How Much Wood?

Whenever I pass through Woodburn I start chanting a rhyme my father taught me as a child.

How much wood,
Would Woodburn burn,
If everyone in Woodburn,
Would burn wood!

This is a Watery Wednesday Post. Click here for more watery scenes on our planet.

Diggers Camp Entry: Sculpture by the Sea

Here is our final entry in the 'Clarence Valley Sculpture by the Sea- Fringe Festival' presented at the tiny seaside enclave of Diggers Camp.
The celebrated Hungarian sculptor, Anouska De' Valoise, has created an art installation called 'Drought!'. The catalogue describes it as 'challenging Australians to think more about the water wastage as the purest eau de source tumbles over the harshness of the stony unforgiving environment.'
The Daily Examiner, the Clarence Valley's local rag paper, has sensationally noted a series of confrontations which have occurred between the artist and locals who have interfered with the carefully arranged pebbles and casually used it as a refreshing shower after their dip in the briny sea. De' Valoise can now be found nearby on a stripy canvas deck chair guarding her work day and night!

This is the last entry in the competition, thanks to Ern Malley for your inspiration and the generous comments by CVT followers. 'Normal service' on CVT should will hopefully resume tomorrow.

Sculpture by the Sea: Woolgoolga Entry

Woolgoolga's entry in the "Clarence Valley Sculpture by the Sea - Fringe Festival" is entitled 'Ce n'est pas une épave de bateau", by Buster.
It explores the humanness of memories: what is real and what is unreal. If 'épave de bateau' is buried in sand does it really exist?

Sculpture By The Sea: Yamba Entry

Yamba has two entries in the 'Clarence Valley Sculpture by the Sea - Fringe Festival'. One is 'Umbrella' by Leee  the other is called "Bored " by an unknown artist.

'Umbrella' is a post-realist poly resin life size sculpture that is confronting yet is empathic towards the bright light of a melanoma inducing sky. This is juxtaposed with the dark monotony of sun safety. The catalogue reads, "I want to make make beach goers stop and think before they resume their hedonistic activities."

'Bored' illustrates the concept of  a didactic relationship to conceptual ideas of belonging. The 'unknown' artist has represented their  deep sense of connection to place and has therefore painstakingly collected and assembled this organic piece, it resonates well with those who have far too much time on their hands.
Please be aware that there are no catalogue notes for this piece.
 

Sculpture by the Sea: Wooli Entry

Since I featured Angourie's entry, by Monsieur Nature,  in the 'Sculpture by the Sea- Clarence Valley Fringe Festival' I have been alerted to many other local seaside village entries.

Today we feature Wooli's Entry entitled 'Valhalla' by Fred McGilliycuddy.
The exhibition catalogue notes that this piece "demonstrates the Utopian paradigm of an OAP trying to cope with the realisation that his sun bed is basically f$%**#d! But still the Isles of Undying Life are within a glimpse if only his glasses weren't mislaid." 

Bangalow Palm in the Pink

Going AFK for 4/5 days. Heading into the mountains where there is no WWW. Can't wait!
Next few days are on auto-pilot but I hope you like what I have planned. It is a tribute to a personal hero "Ern" Malley, google him.


This is a Skywatch Friday Post. Click here for more heavenly views.

Real Soul Food

The Lismore commercial/shopping block of shops is legendary on the North Coast. Although it's glory days have passed due to most folk preferring the air-conditioned monotony of Lismore Square: Molesworth, Keen, Woodlark and Magellen Streets still continue to have many long-standing, eclectic and just plain interesting shops and cafes.
It is hot and very muggy humping around with kids in tow who have been brainwashed into sanitised shopping malls but who could resist the tropical fruits, gleaming chrome, linoleum and hanging baskets of the 'Tropicana'. A Woodlark St gem!

This is a 'signs signs' Post. Click here to visit Lesley's excellent meme.

Prawns Ahoy

Burrs Seafood has quickly become a Yamba institution. Permanently moored in the Marina, it sells prawns, oysters, crabs and fish. The water around the boat swarms with Butterfish and small Bream waiting for the off cuts.

$50 worth of Seafood from Burrs about to disappear. Bon Appetit!

This is a Watery Wednesday Post. Click here for more Watery Scenes.

