Definitely a beach day

I learned today why that group of school children were learning about Aboriginal culture in the park near Iluka. Today is Naidoc Day – a day of reconciliation for Aboriginal,Torres Strait Islanders and non indigenous people. (Do a Google search to learn more!) Festivals with demonstrations, stalls and activities were held all over the country to bring people together.

But it wasn't until the day was almost over that I learned about this. So we visited the town of Ballina and wandered around, me with a camera and Colin with patience! I was enjoying the public art along the foreshore.

Here are a few that I managed to “shoot”.

It is appropriate that fish and pelicans are topics for art. This town must have the most recreational fishermen in Australia! Of course, where fish are to be cleaned there are pelicans to clean up the mess! There are real pelicans on every patch of water.

Later in the afternoon Colin and I sat under trees at another little seaside resort called Lennox Heads and while we sat and chatted we were visited by a few different birds.

This is a scrub turkey. Unlike domestic turkeys, this one is not good to eat – an old joke is that you pluck it and put it in a pan with water and a large stone. After two hours cooking, you throw out the bird and eat the stone.

The Mickey Miner is a fun bird that is quite cheeky. It can often be found around picnic tables hoping for a handout! It is a common native bird that can be found almost everywhere around Australia.

The Butcher Bird is just fractionally larger than Mickey Miner (these are the “common” names) and it too loves to beg for treats around picnic tables. This one treated us to a beautiful little song as it tried to tell us that it was absolutely starving, hungry!

Now to share two pictures of the beach at Lennox Heads.

The first camera shot is looking towards the headland and the township.

The second is aimed in the opposite direction. We are into winter (with snow down south) so it would be unusual to see swimmers in the water – mind you the water temperature is actually warmer than the outside air temperature. It is 23 degrees C! Look at all that beautiful sand – the beaches down this way are gorgeous!

Tomorrow Colina and I will head inland away from the beaches. I love the countryside around here. It is very attractive with hills, trees, waterfalls, rainforests, cattle grazing on lush green fields and winding roads.

AJ