Straddie Island News summer2012 issue

Straddie Island News

SUMMER 2012–13

$3.00 AT NEWSAGENTS & SELECTED OUTLETS

M I N J E R R I B A H / N O R T H S T R A D B RO K E I S L A N D ’ S C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R

School’s up “The rush of surfing your first wave is still the same and helping people experience that feeling is why I love surf coaching.”

—Murray Taylor

BONUESR

SUMM N FICTIO INSIDE

COVER STORY

OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD

School’s up

Murray Taylor instructs students at Adder Rock ocal surf school owner Murray Taylor has two major selling points for his students: first he is a qualified teacher, having been a popular mentor to many a student attending the Island’s secondary school program.

Second he is dad to upcoming pro-surfer Lincoln Taylor: so the proof, as they say, is somewhat in the pudding. Being the humble bloke he is though, Murray isn’t likely to tell you either of those things himself.

The surf school first took on students in 1987, operating under the auspices of the Point Lookout Boardriders. In the 90s, says Murray, the school became the North Stradbroke Island Coaching Academy, working under Surfing Queensland. In 2002, the North Stradbroke Island Surf School became a registered business and a Surfing Australia licenced Surf School, and continues to this day.

“I began coaching with Dadee Taylor and Leith Goebel on old fibreglass surfboards that were donated to us,” Murray told SIN. “Many a grommet went home with a fat lip and a few bruises but they always seemed

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to come back – so they must have been having fun.”

Today the boards are lightweight learn-tosurf soft boards and many of the school’s coaches are themselves young Island surfers who learnt to walk the board on Straddie waves.

“The rush of surfing your first wave is still the same and helping people experience that feeling is why I love surf coaching,” Murray told SIN. “As they say – only a surfer knows the feeling.

“Coaching the crystal clear waters of Cylinder Beach just makes it that much more special. Whales and dolphins are often seen during lessons. The water temp never gets below 19ºC and the waves are excellent for learning.”

The North Stradbroke Island Surf School provides lessons all year round for as little as $50 for a 90-minute lesson, or $70 for a morning lesson and all-day board hire, in groups of four or more. All equipment is supplied and coaches are fully accredited, experienced Island surfers. To check out their program lock onto the website or facebook. www.northstradbrokeislandsurfschool.com.au

SUMMER IS HERE AND WITH IT A BUMPER 36-page issue of SIN. Along with the usual wealth of news, features and opinion from our contributors, there's the bonus of some great fiction.

Gold Coast author and lawyer Chris Nyst, a regular Straddie visitor, who is best known for writing the Aussie movie classic, Gettin' Square, has generously given us one of his amusing short stories, Pete The Fleet (page 22).

Island author, M.Ricks, sent in a corker of a tale about Life at the Dump (page 20), that will have you wondering whether it is fact or fiction. (We’re assured it’s the latter).

Each Summer, with so many visitors on Straddie, it’s a great time to profile the many wonderful businesses here. In the following pages you’ll get to meet a few of the faces behind those businesses and read about how they came to find their way to living and working on this beautiful isle. Maybe you can say “g’day” when you’re out and about.

I particularly like the features on our native flora and fauna and the story about the new Bushcare nursery. This is a great resource for holiday home owners wanting to work on their gardens.

And there's plenty of Island history too.

Read how one Dunwich resident recently discovered that his ancestors' first landfall in Queensland, 160 years ago, was only a stone's throw from his home in Dunwich (page 30).

On a sad note I’d like to share with you my family's recent loss of John Lake Senior, my dad Joe's older brother, who died in Brisbane after a stroke.

A keen golfer, John was often seen on the Straddie course with Joe and me, and as recently as two months before his passing was still hitting the ball with gusto and some precision.

But his fading memory had been challenging in the past year. So much so that when he got to the ninth hole, he often forgot he'd just played the previous eight.

Dad's solution was to suggest to him that, seeing we were on the ninth, he may as well take a driver and give it his best shot. And he would, often winning the hole, much to Joe's dismay.

Vale Uncle John, we'll miss your cheery humour and tireless energy on the course. He died just a few days short of his 89th birthday.

– Trish Lake EDITOR Kate Johnston editor@straddienews.com MANAGING EDITOR Trish Lake REPORTING Maria Tan, Liz Johnston LAYOUT Mr T ADVERTISING Vicki Kelleher Leave a message on 3252 4551 FOLLOW SIN ON FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/straddienews ISSN 1839-5716 GENERAL DISCLAIMER Views expressed in articles are contributors’ own and not necessarily the view of the publisher. Statements of fact are believed to be true, but no legal responsibility is accepted for them.

PRINTER Printcraft PUBLISHER Freshwater Productions PO Box 86 Point Lookout Qld 4183

2 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

SUMMER 2012–13

ZEN

Lisa’s Zen about health

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Creative Arts workshops and Yoga Art Retreats will be available in 2013. For more information visit www.stradbrokeislandyogamassage.com or call Lisa on 0411 311 621 Private yoga classes and yoga therapy are also available.

SUMMER 2012–13

oga instructor Lisa Iselin first visited Point Lookout 25 years ago as an artist – and fell in love with the unique Stradbroke Island environment.

She began teaching yoga on the Island 10 years ago and holds a regular Monday night yoga class that focuses on engaging the breath, stretching to release tension, core strengthening, nurturing the mind, heart, body and spirit.

While yoga and bodywork are the main focus of her business, Stradbroke Island Yoga & Massage, Lisa also offers a program of healing, cooking and creative arts – through workshops, retreats and classes.

In 2013 she will hold monthly cooking classes at the Straddie Bungalows, Amity Point. The newly renovated outdoor barbecue gazebo and deck have stunning bay views, and Lisa’s Cooking for Vitality classes will offer instruction in preparing simple recipes using organic fruits and vegetables, local seafood and gluten free produce.

Her one-day workshops incorporate yoga, an organic wholefood lunch, a cooking for vitality class and guided partner massage. Participants learn about maintaining health and happiness, understanding body functions, and taking responsibility for recovery from illness or injury.

Also a skilled practitioner of Zen Thai Shiatsu bodywork, combining Zen Shiatsu and traditional Thai massage, with osteopathic joint release techniques, Lisa works on the premise that “prevention is always the best medicine”.

“Zen Thai Shiatsu is beneficial for lower back disorders, neck and shoulder injuries, sciatica, and also assists general wellbeing through relaxation of the nervous system,” Lisa said.

“My bodywork can help treat stress disorders including depression, anxiety, adrenal fatigue, insomnia, headaches and digestive problems.

Yoga therapy and dietary advice are complementary with massage treatment, leaving the body revitalised on many levels.”

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 3

NEWS

KANGAROO SHOOTINGS UPSET TRADITIONAL OWNERS Seven kangaroos were shot and left to die in a shooting spree on Main Beach, north and south of the Causeway.

Quandamooka Traditional Owners were upset by the callous killing of the adult male and female eastern grey kangaroos, and one swamp wallaby.

The roos, which had been variously shot through the head and neck, were discovered by staff members from Redland City Council.

They reported the shootings to the Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC), Queensland Parks and Wildlife Staff and North Stradbroke Island Police.

PHOTO: MARIA TAN

The Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation has signed an Indigenous Management Agreement with the Queensland state government and since then has been in discussion with the state about the allocation of resources, including beach patrols.

Home of the Straddie Burger

BY MARIA TAN IT’S HARD TO MISS THE CHANGES AT the Straddie Roadhouse since it came under new management.

With bright blue signs now visible from the road, sheltered outdoor seating and a new menu, the Roadhouse is bustling with business from both visitors and locals.

“When we first started, during Christmas time, we were doing one box of bacon and now we’re doing two to two-and-a-half boxes a week, so it’s doubled,” Straddie Roadhouse owner, Joe Rahurahu, told SIN. Home to the legendary “Straddie Burger” and still serving as a general store and fuel station, Joe thinks their success lies with being consistent.

“A lot more local people are coming back because we have better food and it’s fresh, and our hours are always the same,” Joe said. “What you get today, you’ll get tomorrow, so the quality doesn’t change.”

Joe and his partner Megan have more improvements in store for the Roadhouse, which was established more than three decades ago, with renovations planned for inside and outside the storefront.

“A lot of people have commented that 4 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

we’ve cleaned it up but there’s still a lot to do,” Joe said. “We are getting a lot more work during the winter time because of all the local people coming in. So we want to tidy the place up. There’s a bit more paint work to be done, as well as new seating rather than the green tables. I love my timber,” he added.

Formerly working as a carpenter and labourer in Browns Plains, Logan, Joe is originally from New Zealand.

“I prefer living over here than Browns Plains or Logan,” he said. “It’s good because now I know everyone in the community and it’s a really tight knit community.”

Having holidayed on Straddie for many years, Joe and Megan made the decision to buy the Roadhouse and move permanently to Point Lookout, with their two young daughters, a year ago.

“We’d spend a lot of time over here holidaying and camping and we used to come here every Christmas for six weeks and also during Easter,” Joe said. “Now it’s like living at work, but it’s good having the beach straight out the backyard.

“And we still go camping on the beach.”

Suzie Coulston, CEO of QYAC said: “We wholeheartedly support the allocation of adequate resources to patrol the Island and we are working in consultation with QPWS, Redland City Council and other stakeholders about this.

“It concerns us greatly that these shooting have occurred and that there are not more patrols being conducted by those who have been trained as authorised officers.

“This shooting behaviour is not acceptable and unfortunately this is not the first time.

“We want to see patrols ramped up by all parties and we encourage the police to expedite their investigations into this matter.”

SUMMER 2012–13

Amongst the gumtrees

BY MARIA TAN

oalas are often seen crossing the road in front of the general store at Amity Point, where they climb the nearby gum trees to watch shoppers come and go throughout the day.

“Tourists love it,” co-owner of Amity Point General Dealers, Kylie Manteufel, told SIN. “There are often koalas in the trees out the front and they just cross the road, go up the tree and sit there for a while.”

While there are koalas out front, out the back the general store looks directly onto the waters of Moreton Bay, where dolphins are spotted frolicking near the jetty in the afternoons.

“The water’s just right there, it’s easy to walk to,” Mrs. Manteufel pointed out. “You have beaches and you have the bay and you can walk from one end to the other or swim in the netted swimming enclosure.”

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Once, a runaway kangaroo was sighted swimming off into the distance, an event Kylie describes as “one of the strangest things that’s ever happened” since she and husband Duane bought the store in 2009.

“One morning we watched a kangaroo hop past the shop and jump straight into the water off the rocks and it just kept swimming,” she said. “We were standing here going, ‘Gee that kangaroo’s going really fast,’ and then it’s gone into the water.

“We had to ring the wildlife rescue to come and get it. It was really bizarre.”

The mother of four told SIN that her life had changed “in every way” since she and Duane swapped country living in a small town near Gatton, for the Island’s beachside lifestyle, 15 years ago.

“I’d never go back,” Kylie said. “I love Amity because it’s a small friendly community where everyone knows each other and

helps out. I also enjoy the tourist season and meeting new people and seeing different things.”

Kylie says she and Duane plan to run the store for many years to come, and hope to see more “positive changes in Amity”, including a supervised feeding program for dolphins at Amity Point jetty.

“Amity is quieter compared to Point Lookout. I’d like to see a bit more services in Amity and the only way we’re going to do that is to see more visitors in Amity,” she said. “Even the bus services to Amity are limited. A lot of people don’t even realise that if you come by public transport, no-one stops at Amity, so there are a lot of people that just don’t realise how nice it is here.”

Amity Point General Dealers, 9 Ballow Street, is open seven days and sells bait and tackle as well as general groceries, fuel, ice and gas.

DISCOVER THE DIFFERENCE… “My husband and I both found Julie’s honest and genuine approach to real estate sales to be a breath of fresh air.”

The testimonials from clients of Discover Stradbroke Real Estate speak for themselves.

With over 20 years of local knowledge and outstanding property sales results with Discover Stradbroke, Julie has helped people make their dreams come true. Regardless of the value of the property, you can be assured that you will receive a high level of service to achieve your goal. If you’re considereing buying or selling, contact Julie Elliott for a confidential discussion.

Julie Elliott Sales Manager/Licensed Agent 0408 853 940 julie@discoverstradbroke.com.au SUMMER 2012–13

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 5

PHOTO: MARIA TAN

PEOPLE

NEWS

Rae Green (fourth from left) with the Ray White team

White comes in Green at local agency ocal real estate agency principal and SIN columnist Rae Green is a rare bird in Point Lookout; someone born and raised there.

Her agency began as a small family business in the late 1980s, which Rae joined as property manager. In the ensuing years she acquired the business outright and is the current principal of a happy team of professionals.

Rae spent her early childhood in Point Lookout and continued to visit as a teenager when both her grandparents and great grandparents lived here. She met her late husband, Terry, on Cylinder Headland in 1969, and the pair moved permanently to the Island in 1989, with their two young children.

