“We all know the stories of the cedar cutters in our shire, the dairy farms, the meatworks in Byron Bay, and the mining of the beaches. I wanted to tell the story of what happened after these industries finished, and what took their place,” says Tricia.

“In the mid to late ’70s the music scene in Australia exploded,” she writes. “The stultifying conservative 1950s gave way to the swinging sixties and opened the door for Australian music in the 1970s and ’80s. It was the most influential time in Australian music. A wave of bands formed, touring by road the east coast of Australia from Melbourne to Sydney to Brisbane. Many of them stopped in at Byron Bay, Bangalow and Lismore, including the most notable Australian bands of that era.”

Music had been happening for decades before the first annual Byron Bay Bluesfest in 1990. It erupted as outdoor music festivals on various rundown dairy farms like Fowlers Lane, in the Norco Piggery (recycled as the Arts Factory), at Music Farm Studio, and at other key venues like the Bangalow Bowlo.

“Musicland is the follow-on to Neverland,” Tricia explains. “Neverland finished with the story of American surfer-musician, Dan Doeppel, who came to Australia in 1967 in a band called The Nutwood Rug. Dan came to Byron Bay and bought the old Norco Piggery in 1974, with the dream to turn it into the Arts Factory.”

In 1976, Melbourne musician Garry Deutsher created Music Farm Studio on an old dairy farm in Coorabell. Tricia and her partner, surfing legend Rusty Miller, lived next door to the studio for 33 years. “All the big names came here to Byron in the 1970s and 1980s: Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, The Angels, Australian Crawl, Mental as Anything, Redgum, Goanna, Richard Clapton, Mondo Rock, Divinyls, Split Enz, Rose Tattoo, Kevin Borich, Eurogliders – and so many more.” These bands either recorded at the Music Farm and/or played at the Arts Factory.

From the 1980s, many other musicians also recorded at Music Farm, including Olivia Newton-John, Yothu Yindi, Mental as Anything and Jimmy Barnes (in Cold Chisel). Next month, Music Farm will have been operating as a working music studio for 50 years. “This is an amazing testament to all the people who were involved in building the studio, and the musicians who have recorded there. I wanted to acknowledge this, and pay homage to it,” says Tricia.

“Because I know many of the people involved in the making of the Arts Factory and Music Farm, I had access to their stories. However, for big, known bands that recorded at Music Farm, I relied on many musicians to share other musicians’ contacts. Rob Hirst, from Midnight Oil, was the first of 80 interviews for this book. Rob, who very sadly died recently, was most generous in assisting me with the phone numbers or emails of his musician friends. This opened doors for me. I am so appreciative of his generosity of spirit towards my book.”

Venues could be “make do”. Between 1976 and 1982, concerts were held on the 113-acre Fowlers Lane former dairy property of Harry Fowler. Many were organised by music promoter Roger Danne, sometimes with his business partner Denni Scott. Well-known Australian music promoter Michael Chugg, who knew Roger Danne in Sydney, was also involved.

In her book, Tricia quotes Roger Danne: “I was living at Music Farm Studios, and Chugg was the promoter from Sydney who would bring the bands. I did Fowlers Lane with him for two years. Split Enz played at Fowlers Lane. They were fantastic. They played on the back of a semi-trailer with no roof. It was a full moon, and when Tim Finn sang: ‘I hope I never, I hope I never have to cry again’, it was unbelievable. It was one of those moments – one of the best, ever.” In April,  Split Enz was due to perform at the now cancelled Bluesfest.

“There are glimmers that I remember about the Split Enz concert at Music Farm in 1979,” recollects Mark Pope, who promoted that event. “There are two things I remember about the concert. I remember speaking to Garry Deutsher about it and the table-top semi-trailer that was the stage that they played on. I don’t know how we rigged the lights because there was no stage or roof. I think we might have had close to 1500 or 2000 people. Tickets were around $5 a head.

There was no security. We made it up as we went along. I was staying in a caravan near where the stage was set up. I woke up the next morning after the concert. I had my thongs on, stepped out of the caravan, took two steps, and literally between my toes was a freshly made cow turd. I still remember to this day, this warm shit coming up between my toes.” Later, Mark Pope promoted INXS and Cold Chisel.

Roger Danne recalled a night when Cold Chisel played at the Bangalow Bowlo, which holds around 300 people. “The night Cold Chisel played there were 500 people. The place was packed; people were outside who couldn’t get in. Someone picked up a chair and smashed the glass window in the foyer. We had to stop the show. Jimmy Barnes came down and said, ‘Wake up to yourself!’ He sang acapella through the broken window for the people who couldn’t get in to see the show.”

Tricia also quotes INXS guitarist Tim Farriss, who recalls playing at the Bowlo in September 1980. “That would have been when we first became INXS, having only just changed our name from the Farriss Brothers. It would have been the first time we played the North Coast. It was a really great crowd and audience.”

Musician Barry Ferrier continues the recollections. “Innerspring was a five-piece band with two road crews when it included Michael Barnes. We were working solidly five nights a week. We supported Cold Chisel, who were the last gig at the Bowlo. Jimmy went out on the green and the girls followed him. It wasn’t just the greens, it was the door also. People were having sex under the pool table. It was a wild gig. It was packed.”

