The sight of kids fishing in local creeks – rods in hand, feet in water –might seem a simple rite of passage, but it’s also a quiet reclaiming of place. In a world that pushes fast-paced everything, there’s something quietly radical in slowing down and waiting.
But there’s a responsibility in the pastime of fishing too, in treating each part of the ecosystem with consideration and respect to ensure sustainability and future enjoyment for all.
In some ways, our approach to building and renovating place embodies these elements too.
The newly completed renovation of the Bangalow-owned and designed Argyle Hotel in Maclean (p. 9) is example of how historic buildings can be updated with sensitivity and is a reminder of the value in balancing commercial potential with community character.
But even the best intentions don’t always go to plan – or move as quickly as we’d hope. The Bangalow Bowlo, now under the umbrella of Norths Collective, has had a turbulent start to 2025. While large-scale renovations to sports club remain on hold, several improvements are set to roll out this year (p.32).
As you’re reading this, updated DA plans for the Bangalow Hotel are on display (p.21), and interested parties (that means you) can comment on via a submission before 10 June. The new plans scale back the original proposal but still invite important questions about the future character of our village and how heritage spaces are valued and used.
As always, thanks for reading and supporting local storytelling that reflects the people, places and conversations that matter most in our community. Cheers.
Sally Schofield
We acknowledge the original storytellers of the land on which we live and work, the Arakwal people of the Bundjalung Nation.
Contributors: Carolyn Adams, Bangalow Resilience Network, James Boysons, Darren Bridge, Carole Gamble, Airdre Grant, Lyn Hand, Murray Hand, Ian Holmes, Greg Nash, Christobel Munson, Sharon Rudgley, Sally Schofield, Adam Susz.
Printed by Lismore City Printery
Menopause GP specialist in Bangalow
Dr Jemma Buultjens (BHSc, MBBS, GDCH, FRACGP) has undertaken additional training in menopause through the Jean Hailes and Dr Louise Newson Menopause Education Programs. She is also a member of the Australian Menopause Society and attends menopause conferences, including the recent So Hot Right Now event held in Sydney. With a dedicated focus on women’s health, Dr Buultjens specialises in menopause care, offering compassionate, evidence-based support to women navigating the complex hormonal and physical changes of midlife. Her approach is holistic and patient-centred, aiming to empower women with the knowledge and treatment options they need to feel their best through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond. With experience in a dedicated menopause clinic and a deep commitment to continuing education and patient advocacy, Dr Buultjens stays up to date with the latest research and guidelines in hormone therapy, non-hormonal treatments, and lifestyle medicine.
Call the Bangalow Medical Centre to find out more: (02) 6687 1079
Sharon Rudgley, Practice Manager Bangalow Medical Centre
Learnings from Cyclone Alfred
In early April this year, Bangalow – along with the rest of the Northern Rivers – was busy preparing for, and then weathering, Cyclone Alfred. While its impact was less severe than expected, the weather event was a useful ‘dry’ (or in some cases, a ‘wet’) run for the region. Over a five-day period, multiple electricity blackouts and unreliable communications networks led many households, businesses and community groups to identify gaps in their preparedness and highlighted the limited capacity of official responders and agencies. Two months on, the Bangalow Resilience Network wants to hear from 2479 residents: how you prepared; what you experienced; what help you received or gave; and what additional assistance or resources you would like to see available to community members in the future.
Please visit tinyurl.com/j8xdr6x2 to contribute your ideas. With your help we can be better prepared for next time. The next meeting of the Bangalow Resilience Network will be held on Friday 27 June from 1–3pm at the Bangalow Heritage House. All are welcome.
For more information, visit our Facebook page or contact the BRN at bangalowresiliencenetwork@gmail.com
Bangalow Resilience Network
Dr Jemma Buultjens Photo supplied
Cyclone Alfred as a Category 4 Tropical Cyclone Photo Worldview NASA
Hula dance classes for seniors
Following a positive response from local participants, the Byron Community Centre will extend its free Hawaiian Hula Dance Classes for seniors with a new eight-week term beginning in June. The sessions are beginner-friendly and drop-ins are welcome. Participants have spoken warmly about the impact of the program on their wellbeing. “I love the social connecting and the physical enjoyment,” said Shamana. “The classes are great for mind, body and soul – for increased grace, suppleness, balance and expressiveness,” added Jude. “It’s like meditation,” shared Paula, while Marguerita described the experience as one that brings “peace of mind overriding mundane stresses.” The program is led by Lilith from the Byron Bay Hula/Mana Aloha troupe whose teaching style has also been praised.