Since then, Rae’s font of local knowledge has been tapped by thousands of clients and

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Ray White North Stradbroke Island has gone on to become Straddie’s largest and longest-established real estate office, serving all three townships.

Rae describes her employees as “a dynamic team of professional achievers who excel through enthusiasm.”

As well as handling residential sales, commercial sales and leasing, project marketing, and investment portfolio management, Ray White North Stradbroke manages a large portfolio of holiday rental accommodation.

“Our accommodation team has many years experience in property management,” Rae said. “Which is invaluable when you are helping with holiday bookings or managing rental properties.

“Our property manager Richard Scott worked for Stradbroke Ferries in Cleveland for 20 years before joining us three years

ago. He commutes daily to Straddie and after so many years connected to the Island he has great local knowledge “Working in sales with me is Alan Carter, who first visited Straddie in 1972,” Rae said.

“He and his wife Susan bought their first property at Point Lookout in 1988 and made a permanent sea change in 1999.

“Alan comes from a banking background, having been with the Reserve Bank of Australia for many years before entering the merchant banking arena, primarily in foreign exchange.

“Between us Alan and I have more than 33 years selling experience on Straddie – which is invaluable in this industry.”

Ray White North Stradbroke Island is at 4 Meegera Place, Point Lookout, just up the hill from Bob’s Shop. www.raywhitestraddie.com

MORE AGED THAN CARE CAN PROVIDE

BY LIZ JOHNSTON

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traddie’s only aged care facility, Nareeba Moopi Moopi Pa Aged/Frail Hostel, will require another 122 places by 2026, researchers have found.

This is a massive increase from the current 14 places.

Margaret Kucirek, treasurer of the North Stradbroke Island Aboriginal and Islander

6 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

Housing Co-operative, which operates Moopi, said this was well beyond the current funding capacity of the organisation.

She said a recent report from research firm Marco Plan Dimasi, indicating a likely demand for 122 high and low care places by 2026, had come as a shock, despite Moopi’s

long waiting list and an obviously ageing community.

“Minjerribah Respite Centre does a very good job helping to keep people in their homes and that helps Moopi,” Maragert said. “But because of the number of clients Respite cares for, and the ageing community on the Island, we knew

already that we needed more beds. We just hadn’t had the research before to show the extent of that need.”

She said St Vincent’s Health Care Australia, through its Aged Care Division Caritas, was assisting the Housing coop to conduct research and prepare funding submissions.

SUMMER 2012–13

SHUCKED

Aw shucks— S

ummer is Straddie rock oyster time and there’s no better place to buy and eat them than on the Island. Because of their high quality, short season (November to January), and limited supply, diners in Brisbane can pay up to $9 each for Straddie plate oysters, freshly shucked in a restaurant kitchen.

But the flavour and salty, creamy, iodine tanginess that makes them such a gourmet delight, costs considerably less on the Island at seafood outlets and cafes selling bistro and bottled oysters.

(Oysters are designated Plate, Bistro and Bottle grade with an average whole weight of 50, 45 and 35g respectively While Pacific oysters are now in yearround supply and highly sought after from South Australian and Tasmanian waters, Australian native rock oysters (Saccostrea glomerata) have much shorter seasons and a distinctive taste.

Initially marketed as Moreton Bay rock oysters and re-named Sydney rock oysters after the almost total collapse of the Queensland industry by 1936, they are endemic to Australia.

SUMMER 2012–13

They are found in bays, inlets and sheltered estuaries from Hervey Bay in Queensland to Wingan Inlet in Eastern Victoria. A small number of Straddie oyster leases are operating on a very limited commercial basis in the Moreton Bay Marine Park.

There is no full scale commercial harvesting of wild rock oysters anywhere in Australia. Because they occur in the intertidal zone to three metres below the low water mark, they are difficult to grow and harvest as maintenance and collecting is governed by tides.

Oyster growing begins with larvae known as spat, and while most growers purchase rock oyster spat from hatcheries, the Straddie oyster leases off Myora, north of Dunwich, are on spat catching areas. This means they can lay claim to the sought after “wild” tag, at least at the beginning of their threestage farming process. The quality of an oyster starts here.

Oysters take three years to mature and during that time are culled several times a year by hand or with a quick immersion in hot water to remove smaller oysters (spat).

Moreton Bay leaseholders fortunate to be in

a “spatfall” area collect and baby the spat through their first 12 months in the nursery on a range of “furniture” in various formations from which baskets are hung.

Since offshore oysters don’t fatten as quickly, some Straddie growers move to more nutrient rich inshore estuary areas south of Dunwich for fattening. Others argue they prefer their oysters to remain at the spatfall site, fattening while the ocean tides washing over them adds a distinctive taste.

It’s a debate without a definitive answer, except that all Straddie oysters are fantastic wherever they fatten.

Michael Dalton of Fino Foods supplies Brisbane’s best restaurants and says that, at their peak, Straddie oysters are his favourite.

“They are rich and creamy with a fresh saltiness straight from the beach. And I like that they are a local product. On a clear day you can see the Dialba lease from the top floors of Eagle Street buildings where restaurants are serving their oysters just shucked.”

— Liz Johnston

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 7

PHOTOS:LIZ JOHNSTON

it’s the humble Straddie oyster

NEWS

Supply exceeds rental demand Permanent rentals are fast becoming more affordable due to less demand, increased competition and an oversupply of rental housing on the Island, MARIA TAN reports. ith Queensland property values falling in a sluggish buyer’s market, some Straddie property owners are recouping their losses through permanent letting.

Straddie Sales and Rentals principal, Ian Robinson, told SIN that, for the first time in his experience, the supply of long-term rental properties had exceeded the demand.

“It’s because people have not been able to sell,” Ian told SIN. “People have been trying to sell and they haven’t been able to so they need an income stream.

“The supply of houses available for permanent rental exceeds the demand and that’s only happened this year. In previous years, it’s always been the other way around; demand has always exceeded supply and we haven’t really had to advertise.

“Now rents have either stabilised or come down a little because there’s more competition between houses to get tenants in there.”

Dolphin Real Estate principal Alan Richards, who has described the Straddie property market as “in the doldrums”, confirmed this. Alan told the Courier-Mail that the value of some Island homes, sold in 2009, was down by at least $50,000 since 2008.

Straddie renters pay lower rents compared to others throughout the state, with most renters on the Island paying from $100 to $324 per week.

“You can’t charge high rent, even though your real estate values are high,” Ian Robinson told SIN. “Your rent value is low compared to the mainland.

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“On the mainland there’s a bigger market, people can afford more, or there’s more people on higher incomes over there that can afford to pay more.”

Although almost the entire Island population is employed, with over half of locals working full time and 44 per cent in part time jobs, the majority of residents still rely on tourism as their main means of employment.

The latest North Stradbroke Island profile released by Redland City Council reveals that more Island residents work in accommodation and food services than any other industry, followed closely by mining and retail.

“Those that want to or need to rent a house can’t afford to buy one and they’re on low incomes,” Ian told SIN. “They’re employed in the hospitality or retail industry or they’re on welfare payments or a mixture of both, whether it be part-time, casual or full-time work. Whatever it is, they’re comparatively low incomes and therefore affordability is an issue; they can’t afford to pay high rent.

“During the quieter months there’s a decline in employment opportunities and therefore less people either coming to the Island looking for work, or they’ve been on the Island and want to work but can’t get it, so they have to leave,” he added.

The Straddie Sales and Rentals principal told SIN that, while the majority of property sales have been for holiday rentals, he recommends that owners take into consideration the property’s location before deciding to make it available for permanent lease.

“If it’s water views the revenue stream from a holiday rental could be slightly higher than what they could get as a permanent rental, or around about the same,” he advised.

“If it doesn’t have water views or water frontage, then generally speaking, you would achieve a higher income from it being permanently let.”

Manta Lodge and Scuba diving instructor, Paul Sutton, advises anyone considering renting on Straddie to “plan well ahead”.

“If you really want to move here, be prepared to say, ‘Right, let me know when something comes up and we’ll move then’. Don’t plan a date, because you might get here and be stuck and not have anything,” he advised.

“If you’re moving onto the Island to a nonfurnished place, and bringing your own furniture, that would be an absolute nightmare, just because of the cost of getting the truck over here with all your stuff in it.”

Paul moved to Straddie from the UK two years ago and began renting on the Island six months after he arrived.

He recommends that renters consider investing in two cars to save on barge fares, leaving one on the mainland, and to research the commute times if working on the mainland.

“If you leave a car over the other side and travel from this side, then you’re only 20 minutes on the passenger ferry, which is a lot easier and a lot cheaper, because when you’re paying $100 something to go back and forth on the car ferry it’s a little bit too expensive,” he told SIN. “It depends on where you’re working over town. If you’re near to easy transport then the passenger ferry and the bus all meet really well.”

FLAVOURS OF BRAZIL ogério Gaglianone began working as a chef at Fishes cafe, Point Lookout, about 18 months ago and has brought an international flavour to the team.

It was on a trip to Byron Bay that Rogério met friends who were regular visitors to Straddie and brought him here to check out the waves.

Loving what he saw he came back for New Years Eve and got work at the pub, before continuing his travels. He

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8 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

went to Europe and spent several years in Norway.

From there Rogério headed home to Brazil where he spent two years studying gastronomy – the culinary arts.

But Straddie called again and he and his brother came back for a week and ended up staying.

Brazilian food is an exuberant, colourful mix of native foods from the Amazon and Portuguese cuisine. Rogério’s influence can be savoured in

the Fishes evening specials menu – with delicious combinations of fresh local produce and traditional ingredients.

Scandinavian dishes find their way onto the specials board too, along with the traditional Aussie steak and seafood menu.

Fishes is at 15 Mooloomba Road, opposite the Gorge Walk, Point Lookout. www.fishesatthepoint.com.au.

Bookings 07 3415 3444.

SUMMER 2012–13

PEOPLE

Extreme sea change Discover Stradbroke real estate agency principal Colin Battersby swapped snow for sand when he moved to Straddie, Maria Tan reports.

PHOTO: MARIA TAN

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olin told SIN it took two years to make the final transition to Straddie but, after living in Thredbo and the Snowy Mountains for more than 15 years, the sea change between the two extreme climates was worth the wait.

“The older you get in a ski resort, and the sorer your knees get, the more you look forward to the warmth,” Colin joked.

Shortly after moving to Point Lookout in 2009 Colin established his property management and real estate business, which has since won two tourism awards.

Now Discover Stradbroke hopes to build on its successes online, by uploading videos of holiday rentals and properties for sale on the Island.

“It’s very important to give people really good ways online to find out what the property’s all about,” Colin told SIN. “We’re trying to make sure that people know about the properties so that there’s no surprises when they get here; and also in those videos we have the opportunity to show the Gorge Walk, the beaches, the restaurants and cafes – to build a picture in people’s minds about what Straddie is.”

Colin sees many similarities to what he does now, in real estate, to what he used to do at Thredbo Alpine Village, where he ran mountain biking championships, tours and events.

“It’s still tourism, I guess it’s just the other side of the fence,” Colin said. “There are similarities between Thredbo and Straddie as well. In our low season we are also running events to bring people here and give them a taste of what Straddie’s all about.”

“It’s great seeing people look at our properties online and to talk to us about

how great they look and then, when they actually get here and see the beauty of Straddie as first time visitors, they’re hooked forever. That’s the best part about it, when they get blown away.”

Before making his sea change Colin used to visit the Island three or four times a year.

“My family has had a beach house here since the late 70s and I guess it was the goal of my brother, who’s head chef at Fishes, and me, to start up a business on Straddie.

“My father came here and basically lived here til he died last year. We also wanted to be a bit closer to him,” Colin explained.

SURF CLUB BAR

Open Saturday & Sunday from 3pm* Awesome ocean views Cold beverages, friendly staff Courtesy bus

FOR ALL Venue hire/Weddings/Functions/School camps Contact Stradbroke Island Holidays 07 3821 0266 *Times may vary

SUMMER 2012–13

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 9

NEWS

ISLAND BEAT

By Sergeant PETER TWORT, Officer in Charge, Dunwich Police. 3409 6020

ROAD RULES Visitors are reminded that the same road rules apply to the beaches and roads of North Stradbroke Island as they do on the mainland.

Please be mindful of this as receiving a traffic ticket, or a charge of drink driving, would no doubt spoil your holiday. The most frequent issues are speeding, fail to wear seat belt, drink driving, riding in the back of utes, and parents allowing their children to drive on the beach.

Another major issue is drivers failing to slow down around people on the beach. Please show common courtesy and slow right down when passing families; we do not want to see anyone’s summer holiday marred by tragedy, should a child be seriously injured, or worse. Be warned: extensive traffic enforcement will be conducted throughout the summer break.

Flinders Beach 40kph. Main Beach 60kph.

RANDOM BREATH TESTING Good news: drink drivers are few and far between on Straddie. We have been performing RBT’s at the same rate as usual, and have only detected one drink driver in almost 1200 RBT’s.