Lismore Methodist (Uniting) Church

Methodism as a Protestant denomination and way of life has almost vanished in Australia. In 1977 a ecumenical union occured between most congregations of the various Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Methodist/Wesleyan Churches creating the Uniting Church.
This is the wonderful Lismore Methodist, now Uniting Church. It certainly is an eclectic building with many wacky and juxtaposed elements of late 19th and early 20th styles melded into a unique example of vernacular architecture. I just love it!!! I want to know more about this building and especially want to go inside.
The Methodist influence on Australian History has been profound. It's greatest influence was in early/mid 20th century life in Victoria and South Australia; the Temperance Movement, itinerant preaching and tent crusades, forced rest on Sunday, soup kitchens for the poor and the evangelisation of labourers and criminals are just some of it's many activities .
Many Australians, however, despised the Methodists and described them as 'wowsers' (anti any form of pleasure). What a wonderful Aussie word that has almost vanished in this hedonistic age we now live, just like the Methodist Church itself.

This an Our World Tuesday Post. Click here for more images and stories from around the globe.

This is a Ruby Tuesday Post. Click here for more red scenes.

Yellow Truck

On close inspection this is a very unusual truck. It is a strange hybrid of 1940's/50's Utility and modern Semi-Trailer cabin.

this is a Mellow Yellow Monday post. Click here for more yellow shots.

Smile for the Camera

This location could/should be on my list of North Coast Hall of Fame/Shame: the notorious Woodburn Money Earner Speed Camera.
"Slow right down it is only 50kms", is the shout that some back seat drivers coeee as we approach the digital dynamo....
"Oh Fuck, I think I was going too fast!" is the more common refrain.
The NSW Gov makes at least one Million a year at the Woodburn Camera; what is even more startling is that I managed to take a snap of the Pacific Hwy with not a car or juggernaut in sight, highly unusual on Australia's main East Coast road!

This morning Chris Gulaptis is the new state member for Clarence, after a by-election was held yesterday. The previous incumbent, Steve Cansdell, was forced to resign after receiving a speeding fine from said camera and then falsely claiming through a Statutory Declaration that he wasn't the driver. In NSW we call this 'doing an Einfield' after the case of a very high profile Judge who ended up going to gaol for a similar offense.
I  am very sure  that Mr Gulaptis will always slow down when he is visiting Woodburn on electoral business.

Art Amongst the Broken Buildings

On closer inspection, Keeler's Corner from yesterday, has some unusual but well executed art painted onto the boarded up windows.

I'm unsure who painted the strange collection of landscape and nature studies but they have talent.

I have featured art at this location before. One of my first blog posts featured the 'bikie style' murals in the backyard. I have a feeling that the backyard art was painted by someone else.

The Pigeon Palace

When I was young we called it Keeler's Corner after the owners of a general store that operated out of the r/hand side. In the 1950's in was known as Mescal's General Store, prior to that it was Zuber's Cordial Factory. It closed down completely a decade ago when (surprise, surprise) Bi-Lo Supermarket opened a block away.
These days I'm calling it the 'Pigeon Palace' after the large flocks that congregate on it's rusty old roof. Tomorrow I will show some unexpected details on the lower story.

This is a Skywatch Friday Post. Click here for more heavenly scenes.

Once We Were Owners

This vintage sign recalls the old days when the rate payers of the North Coast owned and invested in the local electricity company, NRCC. In the 90's the Carr State Government stole corporatised it. Then it was called North Power, then it became Country Energy, now it is called Essential Energy.
Essentially it's just a silly name and obviously it will change again at great cost.

This is a Thursday Signs Post. Click here for more signs.

Susan Island - Eastern End Beach

Last Watery Wednesday I showed you the eroding western end of Susan Island, this week it is the other eastern end which continues to grow. It has become a lovely sandy spit and I often see people picnicking on it's grassy flat or swimming.
The Clarence River is very wide at this point, on the left is Grafton and on the right is South Grafton. In the distance is the Grafton Bridge. The large yellow building is the South Grafton Ex-Serviceman's Club.
In the far left is a S.E.S (State Emergency Services) boat. Thanks Wally and Janice for the boat trip.

Looking back to the western end of Susan Island and the Rainforest Reserve.

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Milkshakes @ Angourie Shop

This is a Ruby Tuesday Post. Click here for more redness.

Minyon Falls

Minyon Falls is a spectacular waterfall in the Nightcap Ranges. If you want to know more about it's geology then I know just the blog.
We were very concerned for the girl at the top of the falls, signs warn to keep away from the top of the falls as the cliffs are liable to break but it was a stormy day and I was more concerned that a downpour in the catchment could bring a sudden torrent of water.