Tricia moved to the area in the early 1980s. Among her many other endeavours – ranging from social planning work, researching for a town planning company, 15 years in local government and 21 years teaching social science at Southern Cross University – she worked for a year researching and interviewing people on the history, development and activism on the Byron Shire coastline. “Again, it’s documenting the history of our place, and the people who have been cultural shapeshifters. We live in an area with such rich contemporary history that is not really documented. I feel compelled to explain how and why Byron Shire is what it is today: what, and who made it this way.”

Musicland: When the Music Came to Byron 1974 to 1995 will be launched in Byron Bay in August. Email triciashantz11@gmail.com to pre-order.

Feature image: New Zealand’s Mi-Sex playing at Fowlers Lane in the 70s

According to Bangalow Agricultural and Industrial Society Secretary, Anne McClelland (full story page 11), the Unique Selling Proposition of the Bangalow show is that, unlike other shows in the North Coast circuit, it’s held in the centre of town. The last Show held in the 12 Far North Coast NSW group of shows, Anne says it’s the relaxed rural atmosphere created by the huge old trees around the grounds that particularly appeals. “Many of our regular stallholders let us know it’s their favourite show location,” she said.

While the popular Ironman competition has been offered for more than 30 years, the Woodchop event in the main ring on Saturday evening is increasing in popularity, too, since its comparatively recent addition to the program. The Boot Toss and Base Zero Mobile Rock Climbing events are both new this year.

The 25 members of the Show Committee, plus the 12 members of the Grounds Committee, regularly come up with good ideas for new events: then comes trying to slot that new event into the tight timetable.

Some events fade in popularity after a while, such as the Rodeo Musical Chairs, Anne says. At times, organisers need to “roll with the punches”. One year, the Hendra Virus affected horses around the State, which weren’t allowed to travel off-farm. So, horse events had to be substituted with camels. People are still talking about it!

Essentially, there are four separate ‘streams’ happening over the two days: competitive ‘indoor’ events happening inside the Pavilion, the ‘outdoor’ Ring events, the Village Green events, and the commercial stalls and rides, which line the Show’s internal pathways.

The theme of this year’s show is ‘Bangas ‘n’ Boots’ (Bangas being short for ‘Bangalow’ not sausages). Inside the Pavilion, entries are beautifully displayed in purpose-built cabinets. Competition is fierce: farm produce, horticulture, flowers, cookery, preserves, art and photography, needlework, patchwork and quilting, craft and the written word. Any one of these sections can receive hundreds of entries, submitted from children to adults.

Judges for some animal-related outdoor events are selected from the AgShowsNSW comprehensive database and must follow strict regulations. Other judges will be sourced from different specific disciplines or breed associations, such as the Stock Horse Association NSW, Australian Bushmen’s and Campdraft Association and Equestrian Australia. They may need to travel from as far as Canberra or Queensland and need to be accommodated. These days, local guest accommodation has become so expensive, judges now stay in Ballina motels. Judges for the Pavilion events are primarily local.

For the Head Steward, work starts on preparing each year’s event by April. For Anne and Show Society President, Donna Jenner, there’s paperwork year-round. Apart from around 25 Society members meeting monthly throughout the year to organise the Show, a number of other local community groups contribute to staging the event. The Lions group runs the kiosk. The CWA provides Devonshire teas. Ballina Rotary handles parking while the Bangalow Mens Shed is on the gates. The school P&C handles the games on the Village Green, open to kids nine years and under (egg and spoon race, three-legged race, sack race). And The Bangalow Herald organises the Bush Poets Competition featuring a $100 prize and a sash.

Popular events on the Village Green also include the reptile display, baby animals and woodwork demonstrations, while the dog high jump and the Friday after school Pet Parade always attract a crowd. Primary school-aged children can also participate in an on-site treasure hunt on Saturday. Collect a form from the Show Office and then mark off numbered boots and other footwear hidden around the Show. Return your completed form to the Show Office before 2pm Saturday for your chance to win a prize.

Donna emphasises that the Society is well supported by between 250 to 300 volunteers. “We’d love more people to help us once the Show finishes Sunday lunchtime,” Donna said. “We need to leave everything clean as the following weekend the monthly markets happen here.”

This may be seen as a relaxed “country show”, but the pressure to win events is cut-throat. One year, The Land interviewed a regular contestant for the extremely popular Tart of the Show Event. Asked what it takes to win it, she replied: “It’s easier to sleep with half the  blokes in the Bangalow Pub than win the Tart of the Show.”

How long would it take you to gobble down an “old fashioned” 130 gm beef burger with the lot (meaning beetroot, lettuce, tomato, carrot, pineapple, bacon, egg, caramelised onion and cheese, tomato relish and mayonnaise), a 500ml chocolate thick shake, and a side order of chips?

That’s what the contestants in the Bangalow Show’s Big Bang Bite competition have lined up to do every year since 2011. Though popular with enthusiastic onlookers, only a dozen or so seasoned scoffers are brave enough to enter. The youngest recorded entrant in previous comps was just eight years old – generally this event is most popular with hungry hollow-legged teenagers, with a few brave adults also trying their luck. It’s also far more popular with boys than girls. “There’s always a good turnout,” says Tim Jung, owner of the Bang Burger Bar which provides the burgers on the day – and throughout the year.