Hopefully this is a sign that people are realising the selfishness and stupidity of drink driving.

A male person was intercepted while driving a commercial vehicle and he is fronting court for disqualified drive, which will probably result in a heavy fine, and an extension of the existing disqualification period.

LOCK IT OR LOSE IT A reminder to our visitors: sadly, crime can and does occur here so please ensure that premises and vehicles are locked at all times when unattended. Do not leave items around the yard or front of houses over night, e.g. surf boards, fishing rods etc, as they may vanish if not secured away over night.

OFFICER OF THE YEAR I am proud to announce that one of our own officers, Sgt Constable Danny Wruck, was nominated for the Redlands Police Officer of the Year. I won this award myself a few years back and I know what an honour it is to be nominated for the top gong. Danny is a most deserving nominee.

OPERATION MERCURY Operation Mercury was conducted during the September school holidays. Policing numbers

Murri Court closure Straddie Elders and residents are being urged to start a Justice of the Peace (JP) Magistrates Court on the Island to counter the planned closure of the Murri Court in Cleveland at the end of the year, MARIA TAN reports.

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hile the Newman Government cuts funding to Murri Courts across the state, a new alternative is being suggested by Uncle Norm Clarke, a presiding Elder on the Cleveland Murri Court.

“The community, as well as a couple of mainstream JPs, can sit and run their own Indigenous court on the Island, for the Island people themselves,” Uncle Norm explained. “They do that at the Aboriginal mission at Cherbourg, it’s only about five or six kilometres from Murgon. They have a magistrates’ court with JPs and all the Aboriginal people who sit in the court are Justices of the Peace.

“That’s something that maybe the community can get together on and put to the Attorney-General’s department about trying to run something themselves on the Island, because all the minor things that come through the Murri Court could be handled in a JP Magistrates Court,” Uncle Norm added.

The LNP vowed to increase funding to JP Magistrates Courts by $3.5 million as 10 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

one of their election promises, but so far only one new pilot program will be trialled to enable JPs to resolve minor disputes within the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Funding for the Murri Court was scheduled to finish at the end of 2012, a move that Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Jarrod Bleijie, said was based on evidence that suggested the program was not working effectively.

“The Murri Court was not delivering consistent results and did not justify the amount being spent to keep it operating,” the Attorney General said. “The program was not reducing imprisonment rates for Indigenous offenders and has not stopped recidivism in the short term.

“This is because many offenders return to their communities where they are exposed to the same levels of unemployment and drug and alcohol use,” the Attorney General told SIN. As the director of Project 10%, an organisation campaigning to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and

on the Island were boosted with the assistance of the Wynnum District Response Team and Traffic Branch. Similar numbers of offences, arrests, and liquor notices as per previous years were observed. Parents must take responsibility for their children’s behaviour, a message that is very hard to get through.

AMITY SQUATTERS Information was received recently regarding a male and female squatting in the Amity Point township. Property offences also started to be reported around the same time. Subsequently, we began investigations, resulting in the location of a 25-year-old male and 16-year-old female in a residence in Amity. Following a stand off, both persons were taken into custody and charged with numerous property offences and one drug related offence. Once again, the assistance of the public was key to this successful result.

On behalf of all at Dunwich Station, and Point Lookout Police Beat, I would like to thank the large number of locals who have assisted us in our efforts to make NSI a safe place to live, and wish you all a great summer.

Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland prisons, Uncle Norm believes the Murri Court closure is “a backwards step” and says he is “disappointed” with the government’s decision.

“With the Murri Court gone, more of our people will go to the Magistrates Court where they can be sentenced to prison time and the prisons at the moment are overloaded,” the Project 10% director said.

“This government has shown that they are not looking at the bigger, wider picture or committed to their election promises.”

The imprisonment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is 14 times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous persons, according to 2011 prisoner census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

“In the long run I think it will cost them double to what it was to run the Murri Court,” Uncle Norm added.

“The court system won’t be able to keep up with the number of the cases that will now run through the Magistrates Court.”

North Stradbroke Island Community Justice Group member Colin Kingston told SIN the most important aspect of the Murri Court system was that it gave the Elders a platform to talk to young Indigenous people.

SUMMER 2012–13

NEWS

Members of the North Stradbroke Island Community Justice Group at a recent meeting attended by SIN. Left (Clockwise): Colin Kingston, DSC Danny Wruck, PLO Tom Governor, Charlie Jia from CJ’s Island Pizza, Uncle John Campbell, Anthony Karklis from Sibelco and George Khan.

Straddie Justice Crew Concerned residents have joined forces with local police, council and community groups to combat crime and tackle ongoing social issues on the Island, MARIA TAN reports.

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nstalling Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras around Dunwich is at the top of the list for the newly formed North Stradbroke Island Community Justice Group (NSICJG).

“At the Citizen’s Group meeting, we mentioned the cameras in High Street and we spoke up and said that we think we need cameras in some areas in Point Lookout,” NSICJG member George Khan told SIN. The justice group is now awaiting approval from Redland City Council before installing the fixed security cameras.

“This is where other councils have sort of buckled because the monitoring of them is a cost,” George said.

The justice group believes that security cameras will reduce crime on the Island, in the same way as Logan City Council’s Safety Camera Program and the Safe City Program in Ipswich.

“Have a look at whether it’s worth it. The crime rate in Ipswich has come down, behaviour in the streets has improved and people love to walk around Ipswich at night time now and go to the restaurants and stuff so there’s consistent business,” he said.

Local pizza shop owner and NSICJG member, Charlie Jia, agrees that the cameras are now necessary, following the Dunwich post office fire and ongoing issues surrounding drug and alcohol fuelled-violence on the Island.

“We could see where our concerns with these issues were heading anyway. These issues had to come to a head somewhere and that’s just what happened,” Charlie said. “It’s an important point too that it’s not just about crime; it’s about public safety and perception of safety.”

SUMMER 2012–13

The justice group also serves as a contact point for the rehabilitation of Murri Court offenders, while working alongside the Minjerribah Moorgumpin Elders, local police and the council to discuss possible solutions for crime, social and youth-related issues at community forums.

“We’re really working closely with the council and the council is on board with what’s happening over here and also the community, so that the police, community and council work together to do a holistic type approach to deal with things rather than just the traditional approach of policing,” NSICJG member Senior Constable Danny Wruck told SIN. “I think we’ve tried to change tack a bit in terms of being more proactive in getting the community involved in the process and through research on crime and social issues. That’s really the best way, to work in partnership with the community and help them help themselves.”

Formed earlier this year, the justice group has been operating on a voluntary basis and hopes to gain more support from the Straddie community.

“We haven’t had any funding yet,” NSICJG member, Colin Kingston explained. “We’re waiting for our first role with the surveillance cameras and hopefully when that appears up in the main street here, and it gets around town that the Community Justice Group was part of that arrangement, then maybe the community will prick up their ears and say, ‘Oh, there is a community justice group that’s taking things seriously’.

“We’re very new at what we’re doing but we’re trying to do what we can to make a little bit of a difference.”

PHOTO: MARIA TAN

DELIVERING THANKS AFTER POST OFFICE FIRE

Dunwich postmasters, Brian and Hetty Conlon, have one simple message to all those who have given them support since a fire destroyed their home and workplace: “Thank you so much.”

The Dunwich Post Office and the Conlon home were gutted by fire during a robbery and assault in late July, in which Hetty Conlon (above) was injured.

“It’s because of the support of people and being part of the community that we’ve been able to get by,” Brian Conlon told SIN. “We couldn’t do it without their support and that’s the reason we live here.”

More than $50,000 was raised to help the Conlons, including $34,000 raised at a community carnival held in August and generous donations from people all over Queensland.

North Stradbroke Island Community Justice Group member, George Khan, described the Straddie Fundraiser as “the most positive thing that came out of the whole episode.

“That was a major day for the community to get together. Everyone was there and it just flowed,” George said. “Initially [after the fire] there was shock and horror, then ‘let the police do their investigation and we will look after Brian and Hetty. We’ll support them and make sure they’re right’.”

The North Stradbroke Island Community Justice Group (NSICJG) helped to put up the temporary mailing boxes now being used in the rebuilt post office. NSICJG member Colin Kingston told SIN that the Community Justice Group was formed before the fire, in response to rising youth and social issues that were becoming prevalent on the Island.

“We were concerned and we could see that there was a problem with alcohol, drugs and anti-social or bad behavior in the streets.

“We figured the best way we could help was to form a group and act as community people normally should act, and get support from the police,” he said.

Picking up the pieces has not been an easy task for Brian and Hetty, who are still coming to grips with ongoing police investigations while slowly trying to rebuild their shop and home.

—Maria Tan

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 11

NEWS

HISTORY’S LESSON FOR TODAY The new National Curriculum being rolled out in schools around Australia has created enormous opportunities for schools to engage creatively with their local museum.

The North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum in Dunwich regularly hosts school groups from across the Redlands and beyond, tailoring tours of the museum directly to the curriculum of the class.

Recently, Dunwich State School teachers visited the museum for a Professional Development session, where they heard about ways the museum’s collections, resources, volunteers and expertise could be creatively used by the teachers and students.

Museum workers are especially keen for the collections to be used to enhance learning in a range of subject areas, not only history but also geography, science, English and maths.

Year 2 students from Dunwich had a treasure hunt in the museum, looking for artifacts made by Aboriginal people using natural materials. A small project completed by the students following the visit went on display in the museum. The Year 4/5 class went on a Historical Walk around Dunwich.

Bushcare sprouts

Museum staff also worked with the school to include a historical component to a recent student Walk-a-thon (see page 15), developing a worksheet for the kids, which can be downloaded from www.stradbrokemuseum.com.au for those who may like to test their own local knowledge.

“When we take classes on historical walks, we share stories and show photographs of various locations through time, to equip students with the skills to ‘read’ and imagine the layers of history and meaning over the landscape and the built environment,” museum worker Elisabeth Gondwe said. “A favourite stop on the Dunwich walk is the draughts board under the camphor laurel trees near the Police Station.”

The board was used by residents of the Benevolent Asylum, located in Dunwich last century, and will no doubt feature in an educational game about the Asylum that the museum has been given a grant (from the Redland City Council Regional Arts Development Fund) to develop.

Recently the museum hosted a delegation of First Nation people from South America, who came to learn about how Indigenous people co-exist with mining activity. Post-graduate students enrolled in the University of Queensland’s Museum Studies course have also visited for a day-long workshop on the museum’s community development work.

12 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

fter years of planning Point Lookout Bushcare has opened a larger nursery and increased its opening times for sales to the public.

Expansion of the existing site on Kennedy Drive has provided better growing conditions for plants and plenty of space for customers and volunteers to move comfortably between well-organised displays of a much larger variety of plants native to Straddie.

The new nursery absorbs the old, hard-tofind, space behind the toilet block on Point Lookout Headland reserve, into a muchenlarged site, easily visible as people walk from the start of the headland walk across to the Swimming Gorge (also known as the South Gorge).

The result is hundreds more of Straddie’s native plants being cultivated for sale to the public and for planting out on sensitive sites during monthly working bees.

Instead of operating its stall, with a limited range of plants, at the Point Lookout Markets on Sundays, the Bushcare nursery will now open in conjunction with market days, so customers can browse and buy

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direct from the nursery’s entire range of plants.

Prices start from $2.50 for tube stock, Island orchids cost from $5 and there is also a large range of well-established pandanus trees from $5.

Freshly cut Island plantation pines will be on sale for $10 at the nursery on the Thursday and Sunday of the week before Christmas.

“The trees Pinus elliottii were planted by a well-meaning mining company near Brown Lake but they are now regarded as a weed,” Bushcare coordinator Judy Hines said.” So you can do yourself and the environment a favour by buying these from Bushcare this Christmas.”

As well as opening from 8am to noon on local market days, Point Lookout Bushcare nursery will continue to open every Thursday from 10am to noon for sales.

Volunteers are always welcomed to lend a hand on Thursday mornings and at monthly working bees on headland sites on the first Saturday of each month. Meet at the nursery by 8am.

For more information contact Judy Hines 3409 8567 or Jan Johnman 3409 8687

SUMMER 2012–13

BON APPETIT

French Connection Locals are discovering their dining joie de vivre with the help of two French brothers working the kitchen at Look Café Bar, Point Lookout, writes MARIA TAN. rom Biarritz to Point Lookout is not such a stretch, when you consider the commonalities that the two places hold.

Both have a connection to whales and whaling, and both are famous for their excellent surf. Sure, one has a population of more than 25,000 and has been the play place of the rich and the royal, since the wife of Napoleon III built a beach “shack” there in 1854 (now the Hôtel du Palais).

Now, Biarritz, the city in southwest France, and Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island, have a another common selling point: the Brothers Bilhe.

Head chef Mathieu Bilhe told SIN he

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began his career in Biarritz and began travelling at the behest of his mentor.

