NEWS
String is in the air
Sin BRIEF STING LIKE A BEE Veteran beekeeper, Charlie Bowman tells SIN the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has offered an extension that allows him to keep his hives on national park lands until 2019, when mining leases are also set to expire. The Bowman family’s beehives were outlawed from national park land last year when the Naree Budjong Djara national park was declared.
CAMELS AT HOME Half-hour camel rides along Home Beach will operate every day during the school holidays. Camel trainer Lionel Keegan tells SIN his camels are caught wild in the outback and brought to the Redlands to be trained for riding and racing. For more information: outbackcamels@ozemail.com.au
STARDUST CINEMA RETURNS The outdoor cinema will return to Point Lookout to coincide with the Taste of Straddie event scheduled for the end of June. Movie fans are being asked to bring blankets and pillows for the “crisp” winter weather, with backup plans for moving indoors if the temperature sinks too low.
POINT LOOKOUT LOO The besser block toilet block that has enjoyed star views over Frenchmans Beach for decades is to be demolished.
UNIVERSITY ON STRADDIE The University of the Third Age, or U3A, started in France in 1973 and arrives on Straddie in 2012. The organisation runs courses aimed at retired people – those entering the “third age” – and is looking for tutors as well as students, to lead courses in languages, arts, health and physical activities, computers, craft and hobbies. Contact U3A Redlands on 3821 3888 9am -12 Monday to Friday.
FERRY MERGER UPDATE Residents and visitors are being encouraged to book their ferry passage ahead of time as the merger of the two ferry companies continues. Ferry operators, Transit Systems, say they will endeavour to place car traffic on the better appointed Big Red Cat, with commercial traffic travelling on the Spirit of Waiheke, a barge charted to maintain services since the blue Quandamooka and Minjerribah barges were sent to Gladstone. The Minjerribah is due back at the end of May. In a letter to residents, Transit Sytems said: “We appreciate that this vessel is not to our usual standard and we do ask for your patience as we work to provide a service to the Island during this period. “Specifically we apologise for the lack of onboard facilities and encourage you to make use of the shore café on the Cleveland side.” The company says it is not experiencing significant capacity issues. Big Red Cat bookings can be also made by the Stradbroke Ferries reservations team.
6 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS
PHOTO: DAVID COLLINS, BLACKBOX PHOTOGRAPHY.
AMITY SWIMMING REPAIR Council has plans to replace piles and net at the Amity Point Swimming enclosure during April and May.
Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival organiser Rachel Smith slanders and visitors thronged to hear high-energy performances by leading musicians at last year’s Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival, almost doubling previous ticket sales. While there was much to delight traditionalists some concerts crossed musical boundaries, drawing a wider audience. The bar has been set even higher in 2012, with an outstanding line-up of performers revelling in the opportunity to play six concerts at intimate venues in all three townships. Chamber music lovers will be tempted by gems from the repertoire, ranging from the sparkling virtuosity of Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2 to the haunting beauty of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 15. The players include special guests Sophie Rowell (formerly leader and first violin, Australian String Quartet), Caroline Henbest (former principal viola, Australian Chamber Orchestra) and visiting Dutch cellist Eric de Wit (Scottish Chamber Orchestra). Local favourites Louise King (cello) and Rachel Smith (violin), principal wind players from the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, will return, along with virtuosic
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pianists Anna Grinberg and Liam Viney (playing Stravinsky’s masterwork Petrushka for four hands at Amity Point). Last year, jazz trio Misinterprotato thrilled a capacity audience in a dusk performance at the Point Lookout Life Saving Club, and by popular request they will return to the venue (under their new name, Trichotomy) for the premiere of an exciting new project for jazz trio and string quartet. Later the same evening, at the Point Lookout Hall, an atmospheric concert – with some theatrical touches – will feature American composer George Crumb’s Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale), inspired by the singing of the humpback whale. The whole family will enjoy an outdoor Sunday morning concert, with a brass quintet and other virtuosi, on the grassy waterfront at the Little Ship Club in Dunwich. The Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival will take place in Point Lookout, Dunwich and Amity Point, from Friday 27 July to Sunday 29 July. For more information on all six concerts and ticketing, visit www.stradmusic.org — Col Cunnington
AUTUMN 2012