This year, his sous chef, Tim Faggotter, will not only host the event, circulating the Show “loud and proud” in the preceding hours to rustle up interest and scout for new entrants, but he’ll enter the competition too. So, Tim Jung has created a new challenge: ‘Beat the Chef’. Tim Faggotter has already been in training for some weeks and has his time down to just under three minutes – though that’s only to eat the burger, not slurp down the thick shake and gobble up the chips. (The usual length of time it takes to down the lot is around five minutes.)

Early in October, five entrants had already signed up, but you have until 11.30am on the Saturday to register. Apart from bragging rights, the winner receives $50 and a stylish rosette, which is to be worn as a badge of honour for the rest of the day.

Next door to the Bang Burger Bar is the popular bottle shop, The Cellar Bangalow. Two employees there are already in training for this event. Jack Taylor, who recently moved to the area from Singapore, is a rugby player and a boxer, so is a big eater yearround. He’s dead serious about his intent to win. “I’m not here to be average,” the 18-year-old says. His secret to winning? Not eating breakfast or lunch before the event.

At the best of times, carnivore Jack eats four meals a day, and a month out from the competition, has his time at three minutes and 45 seconds – and that’s just for the burger. He suspects that he may put on weight while he’s in training, and being offseason, that weight may hang around. But Jack considers it’s worth it. At the risk of informing the competition of his technique, he says his winning strategy is this: “I have big hands. I’ll squish down the burger and chips with one hand, and have the thick shake in the other, so one hand is always at the ready. I’ve been in training to win this competition my whole life!”

Feature image: Past contestants, Shane Olive and Mitch Hutchison, giving the Big Bang Bite a red hot go Photo Maralyn Hanigan

The Wiyabal people of the Bundjalung nation are said to be the original inhabitants of Coorabell, located on the tip of the ridge rising 156m above sea level. Some say the word ‘Coorabell’ means ‘many hoop pines’, but it’s more likely to mean ‘home of the winds’. Anywhere along the ridge, it’s rare to find a wind-free day.

Despite the incessant wind, the views from Coorabell Hall are spectacular. Early white settlers started arriving around here in the late 1800s, first to plunder the finest trees from the Big Scrub, like the valuable red cedar. Trees were dragged to the top of the ridge, stripped of their bark, and shoved down the slopes – known as the Shoots – from the ridge to waiting bullock trains below, which transported the logs to a wharf in Byron Bay. From there, they were shipped around the world.

Once the trees were out of the way, dairying was the next big thing. Just about every property along Coolamon Scenic Drive (originally Coorabell Road) in the 19th and 20th centuries was a 100-acre dairy – an industry which peaked in the 1930s.

By 1907, Coorabell had a general store, a blacksmith, a butcher, fruit shop, boarding house, church, school, and from 1906, a public hall set up as a School of Arts. As a centre for all community functions, the hall offered a chance for locals to meet neighbours and friends, for celebrations, weddings, dances, euchre tournaments and clearing sales – all helping to raise funds to keep the hall operating.

The hall’s first flower show was held in 1959, organised by the Ladies Auxiliary to raise funds towards lining and painting the hall’s interior. The annual flower show tradition has been revived by a modern-day version of the Ladies Auxiliary. Today, a diverse – and very active – handful of six volunteers keeps the lights on at the hall, keeping alive its origins as a community hub. The annual March Flower Show is still the hall’s highest profile event, held midway through the peak dahlia season, primarily to celebrate the amazing blooms of Bruce and Stephen Wedd from nearby Possum Creek.

Lissa Coote is the hall’s prime mover and shaker, inventively creating ways to keep useful and highly skilled background in the film industry, she prides herself on “making something out of nothing”. It helps to have a lawyer on board, and Adele Smout is her ‘right hand’ in creating countless activities for this very active community hub.

A glance at the hall’s September newsletter, put together by Lissa and Adele, lists everything from a live ‘Magical Evening of Cabaret Theatre’, to the fortnightly Sunday Crop Swap (useful to share your excess produce with other locals for free), and ongoing raffles. On the first Wednesday of the month, the Coorabell Film Club screens a classic movie, while the work of talented local artists is exhibited in the Artspace.

Regular weekly events include both a coffee cart – a big hit with passing tradies – and the Hilltop Café, selling toasties and juices from a kitchen with surely one of the best views in the district. Monday night is pizza night; the first Wednesday of the month there’s Thai food from 6–7.30pm; while on Friday nights it’s Fun Friday, with Kamal Singh’s Punjabi curry and games (such as Scrabble, ping pong, mahjong and foosball); and on Sundays, enjoy the Trusty Dumpling or El Polaco Latin fusion food depending on the week. Needless to say, the hall is available to rent for weddings or other celebrations.

The next major event is billed as an Epic Fundraiser on 25 October, with a sculpture show planned pre-Christmas.

