Big Things.

The Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, was Australia’s first “Big Thing”. Built in 1964 it still stands proudly on the highway in front of what was once a large banana plantation and which now doubles as a tourist attraction promoting oddly enough, bananas.

Australia has over 230 “Big Things” all across the country. They are generally on major roads, kitsch, and butt ugly. We have a Big Prawn, Big Lawnmower, Big Orange and Big Rocking Chair. Personally, I don’t get the attraction though many holidaymakers arrange their journeys around these tourist traps. 

A selection of our BIG THINGS. Hideous, aren’t they?

The first time I saw the Big Banana wasn’t until the early 1990’s with my own children.  Knowing we were in for a long car trip and attempting to stop a war from breaking out  in the back seat I kept both daughters bouyed with the wonder of the Big Banana. Can I tell you how appalled I was to arrive in sleepy little Coffs only to find the cover (or skin) of the banana away at the dry cleaners. Try explaining that to Little People.

I was reminded of this following my recent travels to Far North Queensland where everything seemed to be Big. The Big Cane Toad in Sarina, The Big Snake in Ayr, The Big Mango which looked like it had been hit by a truck in some little town along the way, and my favourite, The Big Opened Sardine Can at Home Hill. No explanation for that one, sorry.

I wasn’t even aware of these Big Things until I was an adult. As a child the only large object I had witnessed was The Big Potato at Robertson on the way down the South Coast and you would never have guessed that the huge brown lump sitting in a paddock was a spud.

So why?

According to one source, “Big Things have become something of a cult phenomenon and are sometimes used as an excuse for a road trip where many or all big things are visited and used as a backdrop to a group photograph. Many of the big things are considered works of folk art and have been heritage-listed, though others have come under threat of demolition.” Sayonara Captain Cook in Cairns.

I’m not a fan of Big Things though I think this is in part because I was traumatised as a teenager after having spotted an army truck full of young soldiers urinating on The Big Golden Guitar at Tamworth, Australia’s country music capital.

Not so traumatised that I wasn’t excited showing 18 month old Harry The Big Crab in Cardwell.

Does your part of the world suffer from Big Things too? Do you have a favourite?

Tassie : 4 Seasons In 1 Day but oh so Beautiful.

French novelist, Marcel Proust,once said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

Every time I visit Tasmania, Australia’s smallest State and separated from the mainland, I come across some fascinating gems.

Firstly, at 60 Duke Street in prestigious Sandy Bay, the childhood home of Errol Flynn.

From Flynn’s My Wicked Wicked Ways:

“A beach, Sandy Bay, was not far away and I was often there, swimming at the age of three. The beach was of hard brown sand, the water freezing cold. Mother was a good swimmer and she took me there very often. I have never been out of ocean water for very long since.”

In Kettering, where ferries transport people and cars to the beautiful and wild Bruny Island, I spotted this :

So you’re asking what’s the big deal, right?

The Oyster Cove Inn with its beautiful views of Kettering Harbour was built around 1890 for a wealthy British plantation owner named Alfred Cotton as a summer holiday home for his family. Cotton’s son, Sydney, was the model for Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Sydney was a triple threat spy for the French, the Germans and M15 and a mate of Fleming’s and Hitlers 2IC, Herman Goering.( Yep, another biography I need to chase….)

At Margate Museum I learned the fascinating history of both the oyster and scallop industries within Tasmania. Better still one of the local Primary Schools was promoting The Young Archies Award. It is a take on The Archibald Prize, an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia and first awarded in 1921.

School children were asked to draw portraits of friends or family, with visitors to the Museum asked to nominate their favourites over a given period. The painter of the portrait voted the most popular would win an art set to the value of $200.

What a wonderful way to encourage and foster creativity. Loved it.

Lastly, in sleepy little Swansea on the glorious east coast we were fortunate to attend a performance sponsored by the University of Tasmania by the winners of The Ossa Music Prize. This ensemble, made up of a percussionist and a french horn, played compositions by other students from the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, which were all based on the lives and history of earlier Tasmanians. Storytelling by music if you like.

I learned about poet Gwen Harwood, colonial architect William Wilson, and Mary Roberts. Who was Mary Roberts? An absolute trailblazer. More about her soon 🙂

Will be home tonight, thank God as I do not waste time at laundromats whilst travelling and my clothes reek. All part of the travel experience, hey……

Lee Kernaghan and The Avenue of Honour at Yungaburra, FNQ

Saw the documentary film Lee Kernaghan : Boy From The Bush on the weekend and am still soaring from the buzz. In no way a country music fan I saw Kernaghan in concert in a little country town pre-Covid and let me assure you country music in a rural township surrounded by Akubras is a totally different animal. Right up there amongst my favourite concerts, with the added bonus of The Wolfe Bothers. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

The movie includes archival clips from Kernaghan’s childhood and early career as well as spectacular views of the Australian outback in all its beauty and brutality. (Tip for Tourism Australia : Forget the “where the bloody hell are you” and “throw another shrimp on the barbie” campaigns*. Boy From The Bush is the real deal.)

