Issue # 5, February - March 2014
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ISSUE #5
Contents - Issue #5 3
From the Editor
4
Everyone Loves a Sunset
6
Bunya Dreaming
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9 Geared up for a Shoot Out 12 The Low Down on Meetup 13 Cynthia Morgan, Textile Artist and Local Treasure
17 Giving Baby Turtles a Fighting Chance 22 Mary’s Story 24 Dressed to Impress 27 Gourmet and More and More 28 Haiku Meets Art 30 Sunday Drive 31 Tamarind Book Club 32 Photography Challenge 33 Caloundra Gallery
Cover Photo — Buderim Steam Train Tramway Track by Mary Barber. Articles and photos are by Mary Barber, unless otherwise attributed. Chris Postle’s art photos are contributed. Material may be used with the permission of the editor. PDF versions of the magazine are available by request. Every effort is made to accurately represent the people and their opinions in these stories. However, no responsibility is accepted for wrong or misleading information in any part of this magazine. Views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of Tamarind Magazine. The publisher will not be liable for any opinion or advice expressed in Tamarind Magazine. Information given is believed to be accurate and from reliable sources. However, factual errors may occur and can be corrected in the next issue. Please address any concerns to the Editor. Thank you,
Mary Barber Editor
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Connect, create, celebrate, Caloundra From the Editor Hello Readers, Welcome to Issue #5. I hope that you enjoy this issue and that it brings you some new insights into life in Caloundra. Thank you to all the local people who have shared their stories. Meeting the volunteers from TurtleCare Sunshine Coast was a highlight for me. They are a true example of people taking a stewardship role here on our coast. Together with the Sunshine Coast Council this group monitors and protects the marine turtles who come to nest on our beaches.
For our artistic audience, there’s an interview with textile artist Cynthia Morgan. I walked up the leafy front path to her typical Queenslander by the beach. Inside - that’s when the magic happens. It’s a paradise of fabric, colour and texture. Cynthia’s work is a very 3D experience, so I’d encourage you to get down to the Seaview Gallery at Moffat Beach to take a look. At this time of year, there’s national debate about what to call 26th January - Australia Day, Survival Day or Invasion Day. On a property near Kenilworth, it was marked as Bunya Dreaming. This is a story of revival and reconciliation. And, to the readers, thanks for staying on-board and sharing Tamarind Magazine with your friends and family. As always, I welcome your suggestions and story ideas. Please send them to the editor. Bye for now,
Mary Barber Editor
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Everyone Loves a Sunset This summer the Twilight Markets at Bulcock Beach Esplanade, Caloundra brought the crowds out. The markets were held on Friday evenings in December 2013 and January 2014 co-inciding with the school holidays and the peak tourist season.
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Finn, left, and Charlie. Tjalara and her baby Annabelle.
Angus and Twilight from Raptor Vision.
Were you here? Find more photos on the Tamarind Magazine website. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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The men’s Bunya Gathering Challenge is in full swing.
Bunya Dreaming reviving old traditions, creating new memories On Sunday 26th January 2014, about 500 indigenous and white people met at Belli Park, near Kenilworth, Queensland to maintain the age-old tradition of the Bunya Gathering. For centuries, indigenous people have travelled from across the nation to be part of the annual gathering and celebration. It was a time of sharing food and stories, socialising and trading. Author, Dr Ray Kerkhove says it was the largest and most influential gathering of indigenous people in Australia. (The Great Bunya Gathering - Early Accounts by Dr Ray Kerkhove.) The local Kabi Kabi people hosted the event along the Mary River and in the Obi Obi Valley. This has always been a summer gathering. Letters from early settlers reported that the gatherings lasted for a month. In 1847,The Sydney Morning Herald estimated that 5,000 people had gathered for that year’s event. This year’s event was hosted by the Mimburi Upper Mary Aboriginal Association Inc. (MUMAA) on their property, nestled between the Mary River and the Belli Creek. A small stand of bunya trees watched over the event from the hillside. Jennie Harvie, Secretary of MUMAA, explains that the local Kabi Kabi people could predict the best harvest areas and send out word about the location of that year’s gathering. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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“We must always remember that Aboriginal people were custodians of country. They
knew the weather, the signs and the look of the trees. Their whole lives depended on a very close understanding of what was going on in the bush.” Jennie Harvie is a white woman who has been accepted as an Aunty with the Mimburi group and is trusted to speak for them as Secretary of MUMAA. “It’s the greatest honour I’ve had in my life,” she says. Jennie states that the bunya gathering tradition was disrupted by white settlement and land ownership. “It was gone, finished. Because firstly the people of this area were taken, murdered or moved off.”