The hall receives no federal, state or local council funding, so it’s up to the innovative team to find ways to cover its costs. Lissa meets with volunteers from other local halls – Newrybar, Marvell Street, Eureka, Federal and Ewingsdale – to share ideas on ways to keep the doors open. In Lissa’s view, obtaining a liquor licence has been a “huge step up” (and very popular on Fridays from 5–7.30pm). Lissa and the team found $65,000 to build a very popular outside deck, well used at every event, and she’s already dreaming of relocating the toilet block and creating a “proper” bar, once she works out how to raise the cash.

coorabellhall.net

565 Coolamon Scenic Drive, Coorabell

Historical information sourced – and gratefully acknowledged – from Coorabell School and District – the first 100 years, compiled by Ellenor Wadsworth, published by The Coorabell School Centenary Committee, June 1991.

Feature image the original Coorabell Hall All photos supplied by Lissa Coote

The School of Arts movement

The School of Arts movement in New South Wales, particularly in Sydney, played a transformative role in shaping adult education, community life and cultural development throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Beginning in Scotland in the early 1800s, it was driven by Enlightenment ideals of scientific education, self-improvement and social reform. The aim was to educate artisans and mechanics in practical sciences, with the belief that this would uplift individuals and benefit society.

The School of Arts concept reached Sydney in 1831 via a group of Scottish tradesmen and educators. In 1833, the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts was established to spread scientific and useful knowledge through the new colony. Public lectures were held in School of Arts halls, alongside libraries and classes in science, art and political economy.

Over the next century, around 750 Schools of Arts or Mechanics Institutes were established across NSW, becoming hubs of community life, education and culture. Their legacy includes the establishment of public libraries, community centres and adult and technical education systems. The Sydney Mechanics School of Arts directly influenced the creation of institutions such as the University of Sydney and Sydney Technical College – which later became the University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, they say. In the past few months, Bangalow Heritage House Museum has started receiving requests from teachers for their students to explore the museum and neighbouring Piccabeen Park. What’s the story?

The Living School in Lismore wanted their teenagers to visit the museum “as part of a unit on civilisation”. A busload of 18 students – 14- and 15-year-old young learners – visited in August, keen to see how life was lived from the 1930s to 1950s. Of particular interest to them was the old classroom set-up with its ‘quaint’ wooden school desk, plus the textbooks of that era. The teenagers were also interested to find out how to get involved in their local community, and a visit to the CWA followed.

For Emmanuel Anglican College, Ballina, the incentive to bring along 45 seven- and eight-year-old kids (plus a few teachers and parents) is a program called Mini Coastal College. It forms part of an Integrated Studies course that includes science, history, geography, mathematics, English and visual arts.

Roxanne Kent, the leader of Foundational Learning at Emmanuel Anglican College, explained their interest. “Inspired by the Reggio Emilia educational approach and the Forest Schools of Scandinavia, the aim of our Mini Coastal College program is to introduce students to new, engaging, challenging and fun opportunities to learn, play and grow.

The program is delivered by highly skilled educators whose purpose is to equip and support students to investigate, explore, discover, apply, practise and master new concepts, skills and understandings, whilst also meeting the syllabus requirements in a natural outdoor environment.”

The “natural outdoor environment” Roxanne selected was Piccabeen Park and the Bangalow Museum. Though their school is located in Ballina, teacher Alyssa Marshall explained: “Many of our students also live in and around the Bangalow area, so it is part of their community. The motive was to deepen the students’ understanding of the town’s history, culture and environment while building a stronger connection to their local community. The exploration also encouraged curiosity, respect for the environment and a sense of responsibility in caring for the area, helping students appreciate both the past and the importance of protecting Bangalow’s future.”

But what did the kids themselves think about the experience? Leo said, “I love Coastal College because we get to go out into nature and experience lots of things.” For Max, it was “because you get to be out of school and in the sunshine.” For Rachael, “The thing I love most about Coastal College is that we got to learn about the park’s heritage and explore nature.” From the teachers’ perspective, “It was a valuable learning experience for all students. Outdoor learning allows children to explore, discover, and learn in hands-on ways,” added Mel McClelland.

Though the Emmanuel College students who visited were from Year 2 in a Coastal College program that runs over eight Thursdays during Term 3, their Year 3 students go to Seven Mile Beach and Lake Ainsworth in Ballina, while Year 4 students visit Ballina’s Lighthouse Beach. The program will happen again every year.

And what was the experience like for the Bangalow Historical Society? “When the students visited Heritage House, they discovered a wealth of new things which piqued their curiosity – so important for learning,” commented Historical Society Secretary and former teacher, Heather West. “Coming here also exposed them to a diversity of ideas and information about different people, places and time periods, all contributing to broadening their horizons of knowledge. Handling Aboriginal artefacts and understanding their use helped contribute to their appreciation and respect of our Indigenous culture.

“There’s no doubt about it, their visit was a win all round. Our volunteers loved it, the teachers enjoyed observing their students being engaged and communicating with others, and the kids left with a head full of new knowledge and an understanding about our collective past. There are huge benefits for kids of all ages getting out of the classroom and into an informal learning environment where they’re invited to explore and understand new concepts. The museum displays helped develop critical thinking skills and gave the kids an understanding of the past and how it compares with the present.”

To enquire about a school learning experience, call 02 6687 2183

Never heard of Nhulunbuy? It’s a town in the far north of the Northern Territory, on the Gove Peninsula, with a bauxite mine and a deep-water port. But it’s not the final destination. That’s Gulkula, maybe a slow 40-minute drive down a long, dusty red-dirt road. Gulkula is an important cultural site, a significant Gumatj ceremonial place, sited on an escarpment overlooking the Arafura Sea. The Gumatj clan, part of the Yolŋu people, have lived there for over 60,000 years.