Kernaghan is a musical story teller with a deep love of the land and its people. He has raised millions $$$ performing around the country to assist farmers struggling from drought, bushfire and flood. Absolute respect and he seems the sort a bloke with whom you could share a plonk and a cheese platter.

A new song about to be released in collaboration with Mitch Tambo and Isiah Firebrace, both indigenous, written whilst sharing a campfire on the banks of a river bank deals with reconciliation – Come Together – sent chills up the back of my spine. 

In June I shared my plans to visit Yungaburra in North Queensland to visit The Avenue Of Honour in commemoration of the fallen in the Afghanista conflict. See Serendipity Part 1 : Yungaburra, FNQ.

Lee Kernaghan had written a song with lines taken from a letter written by Private Benjamin Chuck to his wife whilst deployed and held by the Australian War Memorial, for his Spirit Of The Anzacs CD which culminated in Ben’s Dad organising The Avenue of  Honour in respect of his (late) son and his brothers in arms.

These will be the last holiday photos that I share but for anyone travelling to North Queensland, Yungaburra on the shores of Lake Tinaroo is an absolute must. I shed no tears, but rather, choked on the tranquility, the quiet beauty, and the powerful reminder of the young Australians lost during Afghanistan. This memorial parkland is just so well done.

The figure on the left represents Commando Benjamin Chuck. The rock represents the harsh Afghanistan environment.

Bordering the Avenue are Flame Trees which flower from October through to December. Their flowers are bright red to coincide with the red Poppies of Remembrance Day in November.

Lest We Forget

* Aussie’s do not throw shrimp on the barbie. We do not have shrimp. We have prawns. We throw prawns on the barbie with a dash of oil and a couple of teaspoons of freshly crushed garlic. “Don’t come the raw prawn” means don’t tell lies or fibs. And blokes use Prawn as a derogative when a woman with a tantalising body has an unattractive head. End of todays kultya lesson

Far North Queensland and Movies

Over 1,700 kms (1,000 miles ) away from home in Far North Queensland and I’ve bumped into a friend from the Adelaide Hills, way, way down south and along way from the east coast. When I say bumped, I mean literally. My facial recognition skills are shonky at best, and when face masks, sun screen and floppy sun hats are added to the equation the result isn’t pretty. Funnily enough, it was actually her husband I recognised from photos, though we’d never previously met.

Carol and I became friends 12 years ago because of our shared love of Australian movies. We both wrote reviews for a mutual literary friend.

So it was perhaps apt that I bumped into this woman at the North Queensland Army Museum in Townsville where a knowledgable volunteer was enthusiastically extolling the virtues of an army truck exhibit which was driven by Nicole Kidman ( AKA Our Nic) in the movie Australia.*

It’s a fascinating museum manned by volunteers and Army Reservists with entry by donation. At the entrance is a sculpture that represents the Australian tunnellers involved in blowing up Nazi bunkers near Ypres in Belgium during WW1 as depicted in the movie Beneath Hill 60. (From the book of the same name by Will Davies and based on the memoirs of Captain Oliver Woodward. An excellent read!) The movie was shot in Charters Towers, 135 km south west of Townsville, with the sculpture donated by the film crew.

In an attempt to elevate the 20 month old grandchild’s education to a higher plateau – afterall, you’re never too young to learn about Errol Flynn, are you? – we visited the popular Australian Hotel in the trendy Palmer Street Precinct for a refreshing bevvy. In my quest for Flynn memorabilia I visited this area forty years ago only to find the Errol Flynn Room – so named because he stayed there prior to his move into acting and before his New Guinea escapades – closed for refurbishment. Back then the pub was a lonely dilapidated shell of a building down by the Port ; these days the area has been gentrified and the accomodation is as swank as. Sadly, the Flynn Room no longer exists. ( Wretched millennials?)

A further 400kms north to Cairns and we came across the Australian Armour And Artillery Museum. About over museums by this stage, though if you have an interest in the movie Fury featuring Brad Pitt then this place with its movie memorabilia ticks all the boxes.**

Lastly,  looking over from Caldwell to Hinchinbrook Island where Nim’s Island was filmed. Lousy weather which made it all the better for investigating Australia’s biggest memorial park commemorating the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Coming full circle and travelling south once again we stopped at Bowen, famous for its summer mangoes .The township of Bowen hit a high note when the main street was transformed into a 1942 Darwin for the movie  Australia. Think the beef cows being shunted down the main street and along the wharf…..