Secondly, white settlers also disrupted the land itself. Jennie paints the picture, “You imagine, this whole valley was forested with huge stands of bunyas. On Mount Eerwah which is just to our west, between Eumundi and Kenilworth, there were huge forests of bunyas. “It’s said in the letters from the colonialists at the time, that when those trees were cut down, the people grieved and wailed and cried. They say it was like they’d lost their family. “And in fact, that is what happened because as a young person you would have a tree and that would be your tree and you’d take care of it and only you and your family could harvest from that tree. It was a very sophisticated system of ensuring food supply for everybody.
“So you see, those big bunyas, that have girths of 6, 7, and 8 feet, they’re trees that belong to very old people. So their ancestors’ spirits live in those trees. So once those trees are cut down, their ancestors are destroyed.” Bunya Dreaming was revived in 2007 by Aunty Beverly Hand, who is a Kabi Kabi woman and President of MUMAA. This is the first time it has been held on the Mimburi property. The event was sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Council’s Cultural Heritage Levy. Jennie clarifies, “We don’t call it a festival. We’re very clear that it’s Bunya Dreaming. The primary purpose is to bring people together, indigenous people and white people, to share, because that’s what the original gatherings were all about. Left: Whole bunya cones and exposed seed pods. This material is ready for the Bunya Shucking Challenge.
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“[Bunya Dreaming is for] sharing stories,
sharing culture and celebrating the bunya and very importantly , repatriating the culture. It’s taking an age-old tradition and bringing it into a contemporary setting.” Part of the renewal includes the many challenges. There’s a Cooking with Bunyas Challenge that rivals any CWA event. The entries are anonymous and tagged with
details. The judges look very serious as they pour over bunya nut sour dough bread and cakes and slices galore. The most popular event with the children is the Bunya Gathering Challenge which involves carrying as many bunyas as you can from a central pile in less than a minute. Jennie has tried her hand at the Bunya
Shucking Challenge, which is removing the nut from its pod. She admits, “It’s an incredibly difficult thing to do. I’ve still got blisters from the last time I did it.” Jennie comments that in the old days at the bunya gatherings, relationships between mobs were strengthened. Today, it’s the same, “It’s all about relationships.”
From top: Bella-Michelle Hele and Cayden Hele came first and second respectively in the Bunya Gathering Challenge. A mouth-watering array of home-baked goods with bunya nuts is being judged. The crowd try their hand at bunya shucking against the clock.
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Geared Up for a Shoot Out
Sunshine Coast’s Photography Enthusiasts. Organiser Solé Paez is in the front row at the far right.
Saturday was predicted to be a stinker. A heat wave day for the Australian summer. Local photographers set out early on Buderim’s Heritage Tramway Walking Track in search of that special shot. Solé Paez is the organiser of Photography Enthusiasts, a Sunshine Coast group with 128
members which is organised through meetup.com. She says, “This is a very informal group. We have several people who are really keen, others come every now and then.” “I try to have at least 3 meetups scheduled in advance to give people time to organise their calendars. I love photography and it is often not safe for people to go out to secluded places to take photos. This group provides us all with safety as we all look after each other.”