When: Mondays – 2, 16, 23, 30 June and 7, 14, 21, 28 July 2025 from 10.30am to 12pm (no class on 9 June – public holiday),
Where: Byron Theatre in the Byron Community Centre.
To register for the Hula course or become a member of the Byron Seniors Club, visit byronseniorsclub.com.au
Classes are free for Byron Seniors Club members.
Bangalow Koala funding news
Bangalow Koalas Inc has been awarded the Mikla Lewis OAM Habitat Restoration & Enhancement Grant for their Coraki Community Riparian Wildlife Corridor project in Northern NSW. This not-for-profit organisation is working towards a bold vision: to plant 500,000 trees by 2025, creating a safe, connected corridor for endangered koalas and other native species across a fragmented landscape stretching from Byron Bay to the Queensland border. Thanks to this grant, they’ll restore 4.4 hectares of riparian habitat along the Wilsons River, removing invasive weeds and planting over 2,400 native trees and shrubs, including a special mix of koala food trees.
“Our grant included weed control along the Wilsons River bank,” says Linda Sparrow. “Mature koala trees along the riparian zone are being choked by vines. With the crazy cyclone weather systems and on/off rain, we have managed to only do a portion of the weed control. Now that the planting has been completed, we will finish off the primary weed control,” she says. With end of financial year approaching, think about how you could make a tax-deductible donation to a worthy cause – bangalowkoalas.com.au/donate
Lovely locals do the Hula Photo supplied
Riparian forest restoration funded including koala trees Photo supplied
The lure of the lure
Much is made these days of the negative side-effects of too many hours spent by teenagers and younger children on social media. There are, however, timeless ways kids can spend hours on end outside, enjoying nature. For instance: playing in creeks, building dams, exploring, swimming, fishing. This is what has happened for generations along Sleepy Creek, on Fowlers Lane, off the Hinterland Way.
Eli Clarke was 11 years old when his family moved onto the Jindibah community, in Fowlers Lane. At the time, his parents, Charlotte and Simon, said of the decision to move onto this rural community title (C.T.) property that they were dreaming “of a happy place where our children can grow with a respect and understanding of the environment.” In the seven years the family of six lived there, Eli fully developed his love of fishing into a fine art – and also created an early career as a passionate YouTubing nature lover, with a following in the thousands.
Running across the property for about a kilometre – including tributaries – is Sleepy Creek. Although Eli had started fishing at the age of six, living at Jindibah “is when my passion for fishing took off. I love fishing, camping and spending time outdoors and there, I had the freedom to walk down
to Sleepy Creek whenever I wanted –sometimes with mates, my brother Asher, or just on my own.”
At the age of 15, in 2016, he started his own YouTube channel. “I bought my first GoPro Hero1 and began filming my bass fishing adventures. My channel captured bass fishing in the local creeks and waterways around Bangalow, Clunes, Lismore and Brunswick Heads.” He mainly filmed his adventures himself, propping his GoPro on fence posts and whatever else he could find – tripods “not even being a thought back then!”
His channel built up a large following of keen would-be fishers, wanting advice and practical suggestions – how to find the best fishing spot, what lures to use, what fish could be found where. According to Eli, who still lives locally, the most prominent fish to catch around Sleepy Creek, Byron Creek and the Bangalow area is the Australian bass. “They’re native to the region and are treated with a lot of respect by anglers who ‘catch and release’: they’re considered a sport fish, not something you keep. The bass fishing season is closed between 1 June and 31 August. Every year they need to migrate to saltwater to breed. At that time, fishing for bass is completely off-limits.”
In his experience, other species to be found walking the local riverbanks include “eels, eel-tailed catfish, mullet, the very rare eastern cod, platypus, turtles, bullrout (freshwater stonefish) and unfortunately, carp. Carp are an introduced species, causing major damaging impacts to our local freshwater creeks. Over the years, with more floods happening, this invasive species is growing rapidly and starting to cause damage. They eat the eggs of native fish like eel-tailed catfish, muddy up rivers and uproot river weeds, particularly in places like Emigrant Creek.”
