth photographing. Whether or not I can do any justice to that is the crucial part under scrutiny here but Uki like everywhere else we have visited, is a quiet, clean and well presented little place and as suggested on websites, there are
some things really worthy of the odd snap here and there. And during the whole holiday this country has
given me some of the most satisfying photos I have ever taken. So generally speaking, the place mustn't be all that bad.
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| Click here for the Murwillumbah Album |
Anyway,
from there we headed back towards Murwillumbah
(yes you may have read it right but how did you say it? If indeed you even tried). Again, it wasn’t for
any particular reason apart from Jodie being born at a hospital there (sadly no
statues of that ~ thank god) but like the town’s website suggests, it is a
beautiful place despite its chequered historic past (somebody’s birth that is).
We
dotted around the prettiness, saw some nice scenery, eyed a few houses, took in a
closed museum and went up the the Lion’s Lookout. And then, like in all the best movies (really?), it was back into the putt-putt for a trip even further down the road to Fingel
Head lighthouse and yet another bloody beach. This time overlooking Cook Island (it’s a dirty job, but
somebody has to do it. So very glad it was me).
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| View from the Lion's Lookout |
And
I say "another bloody beach", because I was trying not to swear too much and because I know
I have readers back in old blighty probably suffering with freezing cold
temperatures, ice, snow, sludge, dark overcast nights and plenty of rain and I
profusely apologise to them for seeming to be rubbing their noses in it with all this sand, sea and sunshine. I honestly didn’t
know this place had so many beaches. Yet alone how beautifully presented, warm
and welcoming they all are. Oooops sorry guys, got carried away again.
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| More Fingel Head photos here. |
It will, like the rest of my time out here, be captured in my memories for a very long time time to come though. And I’m just happy this angler guy didn’t hook Flipper, the fishy master of the shiny blue Pacific and get pulled to a watery death at sea. What the hell was he thinking standing that close to the edge? And, please... Nobody tell me now that Flipper can't speak either. That would just be the end of all reality in my merry window licking, little world.
And hurry up with the votes on the poll on the right. Voting closes in one day's time...
old jalopy? chequered past?
ReplyDeleteand dolphins dont speak... it was all done for the gullible viewers/tourists...
Victory is mine... Damn you all !!!
ReplyDeleteAnd now we shall say nothing more on the matter LOL
Can't wait to photograph it all...but I am gonna have to do mine in a condensed mini tour.....LOL
ReplyDeleteUki – my grand father and great grand father were dairy farmers, so Uki is where my family first enjoyed Australia. My great grand father, Alexander (Paddy) Grant, settled here with his family and the tradition of dairy farming was passed down to my grand father. Their old farms these days have become a housing estate just outside of Uki.
ReplyDeleteMurwillumbah – the place of my birth a few years ago ;) My grand mother who I openly do not like at all, still lives there, across from the church that both her daughters were married in. I went to visit my grandmother before my divorce, riding my VT750 Shadow. I got off the bike, pulled off the jacket, yes tattoos now showing, then took off the helmet and I walked up the path to her place on a Sunday morning, just as church was coming out. I swear it was 2 minutes before the parishioners we at her front door checking she was ok. She had to, and she was most embarrassed to do so, introduce her oldest grand daughter and let them all know she was ok. I love to shock :)especially her.
my favourite memories of M'bah are of when my grand dad was alive, he was a rat bag and I miss him terribly. My grand mother turned into a bitch after his death. She was fighting with him on the day he went to work and never returned.
M'bah as a kid was all about the Banana Festival and becoming a Queen or a Princess in the festival parade. It was like a beauty pagaent for the local country folk. The younger of my 2 aunties was a Princess one year. The Hari Krishna's used to have the most colourful floats and were full of wonderful music and movement. They have a local community, not far from M'bah.
Life is too short to stay mad at those you love, and you never know when they will be gone. So have your disagreement, but do not leave each others site until you can see love in their eyes again. She has been a bitter old bitch ever since his death. Unresolved issues will turn you to stone if you aren't careful.
Tumbulgum – use to have a ferry when I was a kid. We used to have to drive our car onto the ferry to get to the other side of the river. That little bit of fun has been replaced by a boring bridge. The ferry driver used to be a local character. Funny how some memories will stay with you.
Fingal Heads – I haven't been up here since I was a kid and to tell you the truth, I don't ever remember going to the light house. So another first, being a tourist in my own back yard, we walked up to the light house and the views were just amazing. I used to live in Chinderah, just down the road from Fingal Heads.