You do not need an SLR camera to join. Some people bring along compact digital cameras. “Sometimes people like photography but need to know a bit more about it to make up their minds in terms of purchasing a better camera. This group is ideal for that,” Solé explains. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Solé is pleased that the group has almost tripled in size since she became the organiser.
She has met “amazing people from all walks of life and of different ages.” Many places that the group visits were not known to the members before. They enjoy discovering new places in their own backyards. “It’s like being a tourist,” Solé comments. Janine de la Begassiere retired to the coast and did not know anyone here. Her son Greg, who lives in Florida, USA recommended that she join meetup. Greg is in two meetup groups him-
self. “Finally, after six months I joined meetup and found this group. I’ve been to three outings and I’m very happy with the group,” she says. Janine is a keen birdwatcher and photographer.
Janine de la Begassiere is a newer member of Sunshine Coast Photography Enthusiasts.
Mick Phillips from Caloundra West , comes along to share ideas and talk with other enthusiasts about their cameras. Having done a photography course with the Sunshine Coast School of Photography, he enjoys seeing which techniques suit each new location that the group visits.
A macro shot by Mick Phillips taken on this meetup. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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It’s not all high-tech and deadly serious. Ken Slater says
his technique is “point and shoot”. Ken uses a pistol-grip handle on his small camera. “I have fingers missing and the pistol grip helps me steady the camera. It’s something unique and it’s a bit of a conversation piece too.” Ken was in the timber trade.
Ken Slater with his adapted camera.
Buderim’s Heritage Tramway Walking Track.
What’s on the Calendar for Photography Enthusiasts? Sunday 2nd March: Chenrezig Institute, Buddhist Study, Meditation and Retreat Centre in Eudlo on the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Photographers will see an exhibition of Buddhist relics to inspire world peace. For more details, go to meetup.com. Search for Photography Enthusiasts, Sunshine Coast.
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The Lowdown on meetup Meetup is a New York-based company that uses the web to help people with common interests form groups in their own neighbourhoods. A condition of a meetup group is that it must meet. It is not an online networking
group. Every meetup group is unique and independently run by its Organiser. The meetup website helps people find meetups that match their interests and alerts them to new meetups in their local areas. In Australia there are over 4,000 meetup groups, including groups for mah-jong, bushwalking and book clubs. Large cities tend to have more meetup groups than regional areas. At last count,
there were over 50 meetups within 25 miles of Caloundra. See meetup.com for more information.
The NYC Acoustic Guitar Players and Singers Jam in the Park Meetup Group, October 15th 2013. Photo from Meetup (New York). TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Cynthia Morgan, Textile Artist and Local Treasure Textile artist Cynthia Morgan works from her light-filled studio overlooking Tooway Creek at Dicky Beach. She is seventy nine years young and full of energy. She explains, “I’m absolutely driven. Once I get an idea, I cannot stop until it’s done.” Cynthia, a draper’s daughter from Rockhampton, has been creating textile art for over forty years. Her works are sought for exhibitions in Australia and internationally for their depth and vibrancy.
She has received national and international awards. In 2011, her work was exhibited at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky, USA in an exhibition titled The Nature of Design. Cynthia finds her inspiration in nature. She travels widely and then creates a series of work from her photos and memories. Her works are diverse, depicting Australia’s Arnhem Land and the Daintree rainforest, the view from her front window and Alaskan glaciers. She is equally inspired by dramatic vistas and by small things, such as the colours of a fallen gum leaf. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Like much of her work, Cascade jumps out at you with its many textures and fine detail. Cynthia says, “Each petal has three layers, fused together.” The leaves cascade over each other adding to the layered look. Cynthia sews her works but never uses glues. “They come through the fabric,” she
explains. Above: Cynthia Morgan in her home studio
Cynthia Morgan’s artworks are generally purchased by private collectors though some are in public collections. Her piece, Waterlilies is displayed at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. Surfside hangs at the Gold Coast International Hotel. Cynthia grew up with a love of fabrics. She and her mother were always making things. She is a great recycler, using lace from her wedding dress.