Generations of children living at Jindibah have developed a love for fishing and just hanging out at the creek. Shortly after Carolyn and Neil Hannah moved into the original Fowler family farmhouse in 2018, Neil was delighted to discover the spiny freshwater crayfish (Euastacus fleckeri) in the creek. “I personally release everything I catch and don’t see any sense in taking anything out of the ecosystem,” Neil says. Today, his kids Lotte and Hamish can often be seen down by the creek, sometimes with neighbouring kids Otis, Theo and Nina Bachle. During the catfish breeding season, 14-year-old Otis has been fascinated watching the big circle of rocks the catfish make in Sleepy Creek, where they breed.
Little anglers (left-front) Lotte Hannah, Nina Bachle, Hamish Hannah, (left-back) Otis Bachle, Theo Bachle
Photo Lyn McCarthy Niche Pictures
way
Like Eli before them, the kids living onsite today have seen plenty of huge eels, turtles, platypus, bass and eel-tailed catfish – not to mention water dragons and minnows. Otis just loves going down by the creek: “Being near the water makes me feel good,” he says. He likes to check out different types of lures, while Theo, who’s 11, likes the sound the water makes flowing over the rocks. They’re down at the creek several times a week, just a walk of a few hundred metres from their home. They find summer the best season for fishing, given the ease of finding bugs and cicadas as bait.
As youngsters, David and Jenny Kennedy’s three kids also loved exploring, swimming and rafting in the six swimming holes along Sleepy Creek. Though they caught bass and eels, all the fish they caught ended up back in the creek.
Just up Fowlers Lane, in their early teenage years, the two sons of Fay and Gary Dwyer would also spend countless hours along Sleepy Creek. “Our boys and their friends from up the lane, the Henry boys, would mainly build dams in the creek or race blackbean pods along the stream. They would spend hours along Sleepy Creek, hunting and cooking up eels, and catching and cooking yabbies. They were delicious!” Fay recalled. “These are very fond memories.”
Christobel Munson
Christobel, a founder of the Jindibah community, has lived there for 30 years. She has observed generations of children explore and enjoy its 113 acres, including the popular Sleepy Creek.
Eli Clarke Photo supplied
On their
to Sleepy Creek Photo Lyn McCarthy Niche Pictures
Boys’ Own Adventure
Vinnie and Fox, young Bangalow boys, are scrambling around looking for lures, tying specialised knots and sorting out their gear as they prepare to head down to the creek. A year or two ago Vinnie would have been glued to his PlayStation console or rolling around on the lounge doomscrolling TikTok, but now that he’s been bitten by the bug there’s no going back. Apparently, there are two types of people in the world: those with a daily obsession with fishing, and everyone else.
The daylight is fading, it’s raining lightly and the track down to the creek will be laden with red mud. As a parent, I have watched my son transform from someone not wanting to get his new shoes or clothes dirty to this current manifestation of being happy to muck it up all in the name of adventure.
The boys have TikTok and Instagram accounts and it’s here that their catches and adventures are logged and compared by their mates, all hoping for the next perfect ‘hold up’ (typically a picture of them holding the fish up to the camera yet obscuring their own face). This is their currency – their ‘love language’, if you will. It reminds me of when the game Fortnite loomed large in my son’s life and through the murky haze of nonsentient gaming came the Fortnite dance crazes. Where previously he would solely confine himself to his room, now he would appear in the lounge room to show us the newest Fortnite dance moves to the delight of all that witnessed.
So too, social media accounts, particularly TikTok, seem to be driving this fishing craze, an unexpectedly wholesome side effect from an otherwise scary entity for most parents. Young Vinnie’s tagline is ‘let ‘em go, let ‘em grow.’ Harming fish or even keeping for the table is not part of the program – unless it’s the dreaded carp, one of our river system’s biggest environmental nuisances, with the majestic Australian bass being the main target.
The kids are connecting with nature in a pure form, and along with that comes respect for the flora and fauna that allow them this joy. Thank you, TikTok, for this unexpected path away from anthropocentrism, even if just for a moment.
Darren Bridge
Vinnie and Fox casting off Photo Darren BridgeThis is a hold-up Photo Darren Bridge
No stone unturned
When Bangalow architect Duncan Sproul joined forces with Sally and Dhugal Cowan to restore Maclean’s Argyle Hotel, they proved heritage pubs can thrive without pokies or paint-by-numbers renovations, writes Sally Schofield
It’s a story familiar to many regional towns across New South Wales, where historic pubs are increasingly being gutted, refitted and rebranded to match an urban aesthetic. Think grey walls, exposed bulbs and pale wood stools – venues that feel more slick than historic. Residents are rightly concerned that historic buildings may be lost beneath a shiny modern renovation. But recent work by
Bangalow architect Duncan Sproul is proof that there is another way. Just an hour down the road, the Argyle Hotel in Maclean offers a masterclass in how to restore a heritage pub with care and integrity.