“He told me, ‘you have to travel now, you don’t have to stay around this place. You have to travel’ so I started to do this and I’ve never stopped.”

For Mathieu, who is winning fans with his signature dish, the chilli pork belly, life is good – or as the French might say, la vie en rose.

“I used to work in all different parts of the kitchen. Before coming here I was a pastry chef and it’s now been 10 years that I’ve been working in kitchens while travelling.”

With its views over the ocean off Frenchman’s Beach, it’s fitting that the Look Café

Bar menu now offers a fusion of French and Australian flavours.

“Everybody likes the chilli pork belly so I cook this as a signature dish, for everybody that’s the best dish,” Matheiu told SIN. Secretly though, he revealed to SIN that his personal favourite dish on the menu was none other than that all-Aussie favourite: the steak.

“I cook a beef côte de bœuf that you can share, for two, with garniture and a really good sauce. I make the sauce too, but everybody thinks the best meal is the pork belly,” Mathieu says.

Since joining the Look Café Bar, Mathieu has revamped the à la carte menu with the help of his sous chefs and staff, to adapt distinct French fare to the modern Australian palette.

“John, my boss, told us about what Australian people like. After that we did the mains with all I know, all I like and all I want to taste,” the head chef recalls. “We tried different flavours and mixed Australian and French tastes. My brother helped me to do this, I’ve got a really good team.”

Before arriving on Straddie at the start of 2012, Mathieu travelled around Australia, hitchhiking from Broome to Airlie Beach. In Brisbane he saw an ad calling for a chef to run the kitchen at the Look Café Bar, Point Lookout.

“I was very surprised that it was a beautiful Island,” Mathieu said. “I didn’t finish my travelling; I stopped at Stradbroke.

“Now that I’m here, I don’t want to go!”

And that’s another thing Mathieu has in common with the locals – they don’t want him to go either.

French brothers Mathieu and Fabien Bilhe

Linda Rago Meiso Shiatsu Practitioner

The Yoga Tower 8 Billa Street Point Lookout

SUMMER 2012–13

MOB: 0409 538 972

E: lrago@bigpond.net.au

Massage & acupressure Postural correction Injury rehabilitation

Improve your breathing Lymphatic drainage Relieve pain & tension STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 13

WILD ISLAND

SUMMER DIARY

nature By

mary barram

friends of stradbroke island

Eastern curlew. HEYN DE KOCK

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tradbroke’s beaches, bush and seaways are always busy with human activity over summer, but in the natural world there is a lot happening too.

Off Point Lookout the migratory Manta Rays and Leopard sharks are returning and dolphins with new calves may sometimes be sighted. This is a great time to snorkel and dive the Manta Bommie off Home Beach where Manta Rays congregate at “cleaning stations”.

Koala breeding season is in full swing over summer. This is a time of increased activity and movement on the ground between trees, particularly from November to January. Extra care should be taken when driving, especially around the townships, Myora, and along the road to Amity.

Migratory bird numbers are peaking as the last of the juveniles arrive from their breeding grounds in Siberia and Central Asia. Good spotting locations are Dunwich’s Bradbury Beach high tide roost (early in the day before disturbance) and the tidal wetlands at Amity and Swan Bay. Birds to look for include Eastern Curlew, with its giant curved beak, Whimbrel and Bar Tailed Godwit.

Many woodland trees including Brush box, Blackbutt, Pink Bloodwood and Euodia are in blossom. Midyim and many boronias are also summer flowerers. Look out for Paper Daisies flowering on the dunes and Coast Banksia on the headlands.

Among the rushes and sedges of the famous

14 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

18 Mile Swamp, the Spotless Crake and Bush Hen will be breeding and the Australasian Grebe will be building its nest of floating water plants.

From late November to late January, Loggerhead Turtles are breeding and laying eggs on the ocean beaches. If you are out walking early and sight turtle tracks, please drop into The Green Room at Point Lookout to notify them, so the nest site can be monitored and protected.

The calls of the migratory Channel-billed Cuckoos and Eastern Koel add to the beautiful birdsong soundscape dominated by honeyeaters, lorikeets, kookaburras (and cicadas!) over summer. Bush stone curlew breed over summer and their courting duets are often heard at night, along with the mournful mopoke cries of the Southern Boobook owl. Look out for Dollarbirds, which have arrived from PNG to breed perching prominently on the tops of trees.

Eastern Grey Kangaroos, commonly spotted on the dunes along Main Beach at dusk, will be reaching the peak of their predominantly spring-summer breeding season with many females with pouch young, large enough to be easily observed.

In January, dugongs are herding and breeding in Moreton Bay. On days when the Bay is very placid dugongs are sometimes spotted from the ferries. In late summer, Straddie’s only east-west migratory shorebird, the Double Banded Plover arrives from New Zealand – this little bird is often spotted on Flinders Beach and Main Beach.

Bush stone curlew. BRUCE MARTIN

Everlasting daisy. BRUCE MARTIN

Surfing dolphins. BRUCE MARTIN

Bar-tailed Godwit. HEYN DE KOCK

SUMMER 2012–13

NEWS

Lessons are a walk on the beach ll Dunwich State School children, from prep to year 7, took part in a walkathon organised in conjunction with the P&C Association and the North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum.

The happy walkers took buses to Point Lookout and then walked from Cylinder Beach, past Adder Rock to the end of Home Beach and back again.

The museum provided a quiz for the children to complete during the morning, helping them to discover the Island’s natural and historical wonders along the way. Class lessons and activities were

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designed around this theme in the lead up to the walkathon.

After morning tea at Cylinder Beach, the children swam and played beach games until lunch, before being transported back to school for a sausage sizzle and BBQ corn cob lunch.

Local lifeguards provided extra support to the principal, teachers and teacher aides, along with many parents who took part to ensure the children stayed safe throughout the day.

The families, friends and community members who sponsored the children were helping the P&C Association to raise money to buy iPads and other resources for every classroom.

Barge runs from Victoria Pt to Kooringal via Amity Friday and Sunday. Refer to amitytrader.com for more details

07 3820 6557 bookings@amitytrader.com SUMMER 2012–13

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 15

WILDLIFE

PHOTO: JAN ALDENHOVEN

LIVING DANGEROUSLY: STRADDIE’S URBAN KOALAS

Suzy in her favourite tree outside Dunwich Secondary School.

16 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

SUMMER 2012–13

Wildlife documentary filmmaker Jan Aldenhoven took part in the annual Urban Koala Count, organised by Redland City Council, along with biologist Romane Cristescu, who has been studying the Island’s koalas since 2008.

down so everyone on board could catch a glimpse of her. She was amazingly calm about it all.

I was curious about the life behind this unassuming ball of fur. Her tree that day was right beside the main road to Point Lookout. Does she cross that big bad road to get to trees on the other side?

So many koalas have lost their lives on that road. I remember one dreadful weekend when cars streaming off the barge on a Friday night headed out of Dunwich and, in the space of 15 minutes, two koalas were hit; both dying of their injuries (“The high cost of holiday traffic” SIN summer 2009-10).

So how does Suzy survive? Where else does she go in Dunwich? Does she venture into the swamp where all the bats roost, and do the bats mind? Has she had a baby?

Researcher Romane Critsescu did her uzy is one of Straddie’s bestPhD on the Island’s koalas and has pieced known urban koalas, often seen together some of Suzy’s life: “Suzy has spent sitting in a tree just outside the many years attending schools in Dunwich, Dunwich Secondary School. As I because she has good feed trees there,” began searching my area for the Romane said. “The pupils of Dunwich Urban Koala Count I was pleased to see Primary School know her well, having Suzy in one of her favourite trees. mapped her movements across the trees in She was in this same line of trees last year the playground with the help of their on survey day. While recording her details I teacher Nicole (“From Seuss to science” SIN also witnessed her celebrity status: tourists winter 2009). stopped to take her photo and a bus slowed “I’ve also seen tourists from all around the world stopping along the road and taking pictures of her, so her fame probably extends to many countries.

“Suzy has been a great help to science. Twice she was part of research projects aimed at increasing our knowledge of Island koalas.

“She was first caught in 2004. At that time she was given a yellow tag in her right ear with the number 474. The convention is for males to have the tag in the left ear, females in the right: because as we all know females are always right.

“I first met Suzy in 2008. She was caught in front of the Dunwich High School – where she was again during this year’s urban count. She weighed 6.8 kg, a good weight for a female on Stradbroke, given the Island average for females is 6.2 kg (males average 7.9 kg). She had a beautiful male baby weighing 950g with her, around six to seven months old.

At that age, the baby can be out of the pouch travelling on its mother’s back, and they are at their cutest.

Suzy has had at least three other babies that we know of.

“On the two occasions she was caught, Suzy was fitted with a radio collar that enabled me and other researchers to follow her movements Tracking data collected by Katherine Crouch, Maureen Myers and Myuki Tanizaki for 2004-2006 and record which areas of Dunwich and Romane Cristescu for 2008-2010. This work she likes and which trees she sits in was supported by Sibelco Australia Limited, the (see map).

University of New South Wales and the University “Suzy is interesting because she of Queensland. spends a lot of time in very urban areas: the schools, for instance. She

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SUZY’S LOCATIONS IN DUNWICH RECORDED BY RADIO TRACKING

SUMMER 2012–13

doesn’t seem to mind having lots of noise and activity around her during the day, even though she is supposed to sleep at that time. And yes, she often goes into the swamp where the bats roost and that doesn’t seem to bother her or the bats.

“The swamps include species like swamp mahogany, a favourite koala tree on the Island, and paperbark trees, which koalas can also feed on.”

Suzy reminds us how tenacious, yet tenuous life is for the urban koala.

Like all koalas, Suzy has to come to the ground most days or nights and travel on foot to a new feed tree. This is a time of great danger for koalas. She might feed at one place in the night, then climb back down and walk home to one of her favourite rest trees for her daytime sleep.

This means regular crossings of very busy roads (like the East Coast Road). She has done this for many years so she seems pretty good at it. However, the risks are always there. We can’t help but feel concerned for her.

“Suzy is a good reminder that if we want to preserve koalas, we need to be mindful of how we can help their survival chances,” Romane says. “For starters we can be careful drivers. We can be on the lookout, day and night, for koalas trying to cross the road. We can keep our speed low enough that we could stop safely if need be.

“Roaming dogs are also a potential danger for Suzy, indeed for all koalas and other wildlife. Keeping our dogs on a leash and having a fenced yard for them will help Suzy. Dogs in yards have still killed some koalas, but a dog left to roam freely around the suburbs and bushland is far worse.

“I love knowing that we share our little town with Suzy and other koalas. It is our responsibility to keep it safe for them so they can live their lives and we can continue to enjoy their presence.”

By the end of this year’s survey, 35 volunteers had walked the streets of all three townships and found 52 koalas (17 in Dunwich, 25 in Amity, five in Flinders and five at Point Lookout). This was an increase of 21 on last year. Given the type of survey we do, it can’t be said that all town koalas were counted; and neither can we say that numbers are definitely increasing. However, it does appear that the Island’s urban koalas are hanging in there.

What was also pleasing was that the koalas looked so healthy. There was no sign of disease, and they were obviously breeding well because nine joeys were counted. This is a different picture from the mainland, where disease is all too apparent among koalas and breeding rates have declined.

We can all help to make Stradbroke a safer place for wildlife. Slow down and watch out for Suzy and other koalas on the Island roads, restrain dogs and, if you are visiting the Island, consider leaving your dog at home on the mainland when you come.

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 17

OPINION By Susan Martin, Stradbroke Island Management Organisation

The lost heart of this magical island SUSAN MARTIN laments the loss of so much of Straddie’s natural diversity to successive mining companies.

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hat you were told about North Stradbroke Island’s ‘Freshwater lakes, creeks, lagoons, wetlands, and more’, (The Samd Times, Issue 16 September 2012 page 10) is not the whole story.

This free publication, published by Straddie’s current mining company, Sibelco Australia, has a large distribution on the Island.

I receive my copy each month in the post, although I have never requested it. On this premise I assume many of you have read this informative article about the Island’s water bodies.

Perhaps it has made you more aware of North Stradbroke Island’s exceptional qualities. Some of them we know well and most of us would be flabbergasted if anything were allowed to happen to destroy the beautiful Blue Lake or beloved swimming access of Brown Lake, or the precious Myora Springs habitat. Even the man-made Key Holes that, while an absolute joy on a hot summer day, were created when Yarraman lease was dry mined many years ago. The Key Holes occupy the northern end of that most sacred Eighteen Mile Swamp, whose catchment was badly scarred by mining and an ancient forest of Cypress was lost forever.

It’s said that the Cypress trees were so large, two men could not lock hands around one.