Above: Detail from Cascade by Cynthia Morgan
She shares, “It’s a cotton lace that dyes beautifully. It does not fall apart.” Her daughter’s skirts, damask table-
cloths, coat linings, nothing is wasted. The background fabric in Floating Abundance is over-dyed chintz. The flowers are a mixture of dyed silks and dyed synthetics with some lamé, lace, beads and novelty yarn. Left: Floating Abundance by Cynthia Morgan TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Asked how long a work takes, she replies, “There’s no time I can say. One, you’re not paid
by the hour. Two, you couldn’t do it if you were paid by the hour because you wouldn’t get enough for it. I do it until it’s done.” “And I don’t price on hours, ever, because a piece is worth what it’s worth. I have sold a simple piece that had that star quality for a lot more than I’d get for another piece.”
Ripples is a highly-textured work. Cynthia wanted to depict water running
over rocks and sand. She used sections of padded gold lamé to show the colour, movement and depth of the sand. Cynthia uses a variety of styles and techniques to achieve her visions. Hot Stuff is a series of six works in strong red shades. She is very particular about her selection of colours.
She says, “Ninety-five percent of the fabrics are hand-dyed.“ Cynthia has used a heat gun to burn the fabric and achieve a layered effect.
Above: Ripples by Cynthia Morgan. Right: Detail from Hot Stuff by Cynthia Morgan.
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Cynthia’s beachside studio is a riot of colour and possibilities.
Broken Dreams was inspired by a trip to Gallipoli . Cynthia visited the area where marble was cut for the gravestones of the Australian soldiers. The work is set on a background of scrim, an open weave linen. In 2011 Cynthia received an Australia Day award from the Sunshine Coast Council for her contribution to artistic life in our community. When I ask about it, she brushes past the award to show me another art work. She is not one to sing her own praises. In early 2014, Cynthia has another holiday planned, which means more inspiring scenes to bring home to her sunny studio and more creations for us to enjoy. You can meet Cynthia at Seaview Gallery on the first two Thursdays of the month. Her website is Cynthia Morgan Dye Quilts.
Broken Dreams, by Cynthia Morgan sits alongside her Australia Day award from the Sunshine Coast Council.
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Why were Caloundra locals spending a Friday afternoon in mid-December digging in the sand down at Moffat Beach?
Well, they were training to be volunteers with TurtleCare, Sunshine Coast. These locals give their time to monitor and safeguard turtle nesting activity over the summer. Here’s part of what they do.
Giving Baby Turtles a Fighting Chance Kate Winter, Conservation Officer with the Sunshine Coast Council, was leading the afternoon at Moffat Beach. Volunteers and trainee volunteers had come together to help move a loggerhead turtle’s nest to higher ground so that it wouldn’t be washed away in one of our summer storms. Three weeks earlier, a TurtleCare volunteer had spotted some turtle tracks during a morning walk and phoned their beach leader, Kim Smith. TurtleCare volunteers were called in to cover the nest with mesh to prevent tampering and record its location. Now it was time to move these eggs to higher ground. Kate Winter explained, “Once they’ve reached 21 days, they are robust enough for us to pick them up and move them.” The plan was to relocate them around the headland in a
protected part of the dunes that had similar light conditions. Kate taught the volunteers how to dig a suitable nest. The nest is shaped like a light bulb, with a cylindrical top and a spherical base. Kate told the volunteers, “Smooth off the edges at the top of the light bulb so that no hatchlings get caught at the top.” Next, they learnt about handling the eggs. They must be held carefully, as excessive movement damages the cells that contain the oxygen supply for the embryo. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Kate Winter, Conservation Officer with the Sunshine Coast Council, instructs the volunteers on how to build a turtle nest.