Of course there is more movie paraphernalia in Far North Queensland. It’s just difficult when your hands are full – peeling prawns.

* Manual windowscreen wipers – very handy during a cyclone

*My advice? Get your hair done while the lads knock themselves out.

Jezzine Barracks, Townsville (Part 2)

Townsville played an important role during WW2 and its significance is highlighted in monuments scattered around the 15 hectare heritage Jezzine Barracks precinct.

During WW2 Townsville played host to more than 50,000 American and Australian troops and air crew, becoming a major staging point for battles in the South West Pacific. The first bombing raid on Rabaul in Papua New Guinea was carried out by six B-17s based near Townsville.

The Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 is considered the most significant sea battle ever fought off the coast of Australia.  There is a fascinating diagram imprinted on the concrete walkway near the 5th US Airforce Memorial which guides you through the manoeuvres. 

The memorial itself is quite impressive in its simplicity yet it has a commanding presence with its views across to Magnetic Island and demands reverence. The information states “The United States 5th Air Force Memorial is dedicated to the men and women who served and those who paid the supreme sacrifice while serving with the U.S. 5th Air Force during the South West Pacific campaign of World War Two.”

In July 1942 there were three small Japanese air raids over Townsville. No lives were lost and structural damage was minimal, as the Japanese missed their intended targets. This   structure I found quite sobering.

Make sure you spend the time reading the information on the plaques attached to the memorial. Absolutely fascinating! You can read the plaques here:

https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww2/display/92837-united-states-5th-air-force-memorial

Jezzine Barracks is most definitely worth a couple of visits as it is not only situated on a breathtakingly beautiful piece of coastline, the history is fascinating. Just be wary of the crocs and stingers …….🐊🐊

NOTE :

NOTE:  Back in 2012 an Australian historian, Ray Holyoak, from James Cook University, was researching why US congressman Lyndon B Johnson visited Townsville for three days back in 1942. He found that about 600 African-American troops were brought to the city to help build airfields and bridges. These troops, from the 96th Battalion, US Army Corps of Engineers, were stationed at a base on the city’s western outskirts. Two white USA officers handed out serial abuse in the form of racial taunts and violence which resulted in a large-scale siege lasting eight hours.

Holyoak uncovered several documents hidden in the archives of the Queensland Police and Townsville Brigade from the night of 22nd May, 1942, confirming that the soldiers took to machine guns and anti-aircraft weapons and fired into tents where their white counterparts were drinking. More than 700 rounds were fired.

At least one person was killed and dozens severely injured, and Australian troops were called in to roadblock the rioters. 

Holyoak also discovered a report written by Robert Sherrod, a US journalist who was embedded with the troops which never made it to the press, but was handed to Lyndon B Johnson at a Townsville hotel and eventually filed away into the National Archives and Records Administration. For political reasons this incident was hushed up.

You can read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-10/historian-reveals-details-on-townsville-mutiny/3821906

Next Time : Surviving the Townsville heat with fruity drinks with umbrellas in them.

Jezzine Barracks, Townsville (Wulgurukaba)

It’s been thirty years since my last significant visit to Townsville 1,400 kms north of Brisbane. I did visit fleetingly ten years ago and not so fondly remember the tropical heat pushing me to a pub at 11am for a refreshing G&T and having to take a minimum of four showers a day to stop from smelling myself in the humidity.

Townsville, Australia’s leading garrison city, has undergone some mammoth changes in recent years and is a vibrant centre which manages to meld its Indigenous, Military and Colonial histories in equal parts.

Case in point, Jezzine Barracks, named after a fierce battle at Jezzine in Syria in 1941, which is a definite addition to your Must Do List.

“The Traditional Owners of Garabarra are the Wulgurukaba people and the Bindal people, who retain an enduring ‘connection to country’ despite the impact of non-Aboriginal settlement in the area. For thousands of years Garabarra was the centre of a common food foraging area for local Aboriginal people – an area with immeasurable cultural and spiritual values.” – Wikipedia..

This area became a military base in 1886 and up until 2006 was very much Secret Squirrel territory. The area had been utilised for 120 years and is situated on the Kissing Point Headland on the northern end of The Strand, Townsville’s esplanade bordering the city central, with an outlook across to Magnetic Island and the Coral Sea.

Townsville is just coming out of a 10 day weather event like most of the East Coast.