It's a long way down!!!!

Goin' Green in Rosebank

Rosebank is between Lismore and Mullumbimby in the rainforest foothills of the Nightcap Range. It is a very friendly hippie hamlet with a great cafe and local food co-operative. It in the 'old' days the cafe was the classic country general store that hardly exist anywhere anymore. I do like how the old petrol bowser has been greened over.

It is a great place for lunch and watching the alternate universe spin by. I couldn't resist dessert, an unusual no bake Avocado pie with a chewy date base, yum yum yum!

The Sea is a Hungry Dog

The Sea

The sea is a hungry dog,
Giant and grey.
He rolls on the beach all day.
With his clashing teeth and shaggy jaws
Hour upon hour he gnaws
The rumbling, tumbling stones,
And 'Bones, bones, bones, bones! '
The giant sea-dog moans,
Licking his greasy paws.

And when the night wind roars
And the moon rocks in the stormy cloud,
He bounds to his feet and snuffs and sniffs,
Shaking his wet sides over the cliffs,
And howls and hollos long and loud.

But on quiet days in May or June,
When even the grasses on the dune
Play no more their reedy tune,
With his head between his paws
He lies on the sandy shores,
So quiet, so quiet, he scarcely snores.

James Reeves

This is a Weekend in B&W. Click here to see other monochrome snaps on Dragonstar's meme

Lest We Forget

This is a shot I took in April at the a Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinge, Belgium.
Remembrance Day is not for the glorification of war or other patriotic stirrings but a time to remember all men and women who gave up their lives in all wars.

Huckleberry Finn on the Clarence

Kids love playing in mud! I thought about Huckleberry Finn when I saw this gang squishing the mud between their toes.

Swans Dress Up

I have featured the Black Swan Fountain in front of the Cathedral previously. Here they are dressed in their best mauve bows for Jacaranda. Good to see they are still telling each other funny jokes and pissing themselves with laughter.
This is a Watery Wednesday Post. Click here for more watery scenes.

Sculpture by the Sea: Angourie Style

The annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition has opened in Sydney on the Bronte to Bondi Walk. Back Beach Angourie has a wall of sculpture carved by the greatest artist of all time, Nature!
Coffee Rock is a very soft stone that erodes into very mysterious but fabulous shapes. I don't know about how it formed(s) but I am sure that Rod at North Coast Geology would know.
Coffee Rock is fun, you can write your name in it or imagine strange animals and faces in it's sandblasted contortions. It is also dangerous as there are often landslides.
What can you see in this sculpture? I see three ghosts/spirits trying to break out of their sandy brown world.

This is an Our World Tuesday Post. Click here for more snaps of more places in our amazing world.

Purple Nights & Orange Lights

I like Jacarandas against the blackness of an approaching Spring storm (none this week) or at night in a brightly lit park against a dark night.

Susan Island Nature Reserve

Susan Island separates Grafton and South Grafton in the Clarence River. I have shown shots of the Eastern End, but never the National Parks Nature Reserve at the Western End. In the distance on the left hand side is the South Grafton CBD.

It is a very important Nature Reserve as it is dominated by Tulip wood Trees and is the last real remnant of Lowland Rain forest in the Clarence Valley. In summer it is often home to millions of fruit bats.

This is a Skywatch Friday Post. Click here for more glorious sky shots from around our world.

Fading Signs

Just off Grafton's main street is a lovely old faded sign advertising Archie Schafer. I am informed he sold refrigerators. If you look closely above there is even an older painted sign for....Brothers, sorry couldn't make out the first word.

This is a Signs, Signs Post. Click here for more shots of signs from around the world.

Dragon Boat

Dragon Boat Racing is a big event in the Jacaranda Week. Teams come from all over Northern N.S.W to compete on the wide reaches of the Clarence River. The boats are beautiful objects with the dragon face prow, drum and dragon tail stern.


This is a Watery Wednesday Post. Click here for more watery scenes on our planet.

Theme Day: Fences

A nice old fashioned white fence encloses a picnic area on Cape Byron, Byron Bay. Below is the exclusive enclave of Wategos Beach where houses routinely change hands for $5-$10 million, some very high tech security fences down there!
In the distance Woolumbin/Mt Warning pokes it's craggy peak into the sky.
On the first day of every month the City Daily Photo Community post to a theme, for November it's fences.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

This is an Our World Post. Click here to see other scenes from around the world.