Kate explained that the eggs are also very sensitive to their orientation. They must be moved from one nest to the other without turning them around or upside down. The volunteers practised this skill by passing ping-pong balls to each other. It was like a pass the parcel party game, only deadly serious. Saffron Adams, left and Christine Harrison learn to handle turtle eggs.
The next trick to walk with a bucket of eggs, (read ping-pong balls), without changing the orientation of the bucket as you changed direction. In other words, you had to walk around the bucket. By now, a curious crowd was gathering to Saffron Adams, left and Nicky McAleer practise transporting turtle eggs. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Above: A curious crowd gathers as Kim Smith, right, removes the eggs from the nest and places them in a bucket lined with wet sand.
Kim Smith, the volunteers’ group leader for Moffat and Dicky Beach TurtleCare, had the big responsibility of digging out the eggs ready for their new home. She placed small numbers of them in buckets lined with wet sand. Meanwhile another volunteer, Kerrily Hooper, was up at Dicky Beach digging out a new nest hole for the eggs. Kerrily said that it’s mostly loggerheads that lay at Moffat Beach. “Their tracks are distinctive. They come up the beach pushing with alternate strokes of their flippers. Green turtles move both flippers at the same time, like breaststroke.” Did you know? When the sand temperate is warmer, more female eggs are hatched. Kerrily Hooper has prepared a new nest for the loggerhead turtle eggs. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Working in pairs, the volunteers carried the buckets of eggs up the beach and around the headland to the new nest site. To change direction at the dunes, they had to walk around the bucket, keeping the eggs in their original orientation. The new site was near a beach access path, protected by a fence and under the
dappled shade of the she-oaks.
Volunteers Leanne Wolff, left and Christine Harrison set off for Dicky Beach with the turtle eggs.
If a nest is near a beach access pathway, the sand around the eggs can get compacted by human traffic. This makes it more difficult for the hatchlings to emerge, causing them to use up energy that is needed for their first swim. Good results. Kate Winter said that even with the nests that are relocated, about 80 -90% of the eggs will hatch. Protection is stepped up close to hatching time to prevent the hatchlings being eaten by predators, such as foxes “We have a span of about 7 to 14 nights where we will monitor the nests.” Volunteers usually sit with the nests for about an hour, working in pairs. Volunteers have access to the TurtleCare website which records what’s happening over the coast and where they can offer their time. TurtleCare is not a tourism activity. Kate explained that under the council’s agreement with the State government, this is not allowed. “It’s too low density [for turtles]. We’re not set up for that. “However, when we have the hatchlings that run in the late afternoon, we can get a few hundred people around, just loving it. “What we do, is we just draw lines in the sand and get everyone to stay behind the lines to give the turtles a clear run down the beach. We don’t pick them up. We don’t touch them at all.” Kate commented that female marine turtles return to the region of their birth to lay their own eggs, once they reach sexual maturity at around 30 years. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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There is some risk that the hatchlings may
go the wrong way, especially at night. Kate said, “If there’s a light behind the nest, they might go backwards. We’ll actually be able to see those tracks heading back.” “We’ll probably go for a wander through the grass, and make sure that there are none that have been waylaid.” While we talk, Kim has been gently placing Above: Kim Smith fills in the new turtle nest. Below: The nest is covered and the information is recorded.
the eggs in their new home, without changing their orientation. It’s a long task with 141 eggs. Kate asked, “Last one?” Kim nodded. Cheers and laughter from the crowd. The tension is over. Kim filled in the nest with wet sand and covered the area with some debris. The new location was recorded. Kate summed it up, “All done. Awesome!” It takes six to ten weeks from laying to hatching, so these baby turtles may appear
Below: Loggerhead turtle hatchlings emerge from a nest. Photo contributed by Christine Bull.
anytime from mid-January 2014. Stay posted.