Sand mining began on Stradbroke’s ocean beach in 1950. Since then, mining has moved from the beach to the high dunes where the big money mining for mineral sands continues. It was here that miners and environmentalists first faced-off over the complex subject of protecting significant flora and fauna within a landscape listed on the National Estate, under the Australian Heritage Commission, as having outstanding social and aesthetic and scientific importance. This listing was not enough to save the million years old parabolic dunes, heavily timbered ancient forest, nor a widespread network of water bodies, all sitting atop a vast island aquifer.

Indeed, over the years, the sand mining operation has impacted severely on the Island landscape, vegetation and animals, destroying Indigenous social fabric such as middens, and causing irreparable damage to lagoons and lakes.

Early in 1977, the Amity mine used seawater to maintain its pond, resulting in it seeping through the sand to kill terrestrial vegetation at the foot of the dune, with fauna dying or being displaced.

1978 followed closely with a dam wall

18 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

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often think of the American marine built across Wallam Creek preventing biologist Rachel Carson, whose writnormal tidal exchange and killing flora and ings are credited with advancing the fauna upstream of the dam site global environment movement. In In 1982 a sand slip from Bayside mine 1950 Carson wrote of the birth of an issmothered four hectares of swamp, manland, her conception of the long rhythms groves and sea grass beds in Moreton Bay. of an orderly evolution. She contrasted the In 1987 the Bayside mine breached the slow emergence of an island, and its indurate layer supporting the perched sysunique collection of flora and fauna and tem of Lake Kounpee and this place, special precarious existence, with humankind’s rato the Quandamooka people and local poppacious destruction of island habitats. She ulation alike, died as the lake emptied; the wrote: same mine caused significant drops in the “The tragedy of the oceanic islands lies in water level of Blaksley Lagoon. the uniqueness, the irreplaceability of the In the period 1988 to 1992 the Gordon species they have developed, by the slow mine flooded Native Companion Lagoon process of the ages. In a reasonable world with dredge pond seepage, causing severe men would have treated these islands as predamage to surrounding flora and fauna. cious possessions, as natural museums filled The final blow came in 2003, when a breach with beautiful and curious works of crein the floor of the lagoon caused damage ation, valuable beyond price because and the watered dried up permanently. nowhere in the world are they duplicated.”

1991 saw a 100,000 litre diesel spill near [Rachel L. Carson, “The Birth of an Island,” Amity Swamp, uphill from pretty Welsby Yale Review 40, 1 (September 1950), 123,126.]

Lagoon – this was not reported by the miner So, enjoy the few water bodies that until 1994 – and the clean up continues to remain intact for your pleasure; enjoy their this day. brilliance and wonder if this is salve enough In 1996 the Gordon mine flooded outfor the soul, the lost heart of this magical side the lease boundary, killing a melaleuca island we call Straddie. forest and threatening a sacred bora ring; excessive pumping of water from Palm Lagoon for dredge mining purpose resulted in mono-cultures forming in areas of the Eighteen Mile Swamp (a Ramsar-listed Wetland of International Importance) and lowered levels in the water table.

In 1997 the Ibis Alpha mine, with the entire mine path on the Heritage-listed National Estate for environmental significance, commenced.

In 2003 a post-mine dune (subject to land form criteria within the Environmental Authority) was re-constructed with an orientation directly opposite the original, pre-mine topography.

Visit Google Earth and you can see the interesting juxtaposition of land, wetlands and sea, with the scars of mining amid the remaining intact landscape on North Stradbroke Island.

The picture shows the important interconnected lakes and lagoons, starting in the north and, to the west of the huge Enterprise Mine, which is working close to the escarpment running the length of Eighteen Mile Swamp.

One of the mines seen from Google Earth SUMMER 2012–13

“the tragedy of the oceanic islands lies in the uniqueness, the irreplaceability of the species they have developed, by the slow process of the ages. in a reasonable world men would have treated these islands as precious possessions, as natural museums filled with beautiful and curious works of creation, valuable beyond price because nowhere in the world are they duplicated.”

– rachel carson SUMMER 2012–13

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 19

FICTION by M.Ricks

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s dumps go it’s quite scenic. I used to joke that the council were paying me to be a scenery inspector.

The original landfill has been bulldozed over into a grassy knoll, the plovers are ground nesting all over it, and the whole dump area is surrounded by eucalypt forest. Quite pretty on a sunny day. They should put a sign up – Wallaby World.

Today curtains of rain drift across the view out of my window. I use the term window loosely as it is a bit of my shed wall hinged at the top and propped up with a stick. Business is slow. I’ve directed an elderly couple to the green waste area, one shifty looking character brought in a washing machine and slipped out quickly with two on the back of his ute, and now here comes Mario in his Toyota Ceres.

Mario comes most days to fossick about, against the rules, but he is a charming, old Italian and he’s been coming since long before there were any rules. Long before my time I hasten to add. There are fridges that have been here longer than me.

The morning rush over, I resume my position, elbows on the window ledge, a mug of instant coffee in my hands, radio on in the

Some guy called me Panel Van Pauline once and I stopped going out for months.

Hooklift Dave pulls up in a cloud of oily heat beside my open door and yells down over the roar of his diesel. I can’t hear a word so I pull myself up to his driver’s window. I can see him looking down my neckline, and, well it’s true I hadn’t done all the buttons of my shirt up. It wasn’t deliberate, honestly, just a warm day. I pantomime a cross between a pout and a pucker. He howls like a wolf and revs his truck. I jump clear and he roars off yelling at me something about next time.

Peace reigns back in my shack. Peaceful enough for the occasional grubby ibis to stroll past my doorway, with a nervous glance inside. My solitude is broken by a few locals. One old chap had a greasy barbecue for me once, insisted it worked and was too good to chuck away. Rusty gas bottle and all.

Said I could cook on it right there at the shack. I didn’t have the heart to knock it back even though I saw a cockroach bail out of it and hurry off to start a new life. He left it there for me and called me Darl as he chugged off to the RSL. Another satisfied customer. Someone else took the barbecue, a Murri neighbour from my caravan park, an hour later. Some people leave with just as much as they bring.

or rattling around alone in their expensive beach houses wondering where they went wrong. Come to that where did I go wrong?

Not that I’d change anything, I love my kids.

I did nursing after school and worked at the PA for a long time. Or it seemed a long time.

I never went out with any doctors, unlike most people’s concept of hospital staff, all sleeping around, like Grey’s Anatomy. They were all up themselves to be honest. Well that’s not fair, some were great, but you couldn’t tell them anything, there was always that pecking order. That doctornurse divide. Then I had two kids, bang, bang, with young Alfie who drank like his dad, Alfie senior, and suddenly I never had the money to do anything. So here I am living in the caravan park with two primary school kids and working at the council dump. And what else have I got?

I look across at my old Commodore. The guy at the garage is lovely to me; he put a couple of second-hand tyres on for me for nothing, said he couldn’t bear to see me driving in the rain on the old ones. To be honest I love my job. People are great if you’re nice to them. I fire up the gas grill and put my soggy cheese and tomato sandwich under it. I hate making sandwiches in the mornings although it’s cute seeing the kids off with their little lunch boxes and

Life at the Dump background. Nearly time for the book review. I can hear the hook lift truck clanging away over at the transfer station. Some of the drivers stop to yell a bit of a conversation from their cabs, and some just wave as they roar through.

The hook lift truck driver with the earrings and tattoos is on today. He is cheeky and good-looking in an amphetamine-dealer sort of way. He once asked me if I wanted to go on the back of his Harley to a bikie gathering at Mount Barney. Of course I said No, but I did squirm a bit in bed that night thinking about it. I told him that I couldn’t leave my kids and he joked that I didn’t look old enough to have kids but I knew he was kidding me; my 30s are galloping off into the sunset. I’ve done my share of drinking and smoking. Had a lot of great times, at the Aussie Nash Hotel and the Shafston. I used to go out with a Pommie harmonica player and wait for him in the car park after a gig.

20 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

I’m sure half the guys who come to the dump fancy their chances with me. The young ones like to check me out too, the builders and their mates with a ute full of old roofing iron and clean-up from their current building site. I should charge them a dump fee as they’re commercial but most of them complain they only have an ATM card or are broke till payday. The second home owners from the beach side of town always have box trailers towed behind clean 4X4’s, Prado this and Pajero that, and they throw out a couple of bits and pieces. I used to stroll down after and see if there’s anything worth taking home but my annexe is full of kitsch junk and I end up bringing it back again a month later.

I wonder what they think of me. I’m meant to check their driver’s licences or rates notice to make sure they can dump for free. I only bother with the good-looking ones. I consider if they are happily married

backpacks. I have to make one for myself, there’s no focaccia with eggplant and sun dried this and that out here.

Waiting for the slow grill I stand in the doorway and watch a sea eagle circling high above. Whistling Kite actually, I have a bird book here to check on my feathered colleagues. Apart from the cicadas, nature’s tinnitus, there’s not a sound, nothing on the highway at the dump turnoff. Oh, and the damned crows. They carry on all day until I just don’t hear them any more. Fark, fark, fark. I like to watch the pelicans best of all when they circle way up high. What are they doing up there, so far from the fish? Maybe it’s the bird equivalent of going for a nice long walk. Or a work out on the pecs. Then there’s that bloody bird that warbles a couple of notes from September through till after Christmas, night and day, at oneminute intervals. I could strangle that one. I don’t even know what it looks like because I

SUMMER 2012–13

can never find it. I wish he’d just go build a nest, get laid and shut the fark up. I have my mouth full of sandwich when a ute pulls in.

Damn it if it isn’t the cute guy with the lawn mower business. He has blue eyes and blond curls like a surfer, about my age maybe, maybe not, and when he looks at me I go all tongue tied and silly. The first time he came with his mower and all the gear in the back of his ute, I charged him the dump fee and he didn’t quibble. The second time he had the money ready. The third time I let him off the fee, well that’s tantamount to saying you’re in with a chance here, Boy, but it hasn’t resulted in any offer of a date. He has to be married but I’m not going to ask him. Today, after I had a brief choking fit and greeted him with tears in my eyes, we have a good old chat through his ute window. They never get out of their vehicles to chat, dump people, or even turn their engines off. It must be an unwritten law, or maybe they think I feel vulnerable all alone out here. But I gather, through the window and over the noise of his motor, that his name is Marcus. God, I hate telling people I’m called Pauline. Paulie is just marginally better. Marcus waves as he leaves and I eat my cold toasted sandwich running our conversation through my head. Except this time round, in instant replay, I say all kinds of smart stuff; I mean all the things I wish I’d said. Staircase wit, they say in France. I feel a bit trembly when he’s gone, plus a lot of impure thoughts. I’m having a bit of a drought but when you start something guys can be a damn pest.

My thoughts, post sandwich, feet up on the desk, thoughts of past lovers and past glories, run away over the oceans and hemispheres. Then I met Alfie. End of international travel. He was a great boyfriend really, and a good dad, totally in love with me, said he’d die for me. I don’t think his liver will give him that option.

Now here’s a BMW, what the hell is that thing doing here? The electric window sinks silently and this gorgeous man with a voice like Richard Burton says he has a few things in the boot to dispose of. What a lovely expression – dispose of. That’s the first time anyone’s used it around here. I start talking to him in my best theatre nurse voice, pointing out the transfer station hidden in the trees. I mean as if he couldn’t read the sign Transfer Station and a big arrow. When he purrs off I look in my mirror to see what sort of rough looking dag the man has just had a conversation with. Nothing a little lippy wouldn’t fix but that’s back home. I look in my backpack in hope, rummaging in the bottom and am still looking when I sense rather than hear the BMW leaving, very slowly, right past my door. That’s wonderful; he has just seen an inch of ass crack and/or my undies. I look out the window that faces the gates and can just see, through the tinted glass, his hand raised at his rear view mirror, the fingers waggling. Hot Damn, I say out loud, dropping into my chair and waving my Blunnies around. If he comes back

SUMMER 2012–13

tomorrow I’ll know I’m in there. Dinner.

Wine. Gaze from his deck out over the ocean, full moon rising out of the Pacific.

Mmmm, what should I wear? Something short or strappy for while I’m looking at the view. Right now he could be fantasising about me wearing just my hi-viz council work shirt.

A bit of blue sky now and fluffy cotton buds sailing overhead in the wind. I watch a couple of crows flapping away and getting nowhere. They all fly differently, don’t they?

The kookaburras just swoop from branch to branch without a whisper. The ibises flap and squawk trying to lift off. Pairs of top gun lorikeets tear around squawking, like multicoloured bullets. It’s two o’clock. Time for a stroll around my dump. There’s something in the angle of sunlight that lets me know that my workday is nearly over, even without checking the time on my mobile. The gates close at 2.30 as if the whole dump revolves around my kids’ school hours. The green waste area is strewn with branches and palm fronds, people just drag it out and let it drop. The white goods area is not so white, splashed with red mud by passing vehicles.

There they stand, people’s erstwhile pride and joy, dinosaur washing machines and 40year-old fridges. I could walk on up and around to the transfer station and gaze at the old mattresses and insulation and polystyrene packing, dead televisions and old bicycles lying in the bottom of the bins.