So who has taken this epic trip, and why? There’s a story behind it all… As a member of Country as Teacher, a not-for-profit cultural curriculum led by Bundjalung educators, traditional custodian and Byron Shire Councillor Delta Kay was invited to attend the 25th annual Garma Festival, held early last month. (This is just one of many strings to Delta’s bow.) The festival is where Yolŋu and Balunda (non- Indigenous) “come together as one” in a “two-way learning process”.

Hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation, Garma is a four-day “celebration of Yolŋu life and culture, and showcases traditional miny’tji (art), manikay (song), bunggul (dance) and story-telling”. Down here on the far east coast of NSW, we briefly catch glimpses about this festival, but they’re usually framed in a political context, with some hopeful motherhood statements offered by important politicians.

One of the Country as Teacher programs is called Weaving Waterways. It combines weaving revitalisation with the restoration of our waterways. “The program connects our Bundjalung women to Country and cultural traditions and enables us to continue the care of our waterways,” Delta explains, on returning home.

Last year, the program hosted Yolŋu Elder Djapirri Mununggirritj (a Board Director of the Yothu Yindi Foundation) at their women’s waterway camp. A cultural exchange enabled Delta to attend Garma and share Bundjalung knowledge on the opening day Education Fair. “This day is devoted to the love of learning, with students from local schools and the Garma Youth Forum,” Delta said. “I felt truly inspired to share alongside Djapirri. Her leadership, her open heart and wisdom, is something you need to see and feel.

“We gathered on the bunggul (dance) ground for a unique curriculum, where classrooms are under bough shelters. I shared our bough shelter with Djapirri. We spoke about the importance of our cultural upbringing and education.” They also shared the ‘classroom’ with Djakapurra Munyarryun, a respected Yolŋu song man, dancer and cultural consultant. To close their session, they played a traditional Bundjalung game, which “got everyone smiling and enjoying each other’s company”. Delta incorporates games like this in her popular Byron Shire tours.

Though it was her first time at the Garma Festival, it wasn’t the first time Delta had camped at Gulkula. (By the way, there are no hotels there — everyone sleeps in tents.) She initially met Djapirri at an education program called Culture College in June 2022, when she worked as a mentor with the schools program held between April and October during the dry season. “As mentors, we support visiting students learning from Yolŋu leaders and teachers about their Yolŋu curriculum in law, language, kinship, stories, art and history.”

Around 2,500 people attend Garma. It is also “an important meeting point for the clans and families of the region,” its website reads. “The Festival’s overriding cultural mission is to provide a contemporary environment for the expression and presentation of traditional Yolŋu knowledge systems and customs, and to share these practices in an authentic Yolŋu setting.”

To Delta, “the talks, workshops and dancing, was all mind-blowing! I think I left my heart in Yolŋu Country. The joy at catching up with many special people who I hold in my heart with respect and love; catching up with family and friends from Naarm (Melbourne) was great.”

The festival has a strong emphasis on Yolŋu youth, who stand firm, Delta added. “Education is the heart of Garma. You feel the quiet respect and appreciation from people who attend the sessions. Each day I had incredible conversations with people who sat next to me at dinner or stood in line for lunch, and I witnessed how Garma transforms people and brings them back each year. It was inspiring, exhilarating and deeply moving – and tears ran down my face listening to Gail Mabo’s story.”

Christobel Munson

Eli Clarke was 11 years old when his family moved onto the Jindibah community, in Fowlers Lane. At the time, his parents, Charlotte and Simon, said of the decision to move onto this rural community title (C.T.) property that they were dreaming “of a happy place where our children can grow with a respect and understanding of the environment.” In the seven years the family of six lived there, Eli fully developed his love of fishing into a fine art – and also created an early career as a passionate YouTubing nature lover, with a following in the thousands.

Running across the property for about a kilometre – including tributaries – is Sleepy Creek. Although Eli had started fishing at the age of six, living at Jindibah “is when my passion for fishing took off. I love fishing, camping and spending time outdoors and there, I had the freedom to walk down to Sleepy Creek whenever I wanted – sometimes with mates, my brother Asher, or just on my own.”

At the age of 15, in 2016, he started his own YouTube channel. “I bought my first GoPro Hero1 and began filming my bass fishing adventures. My channel captured bass fishing in the local creeks and waterways around Bangalow, Clunes, Lismore and Brunswick Heads.” He mainly filmed his adventures himself, propping his GoPro on fence posts and whatever else he could find – tripods “not even being a thought back then!”

His channel built up a large following of keen would-be fishers, wanting advice and practical suggestions – how to find the best fishing spot, what lures to use, what fish could be found where. According to Eli, who still lives locally, the most prominent fish to catch around Sleepy Creek, Byron Creek and the Bangalow area is the Australian bass. “They’re native to the region and are treated with a lot of respect by anglers who ‘catch and release’: they’re considered a sport fish, not something you keep. The bass fishing season is closed between 1 June and 31 August. Every year they need to migrate to saltwater to breed. At that time, fishing for bass is completely off-limits.”