First settled by Europeans in the 1830s, Maclean is the traditional land of the Yaegl people. As with the Bangalow area, cedargetting and dairy were key industries at this
Jovanovski 0406 429 550
Office 02 6687 2833
The Argyle Hotel in Maclean, restored to its former glory Photo Adam Woodleigh
time, alongside sugar, coffee, tobacco and more. A single-storey wooden pub – the first Argyle Hotel – was built in 1867. In 1887, work commenced on a new two-storey, 14-room hotel, made of stone with a concrete foundation, and seemingly no expense spared on the grand Late Victorian details. The Argyle Hotel opened in 1894.
Tooth & Co. operated the pub from the early 20th century until the 1970s, and the 1980s saw the first of several alterations aimed at increasing commercial space at the expense of heritage. Significant architectural features were obscured with paint and panelling, resulting in a façade that bore little resemblance to the building once described as “the best finished hotel north of Sydney.”
Fast-forward 40-odd years, and the historic pub was purchased and painstakingly brought back to life in collaboration with Duncan and his partner. The brief from Sally and Dhugal was clear: rather than gutting the space, they chose to celebrate its history.
“The original building had been desecrated in the 1970s by not having a heritage order on it - and basically, a beautiful old 1894 pub had been turned into a concrete block. It was ugly,” says Duncan. “Previous owners had filled in all the verandas and crammed in as many rooms as they could upstairs.”
But it wasn’t just an underutilised eyesore. Built at a time when there was little regulation regarding safety in public buildings, the old hotel needed to be brought into the 21st century in terms of
The Arygle before renovation commenced Photo supplied
The Argyle Hotel, circa late 1800s-early 1900s Photo Maclean Museum
access, fire safety compliance, electrical and plumbing. “It wasn’t just a makeover – it was quite a big undertaking,” says Duncan.
Coincidentally, Duncan’s grandmother was born and raised in Maclean, so the old pub – known then as the Middle Pub and later as Cane Cutters – was a vague memory for him. Getting to work on the unlovely, criminally bland building revealed some remarkable charms. “We had a lot of historic photos to work from, but it’s pretty clear once you start peeling things back how it had all been laid out, and the craftsmanship,” says Duncan.
One of the pub’s most striking features is its honey-coloured chiselled sandstone blocks, which had been painted over in a previous ‘renovation’. Sodablasted back to their original state, they became the cornerstone of the restoration, with new blocks –sourced locally and used to re-instate a section of wall that had unfortunately been removed decades earlier - such a close match to the original that it’s possible they came from the same quarry. “Honestly, it’s hard to tell the difference – except that the new wall is just a bit cleaner, a bit straighter,” he laughs.
Upstairs, the grand wraparound verandas (boarded over in some previous incarnation) were carefully re-instated and are now the perfect place to relax and enjoy views of the town and glimpses of the nearby Clarence River.
Duncan describes the project as a balancing act – respecting the past while making space for the present. “The only real point of difference with the veranda was that we couldn’t reinstate the iron lacework – it just wasn’t financially feasible,” he says. Nor, would it have been compliant to current standards given the great height of the veranda. “But the approach to fine timber detailing was a very close match, and it really returned the building to its original beauty.”
These days, hospitality venues tend to focus on maximising floor space and gaming as a formula for success. We know the devastating impact problem gambling has on the community, so it’s refreshing to see a project that embraces a different approach.
“Sally and Dhugal actually reduced the floor space ratio, which is unusual in commercial developments,” says Duncan. “The locals were genuinely excited about the old pub being restored to its former glory. The buzz in town was incredible.”
The Argyle now boasts a popular dining spot serving restaurant quality meals alongside favourite pub classics with an emphasis on fresh produce and quality meats (including Barcoo Beef, Sally and Dhugal’s other venture). Upstairs comprises four boutique accommodation suites - thoughtfully styled and designed by Sally (an interior designer).
“The value of old buildings just can’t be underestimated. You see it happening now in Sydney with Chris Minns’ proposals to increase high density in what is ‘old Sydney’,” says Duncan, who worked with his partner on a major refurbishment of the Teachers Federation headquarters in the former 1920s Silk Knit House industrial building in Surry Hills.
“When you look at the Argyle, it really fits the context of the town. You don’t have to build a booze barn. When it’s full, it has a great vibe – it’s comfortable, it suits the town, and it just feels right.”