Maybe the BMW guy has murdered his wife and rolled her in a bloodstained carpet. Ah, stuff it, the rain has just slanted in again from the southeast and I scuttle back to my shack. It’s 2.25. I wait four minutes, put the padlock on and I’m outa there.

It hasn’t been a bad day, I muse, driving home at the 70 km per hour speed limit.

Some mornings I arrive there at nine o’clock to find people have dumped stuff at the gates rather than wait for me to open up. Big black plastic bags I hate the worst, they always bust open and I have a recurring horror of a severed human hand popping out. The other morning I arrived to find a dead kangaroo that someone had hit in the night and thoughtfully left at the gate for me. I dragged it across the highway and into the scrub, feeling its coarse fur under my fingers. God that’s an awful smell, after a day or two in the heat. Glad I’m not a goanna.

Or a crow. I slow down to 60, I’ve been caught here on this dip on a radar, the cop was cleavage-resistant, not one of the local blokes. I nearly cried getting a fine.

Anyway, today was a good day all round.

For the last few kilometres I wonder which one would be hot in bed, the hook lift driver, the lawn mower guy or the BMW driver.

I don’t suppose social status has much to do with it, unless you get off on rough hands, or expensive presents. I’ve often wondered about that but I haven’t had enough blokes to write my PhD on the subject. Pauline Parker, no comments please, on the Correlation between Penis and Paypacket. Manners versus Manliness – Discuss. The Better

Bonker, Bad Boy or Banker. I bet there’s not a red-blooded woman who has not pondered this. I think I’d like to listen to the BMW driver’s voice in the dark, but then again, the other two... Ah, you never know.

I might have to try all three. I ease into the caravan park. The kids walk themselves home from school, which is wonderful and I have 10 minutes to myself to go over to the shower block. Shampoo, conditioner, fantasy du jour. *

*

*

T

he rain is pattering on the caravan roof. The annexe, great on a hot afternoon, is a bit of a soggy mess. Wet towels, kids’ bikes, a damp settee strewn with tomorrow’s laundry if the weather clears. Inside the van it’s cosy and dry. We had dinner, the children drew at the table for a while and were in their beds nice and early, tired after their school day. The little one copies everything Carla does. If she does her homework then he likes to sit there too and write his few words or draw. He’s dark like his father; she’s blond like me. Well she’s blond; I’m a bit of a Clayton’s. I’m thinking of going dark for a change, I’d look like the Veronicas’ older sister. OK, their mother. This is my favourite time of the day, kids asleep.

There’s a quarter of a bottle of white wine around here somewhere, that’ll do just nicely. Rinse and swallow.

I just watched My Name is Earl, the little TV at the foot of the bed turned down low.

I like it because they are trailer trash but somewhat more outrageous than my neighbours. All around the caravans are quiet and dimly lit. The neighbours, apart from a couple of crazies, are the best people. A lot of them are elderly; I’ve been to a few funerals.

I didn’t cry at my mother’s, her death was a mercy and I had two young kids to try to keep quiet. On top of that Alfie had drunk all night, any excuse, and damn near killed us getting to the crematorium. It wasn’t long after that I left him. What money I hadn’t hidden from him went down his throat or the pokies. He comes to see the kids and spends his last 20 on ice cream. He brought us a case of mangoes once, $12 beside the road, and then had to borrow money for petrol to get back. Hopeless but he still makes me laugh. If you didn’t you’d cry. I’ll move on from this one day. I could do anything really.

I pour out the last dribble of wine and open the laptop. I wrote about today and considered a title. “The Dump Lady”. Lady my ass. Delete that. How about “From Scalpel to Skip”? No, that sounds like a murder mystery. I said “Forest Dump” out loud and made myself laugh. I’ll write more tomorrow at the dump when it’s quiet. I close the laptop and snuggle down, listening to the rain on the van roof and my kids breathing. © M.Ricks 2012. Copyright of this material remains with the author.

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 21

FICTION by Chris Nyst

pete the fleet “S

ince when did bloody phones get smarter than people?” Old Peter wasn’t happy. Over the years he’d been charged with a long list of dishonesty offences – petty theft, shoplifting, snatch and grabs – but I’d never before seen him look quite so defeated. “I’ve been a tea-leaf all me life,” he mumbled disconsolately as he stared across the desk, looking like a favourite who’d just run second in a two-horse race. “This is just down-right embarrassing.”

I could see his point. The old bloke had a reputation to uphold. In his heyday he was known as the best runner in the business; his feats of escapology were nothing short of legend. He’d earned his nickname Pete the Fleet by bolting with his booty faster than a speeding bullet, leaping tall fences in a single bound, and leaving overweight, flatfooted beat cops in his dust. Now he was reduced to this.

It was a sad story. Long since retired to a life of slip-on loafers, gold chains and designer track-suits, Peter was taking his morning stroll to collect the daily newspapers when he noticed a very fancy-looking mobile phone, obviously unclaimed and abandoned, lying on the counter at his local newsagency. It was an expensive-looking

item that was bound to be worth something somewhere to someone and, let’s face it, retired or not, old habits die hard. Peter couldn’t help himself. He nonchalantly slipped the phone into the pocket of his track suit pants, and quietly dissolved into the ether.

It was bread and butter stuff for him, just another day at the office. No fuss, no bother, not so much as a raised eyebrow. With the takings discreetly secreted on his person, Peter went about his daily routine—down to the local bakery for his croissant and doubleshot latte, a quick mag and a cuppa with the boys down on the marina, then back to his apartment to catch up on the daily news. But no sooner was he home than there was a knock on his front door. It was the boys in blue, there to tell Peter the smart phone he had lifted from the newsagent’s had an application on it that enabled the owner to trace its whereabouts, so now the police wanted to know just how and why the missing mobile had found its way to Pete’s apartment.

“Can you believe that—a tracking device in the bloke’s phone!” the outraged thief growled at me indignantly. “If you ask me it’s an invasion of bloody privacy!”

When we fronted up to court a week later the old bloke was in clearly better spirits,

and seemed hard-pushed to suppress a cheeky smirk threatening to break out on his craggy dial. Even a very hefty fine and compensation order from the magistrate didn’t threaten to defeat his improved mood, and when we finally got outside I had to ask him what it was that was so clearly tickling his fancy.

“There’s always someone worse off, isn’t there,” he shot back, pulling a folded news article from his pocket and thrusting it in my direction. Unfolding the page I saw it relayed yet another sad tale of deception, detection and retribution. This one came from Western Uganda, where a ghoulish opportunist had lifted a mobile telephone from a dying patient, in an isolation ward at the Kigali Hospital. What the thief didn’t realise was the patient was suffering from the highly contagious Ebola virus, and by the time police located him he too was in the early stages of infection with the deadly disease.

“Talk about your computer bloody viruses!” my client quipped philosophically. With a knowing wink he pushed the paper back into the pocket of his freshly-pressed court suit, turned on the heels of his fake-Prada pumps, and sauntered off about his business. © Chris Nyst 2012.

The author retains all copyright.

“it was bread and butter stuff for him, just another day at the office.”

22 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

SUMMER 2012–13

OPINION By Sue Ellen Carew, President, Friends of Stradbroke Island Inc. Glossy Black-cockatoos

Hollow promises

I

t may come as a surprise to many visitors holidaying on the Island over summer to learn that North Stradbroke Island is still being mined.

Sand mining is destroying essential habitat for island animals as large tracts of woodland filled with mature forest trees are cut down. These woodlands provide essential habitat for many of the Island’s native animals.

There are still three large active mines.

The mining company, Sibelco, plans to close the Yarraman sand mine near Point Lookout in 2015. The giant Enterprise sand mine in the middle of the Island – you can see it from the headland at Point Lookout – is currently allowed to keep working for another seven years, until 2020, thanks to the former government’s renewal of expired mining leases.

The Enterprise and Yarraman mines work 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. The company continues to lobby to be allowed to continue mining for even longer at Enterprise mine.

Koala numbers are collapsing so rapidly in southeast Queensland that in April 2012 the federal government declared the Queensland koala as a vulnerable threatened species needing protection under federal environmental law. To survive, koalas need large areas of healthy, safe and connected bushland. On Stradbroke, koala habitat (confirmed in pre-mining Environmental Impact Statements prepared by the mining company) is being destroyed by the mines.

SUMMER 2012–13

Photographs of koalas at the Vance mine are even being used by the mining company in their own publication, Many of the Island’s birds, mammals and reptiles need tree hollows for shelter, roosting and breeding. They include gliders, microbats, owls, parrots, kingfishers and Glossy Black Cockatoos, as well as many species of snakes, frogs and skinks. Some of these are threatened species. It takes a very long time for tree hollows to form. Generally, small hollows with narrow entrances, suitable for small animals such as the Feathertail Glider and micro bats, can take about 100 years to form. Tree hollows of a medium size and suitable for animals such as lorikeets, kookaburras and kingfishers, can take around 200 years to form, and the larger and deeper hollows occupied by the Island’s iconic Southern Boobook owls and Glossy Black Cockatoos can take a lot longer – 250 years plus.

Rehabilitation doesn’t work for these animals – no naturally occurring hollows will form on any mined land on the island until at least the year 2090 and no tree hollows suitable for owls and Glossy Black Cockatoos will form naturally until around the year 2200. A few nesting boxes that need to be replaced every 10 years are not substitute for the habitat being destroyed.

The mining company is the custodian of a large part of the Island. In a recent company sponsored publication, Sibelco admitted that it had not undertaken any fox or wild dog control in any of its leases since

2004. Foxes are the most common animals picked up by the company’s few nocturnal “wildlife” monitoring cameras at rehabilitation sites (according to a company spokesperson at a public meeting 26 September 2012). Foxes and wild dogs are a major threat to koalas, which can be attacked when they are on the ground moving between trees. Wallabies, bandicoots and birds are also vulnerable to foxes and wild dogs, as are ground dwelling and nesting birds such as the endangered Beach Stone Curlew, the Double Banded Plover and Bush Stone Curlew.

Company vehicles are major road users on Straddie – buses ply the Island morning and night after picking up Sibelco’s largely mainland based workforce from the ferries; massive trucks carrying silica and minerals from the mines roar along the East Coast Road through sensitive koala habitat day after day, and company-flagged heavy 4WDs are a feature of Island roads. Sibelco could show its concern and take responsibility for its part of the road kill problem by immediately imposing compulsory speed limits on all its workforce vehicles – buses, trucks and 4wds – of 50kms or lower on all of the Island’s paved roads.

The mining company could also ensure that all its staff are trained as part of their induction in what to do if their vehicle strikes an animal, and make some large, unconditional, donations to the Island’s hard-pressed wildlife carers, who care for animals struck by vehicles on the Island.

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 23

PHOTO: HEYN DE KOCK

“No naturally occurring hollows will form on any land mined on the island until at least the year 2090 and no tree hollows suitable for owls and Glossy Black Cockatoos will form naturally until around the year 2200.”

NOTICE BOARD

North Stradbroke Island

IS NOT A RENEWABLE RESOURCE

Every day its beautiful environment, extensive ecology, high bio-diversity, precious aquifer is attacked.

who cares? simo cares.

Stradbroke Island Management Organisation Inc., PO Box 304, POINT LOOKOUT, 4183, Queensland.

Noreen’s Seaside Shop ANCHORAGE BEACH FRONT RESORT, POINT LOOKOUT

Open Monday, Thursday, Friday , Saturday: 9.30 am - 5 pm Sunday: 9 am till 1 pm • Open 7 days on school holidays Freshwater pearl and semi-precious gem jewellery. Fashion jewellery, sarongs, evening bags, homewares, unusual gifts, clothing, decorator items, shells, toys and much much more!

24 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

3409 8798

SUMMER 2012–13

NOTICE BOARD

Lee’s Liquid Waste Services EPA Licensed EST. 1984

27/7 Professional Service

Clean again.

Lic. No. 50044 Established since 1991 on North Stradbroke Island Specialists in Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Installations, Maintenance TV Systems, Lighting, Power, Safety switches, Hot Water systems, Stoves etc.