In his experience, other species to be found walking the local riverbanks include “eels, eel-tailed catfish, mullet, the very rare eastern cod, platypus, turtles, bullrout (freshwater stonefish) and unfortunately, carp. Carp are an introduced species, causing major damaging impacts to our local freshwater creeks. Over the years, with more floods happening, this invasive species is growing rapidly and starting to cause damage. They eat the eggs of native fish like eel-tailed catfish, muddy up rivers and uproot river weeds, particularly in places like Emigrant Creek.”

Generations of children living at Jindibah have developed a love for fishing and just hanging out at the creek. Shortly after Carolyn and Neil Hannah moved into the original Fowler family farmhouse in 2018, Neil was delighted to discover the spiny freshwater crayfish (Euastacus fleckeri) in the creek. “I personally release everything I catch and don’t see any sense in taking anything out of the ecosystem,” Neil says. Today, his kids Lotte and Hamish can often be seen down by the creek, sometimes with neighbouring kids Otis, Theo and Nina Bachle. During the catfish breeding season, 14-year-old Otis has been fascinated watching the big circle of rocks the catfish make in Sleepy Creek, where they breed.

Like Eli before them, the kids living onsite today have seen plenty of huge eels, turtles, platypus, bass and eel-tailed catfish – not to mention water dragons and minnows. Otis just loves going down by the creek: “Being near the water makes me feel good,” he says. He likes to check out different types of lures, while Theo, who’s 11, likes the sound the water makes flowing over the rocks. They’re down at the creek several times a week, just a walk of a few hundred metres from their home. They find summer the best season for fishing, given the ease of finding bugs and cicadas as bait.

As youngsters, David and Jenny Kennedy’s three kids also loved exploring, swimming and rafting in the six swimming holes along Sleepy Creek. Though they caught bass and eels, all the fish they caught ended up back in the creek.

Just up Fowlers Lane, in their early teenage years, the two sons of Fay and Gary Dwyer would also spend countless hours along Sleepy Creek. “Our boys and their friends from up the lane, the Henry boys, would mainly build dams in the creek or race blackbean pods along the stream. They would spend hours along Sleepy Creek, hunting and cooking up eels, and catching and cooking yabbies. They were delicious!” Fay recalled. “These are very fond memories.”

Christobel Munson

Christobel, a founder of the Jindibah community, has lived there for 30 years. She has observed generations of children explore and enjoy its 113 acres, including the popular Sleepy Creek.

Group images Lyn McCarthy Niche Pictures, photo of Eli Clarke supplied.

“While we are happy to see the back of Cyclone Alfred, his effects are still being felt by our community and farmers. Our hearts go out to those hit hard, including some of our farmers who have had crops wiped out and valuable topsoil washed away.

“Stock supplies might be down on some stalls (and overflowing on others), or some produce might look a little bruised and battered under the conditions. However, our stalls will never be empty like the supermarkets and will be replenished with locally grown and made food every week. Now more than ever is the time to get behind our farmers and support those who do have produce to sell.

“Our food and drink stalls have also taken a loss with markets being cancelled. So, if you don’t ordinarily stop for breakfast at the market, please take the time to grab a bite to eat and drink.

“We are incredibly grateful for your support throughout the year, but particularly in times like this. And it’s what sets our farmers’ markets and community apart—as well as providing a reliable food source, the markets are also a hub for our community (both stallholders and patrons) to come together, to regroup and to be thankful for what we do have.”

Julia Bolam and Taylor Jamieson have an organic farm outside Kyogle called Roseberry Growers. Taylor grows vegetables, and Julia sells her flowers at the Bangalow Farmers Markets.

“Alfred was pretty bad for our little organic farm,” Julia said. “My husband and I grow vegetables and flowers. We grow next to a creek which is in the Upper Richmond catchment and the Thursday/Friday rain blanketed the catchment for our creek. It isn’t a big creek, and it was just too much for it to handle.

“The creek broke the banks and caused a flash flood/flash river to travel through about 60% of our market garden – but it was the 60% that we had most of our crops in. The water was super powerful. It crushed two caterpillar tunnels. It also took a lot of topsoil and all the crops that were in that area.

“The topsoil loss is the worst part, as we had been working on the soil for years and it had started growing some really amazing vegetables. “This means we basically have to start again crop wise, so we will likely miss five to seven weeks’ worth of farmers markets, but then we will be back, initially with fast growing crops only. It is a real bummer, but we are just looking forward to getting back on track now.”

From farmers to those restoring our Big Scrub rainforest, Mark Dunphy, President of the Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, added: “After Cyclone Alfred, we noticed that individual trees are far more likely to have fallen, while not much damage was observed to trees within a forest structure. A high number of the trees that went down were eucalypts or exotics such as jacarandas and poincianas.

It highlights the value of promoting appropriate riparian and habitat restoration work that restores the original ecological communities of the site – for the Big Scrub footprint, planting rainforest species to areas that were previously rainforest will ensure more resilience to the weather extremes these plant communities have evolved to withstand.”

Along Byron Creek, Noelene Plummer of Bangalow Land and Rivercare observed: “We have had a look at most of our plantings and they appear to have escaped any major losses. There have been trees and branches down and some sites, like the All Souls’ creek walk, are muddy under foot.”