Go to TurtleCareSunshineCoast or contact the Sunshine Coast Council for more information.
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Mary’s Story Eleven years ago Mary Verdida was sweet-talked into moving from Melbourne to Caloundra by her now-husband Steve. Mary works at CJ’s Pastries on Bulcock Street, Caloundra. Here’s part of her story. Mary Verdida at CJ’s Pastries on Bulcock Street Caloundra.
Mary was born in the Philippines. She was four when her Italian step-father went over there from Australia and met her Mum. “They fell in love and came back together,” she says. The family’s early days in Australia were difficult. Her Mum would get stopped in the Melbourne streets and people would say, “You don’t belong here. You go back to where you came from.” Mary remembers, “Mum would come home crying to Dad. It sort of toughened her up. Coming from a multicultural family, they’d always drilled it into me that you judge a person by who they are not by where they come from. “All my friends were Italian, Greek or Lebanese because of the area that I grew up in. We were just so used to each other. We accepted our backgrounds.” Mary’s school lunches were either pasta or stir-fry. For Mary and her friends, it was great fun. “Come lunchtime, it was like a big buffet. Everyone would be swapping lunches with each other.” She remembers that for her twelfth birthday, her Mum and her Grandma cooked up a
Philippino buffet. Her Mum brought it to school on a trolley. “[There was] fried rice, sticky pork balls and spring rolls. I didn’t think my friends would eat it. But they left their lunches in their bags and just ate everything.” When she first moved to Caloundra, Mary missed Melbourne. “I stuck out like a sore thumb. It took a while for the locals to warm up to me.” Mary had more than her share of rude customers. “I was this close to moving back to Melbourne,” she recalls. “But I thought of my Mum and how thick-skinned she became. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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“I’d get people saying to me, ‘You speak English really well’ and I’d say ‘Of course I bloody do! That’s what I was raised to speak. How else am I going to communicate with you?” Mary’s advice to newcomers to Caloundra is “Just be yourself. Just be friendly. I never found it offensive if someone asked me where I came from. It beats talking about the weather. “Mum was always resilient and if someone judged her because of her culture, she’d remind me that people have been affected by other cultures through wars. I don’t like being judged because of my culture so I try not to do that with other people,” she says.
“Whenever I feel sorry for myself or I get a bit down, I go and have a walk on the beach. That reminds me ‘This is why I’m here’ besides my husband,” she laughs. At first, Mary found it hard to get work. “In the hospitality trade, employers are looking for younger staff, because of wages, especially on the weekend. Because it’s such a tourist area, there’s not a lot of full-time work.” At CJ’s Pastries, her job is making coffees and sandwiches, keeping people amused. At the end of the day, she gets the stock ready for the next day. Mary calls herself a team player. “It does get crazy in there. I do what needs to be done to help the flow.” CJ’s Pastries is a well-known local bakery with plenty of regular customers. Staff know them on a first name basis and know their coffee orders too. Mary says that Bulcock Street is a community. “If we haven’t got something, we’ll send them to another shop where we know they have those things. And it works both ways. We try and help each other out as much as we can.” For Mary, happiness is an attitude and it’s contagious. “Sometimes people come in here and say, ‘I’ll go and see Mary because she’ll cheer me up.’ It’s very rare that they see me in a bad mood.” Mary is an Essendon supporter. “I love having a good goss with people, especially when the AFL season’s on. I get quite a few people who come in here and say ‘Oh, Mary knows what she’s talking about. We’ll go and have a yarn with her.”
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Conor Jenkins, Senior Natural Areas Operations Officer at the Sunshine Coast Council, admires the grey gums on Sugarbag Road, Caloundra.
Trees, like animals, are living things, and they exhibit some characteristics which normally escape our notice. For instance, they are social organisms and they usually live in the company of others, as do human beings and many other animals. From Know Your Trees by Reuben T. Patton, Melbourne University Press, 1954.