SEPTIC TANKS SHIPS’ BILGE HOLDING TANKS RECYCLED WATER OILY WATER DELIVERIES TREATMENT PLANTS GREASE TRAPS PORTALOOS

Bill Rhodes 0407 965 699 rholec@bigpond.net.au Dan Rhodes 0409 270 036 rhodeselectrical@hotmail.com

• Free quotes and advice • Family owned and operated • • All suburbs inc. Stradbroke and Bay Islands • • Commercial and domestic • www.liquidwaste.com.au • lees@liquidwaste.com.au

Ph. 3415 3083 Fax 3415 3098 PO. Box 186 Point Lookout 4183

3206 4844

For your Local Electrician and Member of the ECA Call Bill or Dan

Incorporating K.C. Domestic Trap Cleaning & Lee’s Septic Tank Services

BE SEEN IN SIN For all advertising booking and queries please call 07 3252 4551 or editor@straddienews.com Friendly Service and Best Meat Guaranteed

Tel: 07 3409 7224 rufuskingseafoods@bigpond.com 44 Sovereign Road, Amity Point, North Stradbroke Island, Qld, 4183 Proprietors: Eddie & Steph Walker Open 7 days Trawler Fresh Prawns, Oysters, Crabs, Whole Fish, Fillets Large range of frozen seafood

Stradbroke Island

BUTCHERY Phone: 3409 9088 1 Stradbroke Place Dunwich QLD Open Mon-Fri till 5pm & Sat till 12noon Fax: 3409 9196 EFTPOS AND MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED

SUMMER 2012–13

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 25

NOTICE BOARD

THE MOST

AMAZING

SHOP

8 BINGLE ROAD DUNWICH

(ON THE MAIN STREET LOOK FOR THE POTS & FLAGS)

CAROL 0419 727 133 Come and visit u r sure to find that special gift, clothing or the very thing u wanted. Open 10am holidays ring and check (usually every day) non-holidays wed, thurs, sat maybe sun clothes – giftlines – furniture – collectables – the unusual – garden pots plants – sleepers – planters – manchester

STRADBROKE

Enviropest Services 07 3415 2522

P/L

11A Illawong Crescent, Dunwich 4138 • Cockroaches, spiders (Domestic pests) • Visual termites inspection and report • Termites treatments • Visual timber pest inspection and report (Pre-purchase) • Alterm (Termite shielding) • Sentricon (Termite baiting system)

Victor Korzeniewski. Licence No PMT–O–3514. BSA Licence No 743908.

BAY ISLAND VALUATIONS Paul W Mergler AAPI AssocDipBus (Real Property Valuation) Certified Practising Valuer Professional property reporting through service, quality and advice.

Phone 3409 8855 Fax 3415 3060 Mobile 0417 786 708 pmergler@bigpond.com www.bayislandvaluations.com

PO Box 300 Point Lookout North Stradbroke Island QLD 4183

CJ’s island pizza Enjoy a slice in paradise…

Visiting, leaving or just arriving? Grab a pizza, enjoy the sunset along the Dunwich foreshore.

3415 2444

OPEN 4–8pm

Ballow Road Dunwich

7 DAYS A WEEK

Chris

Semple

OPEN PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AND EVERYDAY DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

26 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

SUMMER 2012–13

NOTICE BOARD

Save big dollars

on your power bills

Strait to the Point.

We have now established an office at Point Lookout, attended by appointment on Thursday and Friday.

You will find us at 32 Tramican Street.

Phone 07 3806 1511 for a discussion with Brian Hooker, partner.

SOME OF OUR SERVICES: • Taxation and BAS returns for all entities • Super fund accounting and audits • Clear and concise accounting and tax advice • Tax Planning and Estate Planning • Planning for Succession • Management Reporting and Secretarial Services.

with Solution Skylights.

Contact Liam Dormehl at Solution Skylights on 0433 543 254 for a free in-house quote now.

solution skylights Natural lighting Certified skylight installer Brisbane and Gold Coast

0433 543 254 solutionskylights@gmail.com

TRAWLER FRESH SEAFOOD Mintee Street, Point Lookout Wed to Sat 10am - 4pm & Sun 10am 3pm Tel: 3415 3436 Local, Fresh Prawns, Bugs, Fish, Oysters, Scallops & more

Mal Starkey’s

SEAFOOD

HOUSE Ph 3409 8353 Mob 0409 618 353 PROVIDING STRADDIE’S FINEST SEAFOOD

FOR OVER 20 YEARS Straddie’s local fisher for quality seafood Cnr Tramican & Donahue Sts, Point Lookout

SUMMER 2012–13

NEW PRODUCT LINES . Dog leads and collars . Flea, tick and worm treatments for dogs and cats . Dog beds and replacement mats

OPEN 7 DAYS 18 Bingle Road Dunwich PHONE – FAX

3409 9252 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 27

NOTICE BOARD NOR TH STRADBROKE ISLAND

Historical Museum P R E S E RV I N G O U R H I S T O RY

Radio National 2009 Regional Museums Award John Oxley Library Community History Award 2010

鵹鵺 Open Tuesday to Saturday 10am - 2pm • Sunday 11am - 3pm 15-17 Welsby Street, Dunwich • Phone 3409 9699 www.stradbrokemuseum.com.au

Stradbroke

Stradbroke Island

Auto Repairs & 3409 9336 PO Box 39 Dunwich QLD 4183 Blair Howe

• Full Service and Tuning • Engine Reconditioning • Brakes and Clutches • Suspension and Front End Repairs • Roadworthy/Inspection Certificates

• Manual and Automatic Transmission Repairs • Tyre Repairs • Breakdown Calls • Free Quotes

BLINDS & AWNINGS Your local supplier of all types of Venetians, verticals, roller blinds aluminium and fabric awnings Showroom at 7 Ballow Road Dunwich (beside Dolphin Real Estate) PHONE DAVID THORBURN

3415 3206 0400 341 532

www.islandweddings.net.au davidroy0204@yahoo.com

ing feel

Only a sur fer

kno

ws

the

NSI Mobile Vet “North Stradbroke Island’s resident vet” Small animal vaccinations and house call consultations by appointment.

Dr Morgan Chance BVSc (Hons).

Mobile: 0411 539 067 • Phone : 3415 3340 Email: mchancevet@gmail.com

28 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

SUMMER 2012–13

ADVERTISEMENT

Stop sand mining.

Save the natural beauty of Stradbroke Island.

You may have heard that the sand mining on Stradbroke Island has stopped…. …It hasn’t. Mining is being allowed to continue for many years on the island.

There are three large active mines on Stradbroke Island.

The Yarraman mine near Point Lookout will close in 2015, but the life of the giant Enterprise mine in the middle of the island has been extended to 2020 and the silica mine until 2025.

Mining activity is destroying acres of precious old eucalypt forest… …forests which provide food for koalas and shelter for our native species.

Large tracts of woodland with mature forest trees are being cut down as part of the sand mining activity. The hollows that form in these trees take hundreds of years to develop, and provide essential habitat and breeding grounds for many of the island’s birds, mammals and reptiles. The lengthy process for trees to mature means that no naturally occurring hollows will form on any mined land until the year 2090; put simply, revegetation is not an option.

According to the CSIRO, koala populations have declined by an estimated 80 per cent in southeast Queensland since the mid 1990s, due mostly to vegetation clearance. Their decline has become so alarming that Federal Minister Tony Burke in 2012 listed them as a ‘vulnerable’ species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. On North Stradbroke Island, their precious habitat and food is still being cleared.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUSAN HILL, HEYN DE KOCK AND ATAGLANCE.COM.AU

Australia’s best loved national icons – cockatoos, gliders and koalas - all live on Stradbroke Island, finding shelter and food in the Island’s old forests, tree hollows and eucalypt trees.

But development, including the continuous clearing of forest to accommodate extensive sand mining, has put the Island’s unique biodiversity under increasing pressure.

The risk just isn’t worth it... …Stop sand mining on Stradbroke Island.

SAVE STRADDIE.COM NATIONAL PARK — NOT MINING!

Visit www.savestraddie.com for more information about the need to protect the wilderness of Stradbroke Island.

HISTORY by Robyn Mortimer

an elderly grandson’s su

Playing draughts Dunwich 1939.

W

hen my Reluctant Traveller and I first settled on Straddie we knew little about its history. To both of us, as it must seem to countless other first time visitors, Stradbroke Island was simply an intriguing location on a map, a holiday destination, a playground full of golden beaches and sparkling water.

That the Island had a long and proud Indigenous history was something I took a few years to realise. That my husband had a unique connection to the Island’s recent past, we both remained blissfully unaware of for a good 20 years.

Europeans first documented the Island in 1770, when Lieutenant James Cook, on his extraordinary voyage of discovery aboard the vessel HM Barque Endeavour, sailed along the eastern coast of what was to become known as Australia.

Mind you, Cook was not the first stranger to sight this land down under; it is estimated at least 54 ships from sea going realms of the time made various connections to the land and its people in the years between 1606 and 1770.

30 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

But at that time Cook, and the explorer Matthew Flinders after him, weren’t aware the Island had been occupied for more than 21,000 years by local groups or tribes, and that the land they would eventually name Stradbroke Island, had been known for countless centuries to its Indigenous inhabitants as Minjerribah.

Britain’s exploration and colonisation of Australia would lead to a massive influx of immigrants from Europe. These newcomers brought new languages, customs and skills to their new home, along with the then European misconceptions of class, colour and intelligence.

They also brought plague and illness. As more and more overcrowded migrant ships arrived in Moreton Bay, it was decided to establish a quarantine station at a small settlement on an island isolated from, but within sight of, the mainland.

With the passing years the island began to assume the western names of its new occupants. The small settlement locals had called Pulan became Amity Point, named after Surveyor General Oxley’s ship. As Cook charted the eastern seaboard, he

named it Point Lookout, as a warning to other sailors to beware of rocky outlets Then in 1827 Captain Henry Rous, who also happened to be the Viscount Dunwich, sailed his warship, HMS Rainbow into the bay and thus were named the two navigation channels, the Rainbow and the Rous.

Both these deep-water parts of Moreton Bay are now favoured fishing spots. The Viscount’s father was England’s venerable Earl of Stradbroke.

It figures, doesn’t it, that by such foibles of self-importance and pomposity, the Island and its towns were named.

By 1864 the quarantine station had been moved to Peel Island, a tad closer to the mainland, and the buildings left behind on Straddie became the Benevolent Asylum.

Modern day readers may take up their cudgels at the use of the word “asylum” confusing it with the term lunacy. In the 1800s the word asylum meant exactly that, refuge.

The Dunwich Benevolent Asylum became Queensland’s first sheltered home for the elderly, the infirm and the incapacitated.

In those first years of western settlement, Europeans set up farms, introduced oyster

SUMMER 2012–13

rprising slice of history

PHOTO COURTESY JOL.

“the dunwich benevolent asylum became queensland’s first sheltered home for the elderly, the infirm and the incapacitated.”

Dunwich Benevolent Asylum buildings c. 1938. Today, St Marks Church, on left, is on the corner of the Dunwich main street. The men's wards seen here cover the area where the township’s main shops are located. farming, logging and fishing. The dugong was hunted for its oil used in lighting and medicine. Small schools were established.

Jetties were built and small ships from the mainland made frequent visits. The Island prospered.

As the population grew so too did its small and beautifully positioned cemetery at Dunwich. Set on a slight rise among tall bunya and native gum trees, the cemetery is the last resting place for an estimated 8426 former inmates of the Benevolent Asylum.

The cemetery registry lists only 800 or 900 official plots and many of the burial sites, including those from quarantine days, when whole shiploads of typhus sufferers died, are listed as unknown.

Over the years I became obsessed with family history, tackling my grandparents origins first and then my husband’s, the Reluctant Traveller. His family background included Danes and Germans, farming stock from Wiltshire, mill workers from Yorkshire, a Welsh labourer, Thomas Williams from a small town near Cardiff and a young girl called Jane Wall, born in Somerset.

Without too much fuss I found the marriage of my husband’s great-great grand parents in Wales and then their voyage to Australia on the Parsee in 1853.

Extract from the Moreton Bay Courier 15th January 1853: The Parsee has made an excellent voyage of 102 days from Plymouth to Moreton Bay, leaving England more than a month after the America and coming to anchor in the Bay a little before her. The Parsee crossed

SUMMER 2012–13

the equator on the 2nd November and came round Van Diemen’s Land on the 22nd ult., being the 84th day from England; but was detained on this coast by northerly winds. Sighted land at Sugar Loaf Point on the 1st instant. She brings 493 immigrants, of whom 105 couples are married, 18 males and 106 female adults are single, 144 are boys and girls between one and fourteen and 15 are infants under one year...

I was pleased and amazed because their entry into Moreton Bay would have been right here in Dunwich, where arriving ships into the port were quarantined, and we now lived. Their first sight of the new country was virtually the same view we wake up to each morning. But that wasn’t the end of Jane’s story, nor the surprising link to our own.

Thomas and Jane Williams settled in the Nanango area of rural Queensland and had three daughters. Jane Williams, who could read but not write, became a respected midwife in Nanango and carved out a life for herself when her husband died and their youngest child was only 14.

Much later, aged, blind and in poor health she committed herself to the Dunwich Benevolent Home, where she died in 1909 and was buried in an unmarked grave.

The Dunwich cemetery is in some ways the focal point of the township. Overlooking the One Mile jetty, it shares the foreshore with neighbouring camping grounds and The Little Ship Club marina.

Vehicles pass the cemetery on their way

across the Island to Point Lookout and Amity Point. The primary school is just across the main road.

Tall and thickly leaved shade trees are home to myriad birds and a family of koalas.