Opened to the public in 2014 this 15-hectare heritage precinct now commemorates the military and Aboriginal heritage of the area, including majestic water views. There are 34 specially commissioned public artworks, extensive interpretive signage, a coastal walkway connecting to Rowes Bay, as well as the restoration of significant elements of the Kissing Point Fort complex.

The Seven Sisters – based on the seven sisters who came from the heavens to create all that was beautiful, being “Women’s Business”.

The site also includes the Army Museum of North Queensland – closed for my visit but I’ll be back there soon- as well as traditional plantings along the ethno-botanical walk, the Crossed Boomerang Amphitheatre, and the Kennedy Regiment Plaza ( which is bordered by it’s proud history).

The picnic and barbeque areas are popular with both visitors and locals and for a change of pace, a gorgeous little Art Gallery located in old army huts will provide your wallet with the opportunity to enjoy a little dance.

Parade Ground highlighting the regiments that were based at Jezzine.

An example of the history that borders the Parade Ground.

You’ve got it made when you have a Prawn Shell dish from Townsville:)

Next post I will cover the monument commemorating the The United States 5th Air Force Memorial that is featured at Jezzine Barracks. I’m still processing Townsville’s role in military history and it’s connection to the Battle of the Coral Sea ( which of course was not covered in our schooling. Please note sarcasm).

John Rambo and 007.

It’s been a humid weekend best spent in air conditioning watching DVDs. Yes, I’m old school – no Netflix, Stan, Foxtel or streaming. One of the saddest events of modern history is the passing of the movie rental store. Thank God for my local Op Shop where I can acquire a movie fo 50 cents which can either be retained or returned after watching!

Feeling the need for a girlie flick I sat through the Rambo trilogy starting with First Blood. Odd, I know. Blame Sylvester Stallone’s hair that I fantasise cutting each and every time. As usual, participated in screaming at the tele egging John on through out proceedings.

I think I must be the only Aussie not to have seen the new James Bond movie. The local Movie Club recently attended the cinema but I declined. I’ve declined all their invitations to the flicks.

You see, when I’m watching the screen the last thing I want to do when the lights turn on is have someone talk at me. ” Well, what did you think?”

Leave me alone. Please.

I’m happier taking the whole experience in, rather like a boiled lolly – preferably one of those black and white striped aniseed flavoured ones – when you let it roll around your mouth, slowly releasing the different flavours. Nothing analytical about the process at all – just allowing thoughts to percolate. Know what I mean?

Same with travel.

I detest being with a group of people who arrive at a new destination and who insist on discussing their feelings about said site. The ooohs and the arghhhhs add nothing to the experience. I remember first stepping into Florence, Italy, and just standing completely still, watching, breathing, taking it all in. One of my fellow travellers wanted to discuss. I wanted to thump him. Thank goodness for those twenty odd years of parenting skills including the ability to tune out or it may have become ugly.

Daniel Craig will eventually end up at the Op Shop and as I’m told I need to be aware of the back story will rewatch his previous efforts over coming weeks. Homework: who would have guessed.

Rambo requires attention first. There’s more movies in the series to locate. Fingers crossed he can finally afford a decent hair cut.

Much Needed Therapy : A Day On Straddie

North Stradbroke Island, affectionately known as Straddie is an island that lies within Moreton Bay off the coast of Brisbane. It is a 45 minute vehicular ferry trip from my sandpit or half that on the people-only Straddie Flyer. At 68,000 acres it is the second largest sand island in the world. Known as Minjerribah to the First Australians the Quandamooka people are the traditional land owners and their presence is still keenly felt on the island.

Fun Fact: Originally there was only one Stradbroke Island but in 1895 it split into North Stradbroke Island and South Stradbroke Island after some bizarre events. Firstly, in 1894 the 1,600 tonne barque Cambus Wallace from Glasgow, carrying explosives, shipwrecked in a narrow passage. Five sailors we’re lost, the others managed to salvage barrels of rum and most of the explosives, although they were deemed unstable. Rum and explosives being a heady mix there was one hell of a BOOM, and further storms and strong currents led to the fragile strip of land dissolving and breaking completely away in 1898.

All ferries arrive in Dunwich. The township has a fascinating history having started as a military post, becoming a temporary lazaret, a quarantine command, and then the largest asylum in Queensland for the poor, disabled and disadvantaged. There also remains evidence of the financially rewarding Dugong harvesting industry.

Used For Boiling Down Dugongs

Myora Springs has been the meeting place of our First Nations people for eons with it’s fresh water feeding into the bay. 

Amity Point remains relatively untouched by progress and is a camper’s and fisho’s paradise.