Dressed to Impress If you have travelled along Sugarbag Road Caloundra lately, you may have noticed the bright orange tree trunks standing out in the grey bushland. These trees are Eucalyptus propinqua or grey gum and according to Conor Jenkins, the Senior Natural Areas Operations Officer at the Sunshine Coast Council, they are just showing their summer colours. “At this time of year, they shed their old bark and you get that really nice pinkish-orange colour of the new bark. When that bark hardens, it’ll turn grey like the trees are most of the year. “They are one of the preferred koala food trees, not that we’re likely to have koalas around here due to how busy the roads are and the amount of dogs.” TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Conor says that there’s some
confusion about calling the grey gums endemic to this area. “Endemic is a funny word to use because most people use endemic meaning that they grow naturally here. “Endemic really means they only grow here. They are very widespread throughout the Sunshine Coast and a lot broader afield than that as well.” The modern view may not call trees ‘social organisms’ as Reuben T.
Above and below: Grey gums beside Sugarbag Road, Caloundra have shed their bark, revealing their summer colours.
Patton did nearly 60 years ago. Conor explains their grouping in
different terms. “Elevation, soil and aspect determine where different species will grow.” Conor estimates that some of the trees in this cluster are about 100 years old. “Eucalypts don’t start forming hollows until they’re 100 years old,” he says as he points out some of the hollows. These trees shine brightest in the mornings when the eastern sun hits them or in the late afternoon.
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This board shows tally marks besides
each regular customer’s name. After 10 coffees, the next one’s free. Better than a card in your pocket, because, well, let’s face it, it’s less fuss. Having a wallet that’s fat with cards rather than money can get annoying. Graham says the board gets a lot of comments and the regulars generally remind him to add a tally mark to their
Graham Hilton from Gourmet & More, serves up a smile to his customers.
score. The Hiltons took over the café and
Gourmet and More and More
delicatessen in December 2011. Graham says they are continually getting new cus-
When someone walks into Gourmet & More, Graham and Sheryl Hilton make it
their business to say hello. “It’s just a little thing,” Graham says, “but I think it matters.” Obviously, so do their customers. There’s
tomers. Stallholders from the Caloundra Street Fair, held on Sundays, come in for refreshments in the early morning before their trading day starts. Brisbane couple, Jan and Ted, (pictured
another thing that you notice straight off,
on bottom left) say it’s their favourite
the loyalty board.
coffee spot in Caloundra because they get great service and the coffee is excellent. Jan is surprised that Graham has remembered how they both like their coffee. “But of course,” says Graham. “How could I forget?” Gourmet and More is located at 3/63 Bulcock St, Caloundra Phone: 5499 6833
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Haiku Meets Art There has been a flurry of responses to Chris Postle’s Underwater. Thank you to all the mad keen poets out there. Send your haiku in for the next issue. You’ll find the link on the next page.
net of sunrays the catch of the day a dolphin school By Valeria Barouch Geneva, Switzerland
jungle gym
Underwater by Chris Postle.
on the ocean floor where dolphins play shadows chase sunlight
By Kathabela Wilson
afternoon in the lagoon
Pasadena, California, USA
dolphins’ hide-and-seek By Thomas Fortenberry Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
camouflaged shallows sea-water window for light mosaic disguise By Mary Ann Wright Caloundra, Australia
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Chris Postle enjoys watching the purple swamp hens, especially when they have young chicks. He says these awkward looking birds are found near swamps and marshy areas. Chris says, “Their colours and characters make for great subjects for an artist. That metallic blue is a stand out colour amongst the waterbird species. ” To find out more about Chris Postle’s art visit his website.
Sunshine Coast artist Chris Postle.
The Gathering by Chris Postle.
Tamarind readers are invited to write a haiku about this painting.
Submit your haiku here.
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Kenneth Wenzel, Afternoon Study: Glasshouse Mountains from Wootha, 1978.