The result? A Hotel? that looks and feels like it belongs – not just to Maclean’s history, but to its community.
argylehotel.com.au
The locals were genuinely excited about the old pub being restored to its former glory. The buzz in town was incredible.
PHOTO BOOTH
Arts and About
FOOD & OBJECTS FOR SLOWER MORNINGS
Browse our curated collection of goodies for Le Pantry, Le Table & Le Kitchen
OPEN FRIDAY, 10AM - 2PM
16 Tasman Way Byron Bay, NSW 2481 NOWOPEN FRIDAYS
- The Leading Hand
New art exhibition by Rhys Cousins
The Leading Hand consists of a body of painting and sculptural works investigating the transformative impact of screen technology. The works focus on thresholds and moments where screens blur into landscapes, highlighting the evolving relationship and perceived contrast between physical and digital realities. Mediums such as plaster, concrete, pigments and mixed media (including digital technologies like television screens) will be used in the creation of these works through techniques of assemblage and casting. The exhibition aims to foster a nuanced perspective on our interaction with these technologies in public and private environments through themes of congestion and inundation that question the experience of contemporary urban life.
Opening night Friday 6 June, 5–7pm –All are welcome.
Exhibition dates 7 June – 5 July, Wednesday to Saturday, 10am–4pm Lone Goat Gallery, 28 Lawson Street, Byron Bay Info lonegoatgallery.com
Writers Fest Sunday Locals’ Pass
From 9am Thursday 5 June, residents of postcodes 2477–2490 will be able to purchase the Sunday Locals’ Pass which provides access to the festival at Bangalow Showground on Sunday 10 August for just $145, a saving of $46 off the full ticket price. Chris Hanley, CEO of First National Byron and Byron Writers Festival founder said, “Festival Sunday has always been special for the locals. Relaxed, chilled and filled with laughter on the last day, Sunday is the perfect opportunity to experience the festival and get a taste of this wonderful event. Byron Writers Festival has been built and sustained by a passionate local community, so First National Byron is very proud to support the Sunday locals’ tickets for residents of the Northern Rivers”. Tickets events.humanitix.com/byron-writers-festival-2025-passes 02 6685 5115 or Byron Writers Festival office until sold out.
A maximum of two tickets per person and proof of address is required.
Aspect by Rhys Cousins, 2024, plaster and pigment on board Photo Carli Wilson
Meet the team Murray Hand
Murray Hand is more than just a familiar name in the pages of The Bangalow Herald - he’s also the driving force behind its distribution. Bush poet, musician, and teller of tales, meet the man behind the musings.
What first drew you to contribute to The Bangalow Herald? It was to see my name in print! Having done that, I now concentrate on getting The Herald out there with the help of my fabulous volunteer walkers who distribute the magazine every month. New volunteers always welcome.
Can you share a favourite moment or story you’ve worked on for The Herald?
Definitely my cover photo of Steve Jarrett and his horse back in November 2019. Steve hated it! Reckoned it made him look too old. (Reality bites.)
If you could interview anyone – local or otherwise –for The Herald, who would it be and why?
This is the toughest question. I assume it must be someone living, which narrows it down a bit. My cat, Mini, would be interesting as I’d love to find out what she actually thinks – but I don’t speak cat. So, I’ll plumb for Bob Dylan. (“So, tell me Bob, I believe you will be doing a free concert at the Showground for locals only?”) We could then sell the interview to other outlets to earn a bit of money for The Herald
When you’re not volunteering with The Herald, how do you like to spend your time?
I play a bit of music (three bands), do martial arts (hapkyusul) three mornings each week and drink alcohol (in moderation) three nights a week. I’m a great believer in doing things in threes.
What do you love most about living in Bangalow?
The strong community, easy lifestyle and the convenience of local shopping where I can slip down the main street and buy a new linen shirt and pair of hemp moccasins.
Tell us about the time you lived in Papua New Guinea?
I arrived there in my late 20s and stayed for four years, living in Lae and Rabaul. I was working as a marketing manager, so travelled most of the country and experienced the classic expat life. Anyone who has lived in PNG can tell the most amazing stories of interactions with the culture, which stay with you forever. I consider myself very lucky to have had that adventure.
Any amazing stories you’d like to share with us?