Do you remember the Disney movie Finding Nemo? This movie featured The East Australian Current, a large scale flow of water that runs south along the east coast sweeping warm tropical waters from the Coral Sea southwards to interact with the cool temperate waters of the Tasman Sea. You know what that means? All manner of sea life including sharks – big, hungry buggers. We sat mesmerised and watched dolphins and whales at play. Look hard and you may just spot Nemo.

Point Lookout is nothing short of spectacular. The old beach shacks of days gone by are well and truly gone and the high end real estate is at such a stage that I could probably afford to purchase their letterbox and possibly a water feature or two. Despite the exorbitant prices, it is still acceptable to walk sand in through the house and barbeque on the verandah overlooking the view. It retains that holiday vibe. 

I just have to tell you that the Straddie Pub is a Must Do item on any visit to the island.

Wind burnt, sun burnt, and thrilled to have to stop driving in order to allow a koala to cross the road we returned to Dunwich for the ferry ride home.

From Dunwich back over to the mainland.

Feeling improved and in a much better head space, thank you for asking…………….

First Nation’s Storytellers

It is only over recent months that I became aware of Australian Aboriginal Astronomy after having listened to Astrophysicist and Science Communicator, Kirsten Banks, on of all things, a home renovation show.

Of Wiradjuri descent Kirsten has a particular interest in how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have used the stars for over 65,000 years for navigation purposes, predicting weather seasons, and for determining when the best time is to hunt for certain foods such as emu eggs. “ Aboriginal Astronomy can teach us about the link between the sky and the land”, she said.

My interest was further piqued on my recent outback Queensland travels and in particular Winton. Winton’s small population, low humidity, and low light pollution make it the ideal location to stargaze and the area around the Australian Age of Dinosaurs is now one of only ten internationally recognised areas certified as a Dark Sky Sanctuary.

Since then I have been receiving social media alerts regarding Aboriginal artwork related to the skies. ( see Aboriginal Skies)

With a daughter in Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory – which I grew up calling Gove – an area in East Arnham land populated for some 40,000 years by the Yolgnu people, we all have a new appreciation for the story tellers from our First Nation. Contemporary Australian Indigenous art often references astronomical subjects and their related lore such as the Seven Sisters.

Here are examples of some of the art works:

This fabulous artwork was submitted by Annette Joy. Annette is a Gourmanjanyuk/Wergaia artist and the painting represents Yerrerdetkurrk, which is the star Achernar. Yerrerdetkurrk is the ‘Nalwinkurrk’, or mother of Totyarguil’s wives. The ‘Nalwinkurrk’ never allows’ her son-in law to see her. Achernar is a bright, binary star system located in the constellation Eridanus, and is the ninth-brightest star in the night sky.

“Hydra the Water Serpent” from the ‘Shared Sky Exhibition’. This exhibition highlighted the connections between Aboriginal & contemporary astronomy. This artwork is acrylic on linen (70cm x 52cm) and the artist is Nerolie Blurton. “The Water Serpent, stretched across the sky with its many heads, was a monster until it was cut and killed. The red blood drips down from the clot. The browns and orange show that the Hydra can be seen best in autumn.”

If Aboriginal Astronomy intrigues you I recommend reading the story of The Emu In The Sky by Ray and Cilla Norris. Fascinating and guaranteed to give you a brand new perspective.

Dark Sky and Dinosaur Country at Winton overlooking Banjo’s “plains extended” and “vision splendid”.

Isn’t it bizarre how watching something on TV simply to learn how to stop bugs eating young eggplants can take you on such a convoluted journey ? * shaking head and muttering.

War Memorials on my travels

Did you know that there is a Queensland War Memorial Register, currently with over 1300 sites listed?

War memorials resulted from a ground swell of community sentiment going back to the Boer War when memorials were usually situated within cemeteries. With the mass casualties of the First World War affecting almost every family communal memorials in prominent public places were established as a tangible symbol of national mourning. 

These memorials are ever so present in country towns where the names of the fallen indicate just how many local families lost their husbands, fathers and sons. Some are big, some are small. Each are poignant.

Roma, Qld

Longreach, Qld

Ilfracombe, Qld

Chinchilla, Qld

Exhibition in Winton, Qld, in a Troop Train transporting soldiers to the Big Smoke. ( Located in the Waltzing Matilda Museum)

These are just a selection from my recent travels. I’ve always been a sucker for these memorials and how they correspond to a township’s history. When I was in my teens and working for Veterans Affairs ( then Repat) my dream was to travel Australia and photograph all those in small, country towns. Copped the ” responsibility lecture” instead. In those days I listened to what I was told. How things change.

For more information go http://www.qldwarmemorials.com.au