But the team was happy to take part in a planting session at Twin Creeks community in Fowlers Lane in the weeks following.

After months of waiting while the Development Application wended its way through Council corridors, permission was finally granted for the markets to start at Piccabeen Park on a “temporary trial” which ends in October 2026. If the trial is “deemed successful”, then the Farmers Market may be included in Council’s Sustainable Markets operations.

For the last nine years, Kylie McGregor has been the Bangalow Market’s onsite manager, while her husband Tom Carey performs the same duties at the Byron Bay Farmers Market. With a background in journalism and marketing, Kylie manages the market’s admin, marketing, social media and advertising. A committee of members runs an umbrella not-for- profit organisation, Byron Farmers Market Inc, which operates both the Byron Bay and Bangalow markets. Belinda Fortune is its president.

Each Saturday, stalls start setting up between 5.30-6am, for a 7am start and close at 11am. Currently, the Bangalow markets have around 30 stalls, which fluctuates according to the season. “While the majority of our farmers and stallholders are perennial,” Kylie explains, “we have a handful who have shorter seasons, so they only attend when their crops are in season.”

Initially, the move to Piccabeen Park was triggered by a social media post from a main street business on a Bangalow Community Facebook page. It asked the community what it thought of making the move to the park. Most responses were in favour of the move. At the same time, the pub had advised the market operators that renovations would be taking place at some point, which would require them to move offsite. Once the idea of moving to the park was proposed to stallholders, they voted unanimously to relocate permanently.

The market stalls will start at the Deacon Street entrance to Piccabeen Park and run along both sides of the road known unofficially as ‘Wetlands Way’, ending at the amenities block. A distinct advantage to the new location is the fact that there’s carparking conveniently located behind the museum. It has capacity for up to 43 cars (with supervision). No doubt this will be a relief to anyone trying to find a park along the main street on Saturday mornings.

Overhanging trees will provide more shade for the stalls and stallholders, and there’s an adjoining grassed area for customers alongside. “There’s also the opportunity to expand our offering to include breakfast and drink stalls,” adds Kylie.

“We have been incredibly grateful to Tom and Cathryn Mooney for allowing us to run the market in the pub carpark for the past 20 years. When the market was first started all those years ago, there was quite a bit of opposition to it. But it was the Mooneys who supported us and offered the market a venue in which to operate. Their generosity is greatly appreciated. It will be sad to leave, but this is a chance to evolve the market into a new era. While it has been great to call the pub home for so many years, the bitumen is extremely hot over the warmer months. I think everyone is looking forward to having a little respite from the heat as we head into summer. And a new home feels timely.

“We are hoping this new environment will be more enticing for people to not only come to do their weekly grocery shop, but to spend some time – having breakfast, listening to the live music and just hanging out. Plus, there are two playgrounds for the kids, and it’s a dog-friendly zone, so dogs on leads will be welcome. It just feels like a well-rounded offering for our community.”

The Bangalow Historical Society is planning to offer scones, jam and cream on the lawns outside the museum on some Saturday mornings, and is hopeful the presence of the markets, next to the museum and the weekly Library Bus, will create the perfect Saturday morning vibe for the town.

The mood among farmers is optimistic. Anthony Hotson, who has been selling the range of Rainforest Foods he grows and packages since the very first farmers markets in the Byron Shire, confirms the obvious: “Over the years, the markets have become more professional, more diverse, and we now offer a more comprehensive range of produce,” he said. “It is precarious, with the weather, but this is a beautiful market community here. It’s always been good for the farmers. Not as many markets have lasted as long as us. We really appreciate what Tom and Cathryn Mooney have done, giving us the opportunity to be here behind the Bangalow Hotel, but it’s time to move on.”

Heather Armstrong’s stall offering juicy Coopers Shoot Tomatoes, has also been operating at the Bangalow markets from Day One, as has David Trevor-Jones, from Hayters Hill Farm. Georgie Powell, from Mt Chowan Organics, has been coming to the markets since she was a child. Her father, Lance, was one of the original stallholders; now Georgia runs the stall.

The Bangalow Herald asked Kylie McGregor what she buys from the markets to cook herself. “It depends on the season! I always buy the staples, like leafy greens, potatoes, tomatoes, herbs and garlic and then it changes with what’s available. In the warmer months I reach for more salad options with lettuces, rocket, radicchio, red onions, radishes and avos – all topped with olive oil and sprouts. In the colder months I love slow cooking beef and whatever vegies are available – eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, silverbeet, carrots and squash. To me, it’s always about keeping it simple. When the produce is as great as we have, you don’t need to do much to it. At the moment, my go-to lunch or snack is locally-made rice crackers with avo, tomato, cheese and basil – all from our farmers. And when the berries, pawpaw and dragonfruit are in season, I’m in heaven. It’s really just about making the most of and appreciating what’s in season.”

Christobel Munson

Images by Lyn McCarthy Niche Pictures

When we bought the property, Harry Fowler had been dead six years.

It seems he wasn’t any great shakes as a farmer, devoting so much of his time, enthusiasm and energy into countless worthy Bangalow community activities. Though he hadn’t kept the land looking like a workable farm, his niece and nephew, who inherited the property, spent a few years cleaning it up to make it presentable to market.