Take a stroll through three decades of coastal landscapes with
Sunday Drive On Thursday 6th February, the Caloundra Regional Gallery opens the Sunday Drive exhibition featuring landscape works of the Sunshine Coast and Hinterland by local artists. There are 43 works on show from the Sunshine Coast Art Collection, including pieces by David Paulson, Johanna De Maine, Raelean Hall, Hal Barton and Kenneth Wenzel. The works cover the period 1977 to 2012. The exhibition officially opens with a Picnic in the Park on Sunday 9th February, from 11.30am. Bring your own picnic and enjoy the entertainment outside the gallery. There are numerous free events and workshops over the course of the exhibition. On Thursday 13th February, A Perfect Blend lets visitors meet with our hinterland creative community. An artist’s talk with Johanna De Maine is scheduled for Wednesday 26th February. Bookings are essential for both these events and can be made online. There are free Kids’ Club activities on Saturday 1st March and the Sunday Drive ‘Selfie’ Competition which encourages you to take a selfie with your choice of a great Sunshine Coast scene. The exhibition closes on Sunday 23rd March. Visit the Caloundra Regional Gallery website for more details. TAMARIND MAGAZINE
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Tamarind Book Club Tamarind Book Club meets on the first Thursday of the month at a waterside café. Here’s what we’re doing in February.
February 2014 Book Club When: Thursday 6th February
Where: The Coffee Club, Rumba Resort, The Esplanade, Bulcock Beach, Caloundra. Time: 10.00 am to 11.30am The Book: The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.
This novel scooped the Australian book industry awards in 2013, winning the Book of the Year award, the Newcomer of the Year award and the Best Literary Fiction Book of the Year award. It was also a favourite with Australia’s independent booksellers who gave it the Indie award for Book of the Year in 2013. If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, it has also made the New York Times Bestseller list. The story is set in Western Australia, after the First World War. Tom Sherbourne has
survived the senseless years of combat and now wonders why he was spared. He becomes a lighthouse keeper and finds he likes the solitude and rules that bring order to his life. He marries young Isabel and they settle into life on remote Janus Rock off Western Australia. A dinghy turns up on the beach one morning with a dead man and a crying baby. Isabel wants to keep the baby but Tom needs to do the right thing. It’s a recipe for trouble. To come along and discuss this book, please RSVP at on the book club pages.
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Photography Challenge
Get clicking ...
Hello to all the keen photographers out there. In the next issue, the Caloundra Gallery is yours. The challenge is to take a great landscape shot at Golden Beach, Caloundra. What makes a great shot? Lines, shapes and angles? Or colour and scenery? I leave that up to you. Are you interested? Then get snapping. Send your photo to editor@tamarindmagazine.com Limit of one photo please per person. Send as a high resolution image. Add a few comments about the shot and why you like it. See the example below. Entries are open until 28th February, 2014. Get clicking. Look forward to hearing from you, The Editor. PS Photos will be acknowledged and will remain the property of the contributor. No payments will be made. Just glory. A Bulcock Beach Morning This shot contrasts the machinery with the silky water and soft sand. The wide sweep of the beach gives it a dramatic line. The clouds look too perfect to be true. Cartoonlike. It was taken in the early morning at Bulcock Beach, Caloundra, December 2013. Photographer: Mary Barber
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Caloundra Gallery Featuring Ballinger Beach
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SUBSCRIBE HERE I hope you enjoyed this issue of Tamarind Magazine. To be sure you receive future issues, subscribe now. Already a subscriber? Then how about sharing it with a friend. After all, it’s a unique snapshot of Caloundra. As always, you are welcome to send suggestions or story ideas to the editor. Best wishes, Mary Barber Editor
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Choose from half-page and full-page advertising spaces.
Let me tell your story in a business feature. Only 1 business feature per issue. Contact the editor by 28th February 2014 to see your business in Issue #6.
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