If there are ghosts patrolling this last resting spot their days are never lonely, with locals and visitors alike frequently strolling through the cemetery grounds.

Gravestones tell the stories of pioneer families, of immigrants from distant countries whose voyage ended suddenly and tragically from typhoid, or worse at the quarantine station. They also tell the stories of doctors and carers struck down with those same incurable afflictions.

The names of just some of the 8000 or so inmates of the Benevolent Institution, who were buried in unmarked graves, appear on a memorial wall that was built in 1989 using bricks from the asylum’s laundry.

We found Jane William’s memorial plaque on that wall. Most of the plaques on the memorial have been placed there at the request of descendants and it seems some distant, unknown relations from another part of Queensland had instigated Jane’s memorial plaque. I wonder do they know she now has kin living close by, keeping her company with frequent visits and kind thoughts.

For the first 20 years or so that my husband Stan and I lived in Dunwich, and often walked through this beautiful and peaceful cemetery, we never at any time suspected his link to the Island was so precious.

Perhaps our move here all that time ago was meant to be.

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 31

WEDDING

Lost and found

BY MARGARET SHIELDS

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any have laughed, cried and generally been delighted by the TV love story of Jean and Lionel in the BBC production, As Time Goes By – you know, the couple who fell in love, were parted by the Korean War, lost contact, married other people, had happy lives, then met again by chance?

Well it turns out that’s not too far-fetched; we’ve got our own true story of love lost, then re-found, right here on Stradbroke Island.

Recently, I was privileged to be a guest at the wedding of Desley Cuerel and Bob Greenhill on Cylinder Beach.

Theirs is an extraordinary story and the setting was very special to them, because Point Lookout is where Desley and Bob first met, about 60 years ago.

Bob was a Surf Life Saver and Desley was – as you can tell from the photo – a beach babe! They began courting and fell in love and Bob used to say to Desley: “I’m going to marry you one day!”

But all good stories have a complication.

Bob’s boss sent him to work out bush at a moment’s notice, leaving him no chance to say his goodbyes to Desley.

Back then there were no mobiles and many homes didn’t even have a landline.

Postage from out bush was not reliable.

It failed Desley and Bob anyway and, just

32 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

like Jean and Lionel in As Time Goes By, each sadly concluded that the other had suddenly lost interest. Eventually, both met someone else, married and raised families.

In a corner of their hearts, though, was always a sweet memory of times past.

I like to think it was Desley’s late husband, Roy, who brought them back together. He was a kind and loving man who’d have wanted to make sure Desley would not be alone.

Roy passed away after 53 years of marriage and his obituary was published in a local paper, with a photo of Roy and Desley.

Bob was living on Macleay Island and, some 18 months later, was wrapping rubbish in an old newspaper when the article caught his eye; even after nearly 60 years, he recognised Desley instantly. He gave her time to grieve and then made contact.

They spoke for a very long time on the phone, then Desley agreed to meet him.

As Island marriage celebrant Ingrid De Heus said in her beautiful marriage service: “The years just peeled away.” Bob and Desley were as delighted with one another as they had been when they first met 60 years before.

The couple courted for a time, traversing the distance between islands. The flame they’d kindled, all those years ago, once again burned strong; they decided to marry.

They planned a small, intimate wedding with two dear friends as witnesses. Desley was to be “given away” by her grandson

Aaron, with her adorable great-granddaughter, April, as flower girl. Aaron’s wife Jenni would take the photographs.

It was a day made in heaven: clear, bluegold and sparkling as they stood barefoot on the sand of Cylinder Beach before the celebrant. In the distance, hazy in the sunlight, Moreton Island looked like a mystic isle; the sea between glittered as though a careless god had tossed handfuls of diamonds into the blue.

To everyone’s surprise, almost the entire Minjerriba Respite Centre turned up – staff, clients, carers – just about everybody was there and all dressed up, ready for a celebration. And what a happy, romantic occasion it was.

When Ingrid recited Banjo Paterson’s poem, As Long as Your Eyes are Blue, Bob and Desley shed a few tears of happiness. In fact, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!

Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a scrumptious wedding lunch at the Respite Centre, before waving goodbye to the happy couple, who drove away in a car traditionally decorated with streamers and JUST MARRIED in large lettering.

Lots of cars honked their good wishes all the way to Desley and Bob’s honeymoon destination of Bribie Island.

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Greenhill.

SUMMER 2012–13

PROPERTY

ISLAND PROPERTY

By Rae Green

s a real estate agent I meet and interact with people from many walks of life and in many cases have the pleasure of making lifelong friends and acquaintances.

Some of these people I might only see on their annual Straddie holiday, others, who move to the Island, or buy investment properties, I may run into more frequently; and then there are those who become close friends.

All of these people make up our community and over the past 12 months I have come to realise just how vital that communi-

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ty is, whether casual visitor, next door neighbour or best friend.

The way the community of North Stradbroke Island rallied to support and assist Brian and Hetty Conlon after the break in, assault and burning of their home and business made me very proud to call Straddie home.

The support and help my family received during my husband Terry’s illness was incredible and we were humbled to be on the receiving end of such kindness and generosity.

I guess we are no different to many small

towns. But for anyone considering making Straddie home I cannot emphasise enough how strongly this sense of community should be taken into your considerations.

Even if you are an investor looking to buy a holiday property, I feel that people need to realise just how special this place, and the people who live here, are.

A safe and happy summer to you all.

Rae Green is principal of Ray White Stradbroke Island and has been selling real estate on Straddie for more than 20 years. www.raywhitestraddie.com

COUNCIL NEWS with Councillor Craig Ogilvie Point Lookout propertyowner Craig Ogilvie has represented North Stradbroke Island on the Redland City Council since 2004.

He is in his third term as Division 2 Councillor.

Cylinder Beach

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anagement of all campgrounds on Straddie passed into the hands of the Traditional Owners of North Stradbroke Island, the Quandamooka People, from November 1.

This handover had been a long time coming and was the result of hard work and

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courage on the part of many people.

The outcome, in the end, was one of a parcel of outcomes agreed through the Native Title process; but talks had been underway for a while. Initial talks came after Council had put management of the campgrounds out to open tender and was about to make a decision on a preferred private tender.

Just as it was about to do so, courageous community members came forth asking Council to wait and consider a community-based ownership model. It was late in the process and a bit left field, but the passion and organisation of the group was impressive and Council agreed to hold up the tender process while a proposal was organised.

The determination of the community in the days and weeks following was incredible. In short time a business plan was produced and the rest is now history, and some-

thing the community and Council can be proud of.

I am convinced that the new managers, Straddie Camping, will deliver a great tourism experience for all visitors to the Island.

The management of the assets will be guided by land management plans and the owners have employed some great talent to see them into the future.

Importantly though, a large slice of the Straddie community now has a real say in how these important land assets are managed.

And, a large slice of the Straddie community now has a stake in the economic driver of the future – tourism. In an era where many people are talking about “guilt-free” and “ethical” tourism, Stradbroke has a product of which it can be justifiably proud.

Campsites can be booked online at www.straddiecamping.com.au

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 33

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34 STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS

SUMMER 2012–13

BEACH YOGA TALES by Linda Rago

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s the sun sets more to the west and spring days lengthen into hot summer weekends, life on the Island changes its rhythm. An early morning or late afternoon ocean dip refreshes rather than chills, northerly winds move midges and marsh flies before they settle, and shade becomes necessary as the sun develops a bite. Beach Yoga starts earlier to make the most of the morning shade at the eastern end of Home Beach.

Summer often produces funny Beach Yoga Tales.

A New Year reveler streaked through one astounded group and we’ve seen hundreds of lost and confused wood ducks flying in noisy V formation above. Over the past 10 years we’ve witnessed intense wars between osprey, crows, brahminy kites, willy wagtails and this year, the humble plover seems to be having a go! Home Beach’s resident giant blue heron wades in for the summer and gutters and low-tide lagoons form and disappear within 10 days.

Big dogs have appeared as if on cue to demonstrate abdominal breathing with tongue out as in “lion’s breath” and our family dog, Licorice, has minded quite a few kids. A little fox terrier took my version of “tree pose” literally and an affable golden retriever thought one lady was meditating as a “post”. It’s always tempting to roll people into the sea as they relax in rest pose toward the end of a class and I’ve taken classes out

on sand spits only to realise there an incoming tide.

Whatever happens, the intention is to attain a feeling of letting go and ignoring the pressures of life for a few minutes, connecting to nature and starting a day on a positive note. There are four rules to Beach Yoga: whoever comes is/are the perfect person/people for that day, the practices we share are (to the best of my knowledge and training) appropriate and helpful, the moment it starts IS the appropriate moment and when it’s over, it’s done!

As SIN went to print I had JUST returned from travels to Italy, Austria and Germany, teaching and studying Shiatsu, and preparing for an international conference on North Stradbroke Island in 2014.

SWEAT AND EXPEL: A PRANAYAMA FOR SUMMER Summer is a time to release heat from the blood and intestines through expelling and sweating. The easiest way to expel energy is to consciously exhale a little longer than usual, with a pause at the end before the inhale. Be passive during the inhalation, just letting it happen as an effect of the previous exhalation. Holding your arms slightly away from the sides of your body, rather than tight against it, will keep your engine a little cooler. It’s a simple recipe to improve your condition no matter what your age shape or disposition.

Linda Rago has studied and taught yoga and shiatsu healing practices since 1989. She specialises in recovery from injury through positive attitude, movement and respiration.

SURFING with Murray Taylor

Signs out for summer

We finally got some great waves with the arrival of an easterly ground swell in late October, 4-6’ Cylinder for a very brief half-day window. The next day saw Main Beach break its best since Boxing Day last year. For a while it looked like Main Beach of old – shame the swell didn’t last.

Nathan Specht got an early Christmas present with an eight-second barrel on a classic Main left-hander.

The boys on the headland went off when he popped out the end of it and when Nathan came in he declared it was the best barrel he had ever had.

Let’s hope it was the start of a good summer.

ASSAULT The Straddie Assault was a great weekend with Snapper Rocks taking the crown for the 19th time. The surf was small but very contestable and there was a great family atmosphere. Next year is the Assault’s anniversary, so it should be a big one. Nathan Specht did a fantastic job as contest organiser this year, with help from all the local crew to make it happen. The Point Lookout Team this year was: Ethan Ewing – cadet, Nathaniel Van Leween and Brooke Gregory – junior, Stacey Holt – women, Luke Surawski – senior men, Tim SUMMER 2012–13

MacDonald, Curtis Ewing and Lincoln Taylor – open men.

The team’s only heat winners this year were Lincoln and Luke.

QUEENSLAND CHAMP Ethan Ewing is current Queensland under-16 champion after taking out the Surfing Queensland State Titles at Duranbah Beach.

Ethan headed off to Tasmania’s Roaring Beach to compete in the National Titles in early December.

WORLD QUALIFYING SERIES Lincoln Taylor and Tim McDonald returned from the European leg of the WQS with tales of good waves and good times. Lincoln finished 5th in the 5-star event in Lacanau, Gironde, France, and as SIN went to print was sitting 70th on the world ratings. In early November he went to Hawaii to compete at Sunset and Haleiwa. Tim was at home, working hard and getting ready to go full tilt at the WQS in 2013.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR On the WCT Bede Durbidge produced solid results in 2012. As the year came to a close Bede was looking for a big finish at Pipeline Hawaii, after finishing 13th at Steamer’s Lane in California.

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 35

F

ollowing the beach breaks to Straddie nearly 30 years ago led veteran surfer Bob Minty from carving it up on the water to shaping his own signature series of hand-crafted surfboards.

Overlooking the clear blue waters of the Coral Sea, Bob is living the dream at his Point Lookout beach shack, creating custom-made surfboards in his small surf shop.

“It’s a good lifestyle in this sort of a business if you love what you do,” Bob told SIN. Fine white foam mists the baby blue

walls at Bob Minty’s Surfboards, as a new short board is planed into shape in the workshop out the back.

Bob uses the same tools his mum gave him as a young man to craft each and every surfboard made in the shop, and has done since it was established in 1989.

“I started down at the Gold Coast 35 years ago,” Bob recalled. “I started fibre glassing as a boy and then doing boards and learnt how to shape.

“My mum bought me an electric planer, a three-foot steel rule and a square for my 20th birthday – and I still use them every day.

STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS—SUMMER 2012–13

“I came over here when the surf was good and just stayed. I got a job at the old pub and I’ve been here ever since.”

After working in the mines for a few years an opportunity came up to buy a former holiday house turned surf shop, previously known as Uriah’s Heap.

Now Bob specialises in creating customshaped surfboards and his own vintage designs including the Malibu, Mini Mals, and 70’s style twin and single fin surfboards.

Bob Minty Surfboards is at Point Lookout opposite the bus turnaround.

— Maria Tan

PHOTO: MARIA TAN

“i came over here when the surf was good and just stayed.”