As a cattle grazing property – which is how it was marketed – it was too small for a single family to make a living from. But for our purposes, it was perfect.

It was generations since it had been a workable dairy. The land, though recently spritzed up – paddocks all slashed of weeds and the countless tonnes of rocks all gathered up and shovelled neatly out of the way and into the gulleys – looked as good as it could. But with streaks of erosion slicing through bare hillsides, to us, it seemed lifeless and unloved: it felt bleak.

Apart from the original Fowler family farmhouse, 11 additional houses have been built over the years. Our 12 houses stand on around two acres of land per lot – each private individual bubble hanging off the internal road – and together, we care and manage the other 90 communally-owned rural acres.

Inspired by the countless consultants’ reports we had commissioned, covering every possible aspect of life on a potential community, the minute we could, we set to, to transform the land. As well as creating all the infrastructure needed before houses could be built – 1.7km of internal paved road, underground power, fencing, and heaps more – we quickly leapt in, keen to bring our dry paddocks back to life.

Setting the scene for us was an ‘Environmental Enhancement and Management Plan’ (EEMP) that we had prepared by Firewheel Rainforest Services early on. It outlined how we could potentially transform the worn-out land through environmental repair, indicating where and what we could plant: species lists tailored to select the ideal plant for every nook and cranny, whether up on the high, windswept ‘Jindibah Heights’, where nine of our houses were built, or along the frost-prone creek flats.

Our first aim was to create a fertile, thriving environment into which we could build our houses. We created privacy for each one through appropriate native plantings; these also reduced the impact of new houses on neighbouring properties. We wanted to restore rainforest along the Sleepy Creek riparian corridor, and (dare I say) “beef up” the two acres of Big Scrub we found on the far side of the causeway over the creek. We also wanted to protect and enhance the habitat of any endangered or vulnerable threatened species on site.

With the property sectioned off – on maps, at first – into zones labelled ‘Rural Living’, ‘Habitat/Regeneration’ and ‘Agricultural’ – we got planting.

In the early days, there was a rough bush track round the property, requiring four-wheel drive. As soon as construction started on the internal road, we utilised the scraped-off topsoil to plant visual screenings along the roadside, giving each potential house a thick privacy screen. These trees are now 20 to 30m high. An agricultural buffer zone was planted along our eastern border, to prevent any spray drift coming onto our land from the neighbouring macadamia plantation to our east.

Over a decade or so, each year we would aim to plant another 1,000 rainforest trees, appropriate for the site – per our EEMP. Some years, we’d attempt to plant more, and organised working bees where as many people as possible living on the land, would join with our contractor to plant that year’s quota. Today it is immediately apparent how much life all our plantings – nearly 12,000 native trees – have restored to the land. And of course we found out that controlling environmental weeds is both imperative and an ongoing, costly challenge.

A big point of difference from any other communities being established at the time, was our wish to potentially farm parts of the land, or take up any emerging agricultural possibilities. Most of the other communities at the time focussed exclusively on rainforest regeneration. We wanted to retain the option to graze cattle or whatever horticultural pursuits might work well here: we didn’t want to preclude any possibility.

On each of our house lots, owners have landscaped and planted what suited them. Some have created flat areas for kids to play on, with room for veggie plots, swings and trampolines. For others, a stunning seaview from the terraced pool, with a few strategic easily-managed feature plants, has been what’s important. To me, it’s been creating a densely planted garden which supplies food: an orchard, bush tucker, flowers, fruit.

While this property could easily have ended up as an unprofitable farm running beef cattle (as often happens when city people relocate to the country and don’t know what to do with the land), we’ve found a way that 12 households can each care for their own lot, so each garden is loved and flourishing. The trees we’ve planted on the remaining common land have brought the rest of the land back to life, attracting lush flora and abundant fauna in the wildlife sanctuary it’s become, while providing shade for the agisted cattle and horses. The creek, now shaded by mature trees, attracts us to sit, or swim, or simply enjoy nature’s bounty.

At night, I hear possums, bandicoots or echidnas, shuffling about in the jungle outside my bedroom window. Driving home in the dusk, wallabies can be seen leaping across the fields, and snakes and reptiles of all kinds, lurk throughout. On the other side of the house facing east, looking towards the sea, I watch goshawks and huge eagles, floating on the thermals. Bands of raucous yellowtailed black cockatoos, screech across the skyline on summer evenings. When I open my curtains in the morning, there’s usually a few kookaburras checking out their potential breakfast, perched high up on the stalk of the giant Mauritius Hemp.

At ground level, as I walk through the orchard to feed the chooks, past my native bee hives, blue-tongue lizards, or tiny skinks freeze for a moment, then slink on about their lives. When the chooks have left grain, the roundeared bush rats arrive for the left-overs. A series of snakes, all named Monty Python, regularly check out the rat situation from the roof of the nesting boxes in my chicken coop, conveniently taking care of excess numbers. Other snakes have found their safe and happy place in the 300 metres of rock wall, built along a section of our internal road. Everyone’s happy.

It’s been an interesting 30-year transformation.

*This is an extract from a book Christobel is writing on the conversion of the former dairy farm into an intentional Community Title property.