What happened in PNG stays in PNG. I can say, though, it was a great time. Okay, one little story. I was between flights in Goroka in the highlands when a big mob was gathered opposite the airport outside the police station. I went over to check what was happening when the men around me started firing arrows at the station. Great! This is fun! Suddenly, the cops came out firing tear gas at us. Shit! I took cover under a car then crawled into the airport. Fortunately, my plane was ready to go – and so was I.
Messenger on a mission
With a name like Messenger, it almost seems inevitable that Lisa Messenger would dedicate her life to storytelling. But destiny didn’t hand her a publishing career – she built it one chapter at a time.
Lisa is the author of more than 40 books, a serial entrepreneur, self-publishing pioneer and the force behind Collective Hub, the magazine that put startup culture and entrepreneurial hustle on the page. But her path to publishing is as unconventional as her publishing methods.
“I wrote and published my first book in 2004 – 21 years ago! – and it was called Happiness Is. I literally wrote it when I was desperately unhappy,” she says.
Driven by experience, not expertise, Lisa’s writing approach is unapologetically immersive. “I feel like the best work often comes if we can start to recognise it from adversity and really difficult times.”
Her most recent non-fiction book, The Power of Two, is her most personal yet – a collaborative account of her journey to
parenthood via surrogacy with her friend Sarah. The two women wrote the book together in real time over a couple of weekends. “We got, I think, 31,000 words out between us in the first three days… We knew the story so well and we’d lived it so well.
“I very much write from the lens of ‘let me take you on a journey and I’m gonna share the lessons learned’ – that’s kind of my formula.”
It was a winning formula. Her debut, Happiness Is, sold 36,000 copies in its first year – not through traditional retail outlets like bookstores, but via strategic brand collaborations.
“With Happiness Is, I found that Clinique had a perfume called Happy Hearts. I approached them and they ended up buying 2,000 copies and did it as a gift with purchase.”
Next came deals with Mercedes-Benz (a copy of Happiness Is after a test drive), and then a huge order from Officeworks, following Lisa’s proactive approach to book sales. How? “I just reverse engineered it –‘Who would buy this kind of book within an organisation?’ and I found out it was a ‘procurement officer’. Then I sent them a copy and they rang me and said, ‘We’d like 10,000 copies, thank you.’”
This savvy, business-minded distribution model became her hallmark. Over the next 10 years she not only wrote, but helped produce and distribute, hundreds of books for other people – “people who wanted to tell their story or have a legacy piece or create something as an expensive business card,” she says. With clients including the Commonwealth Bank, Toby’s Estate Coffee and Lorna Jane, Lisa facilitated the production and publishing of around 400 titles in total while continuing to expand her own print output.
By 2013, Lisa committed more seriously to her personal writing projects. She was releasing up to two of her own titles a year and had become a speaker and coach, commanding five-figure sums for appearances around the world.
Then came her magazine Collective Hub. In a sea of perfectly curated narratives, Lisa offered readers something else – substance. The magazine profiled entrepreneurs and changemakers with heart and humanity, aiming to inspire rather than merely impress. Over 55 issues she had the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Martha Stewart, Richard Branson and Jamie Oliver on the cover.
“The whole premise of the magazine was, it was the story behind the story, the raw, the real, the relatable, and the attainable,” she says.
Inside, readers accessed behind-the-scenes content with various movers and shakers on the lesser-known aspects of their work. Lisa, innately curious about the nuts and
Happiness is... Lisa Messenger Photo Josef Nalevansky
bolts, sought to extract hitherto unuttered pearls of wisdom from her guests, as part of her mission to share collective wisdom with others.
“I had this burning desire to tell the story behind the story and inspire other people to achieve their goals. I think that’s why Collective Hub resonated and grew so quickly.”
Writing wasn’t always on the agenda for young Lisa, who was in “the lowest of the low” English class at school in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and had no real aspirations to become an author. “I was told I couldn’t write,” she says. After finishing school, she dabbled in everything from teaching horse riding in England to working as a nanny during ski season in Thredbo. She went on to study Business with a major in Tourism at Southern Cross University in Lismore and worked in sponsorship for the likes of Cirque du Soleil, The Wiggles and Barry Humphries. These entrepreneurial skills would underpin her future writing endeavours – a career detour that came from both personal reflection and curiosity.
Lisa credits her grandfather, Sir John Fuller, a former politician and trade mission leader, as one of her earliest and greatest supporters. “He was the one that I sat down with when I decided to write Happiness Is in 2004... He always believed in me.”
Her writing career has since evolved again. Lisa is now diving into fiction – a new challenge after two decades of writing from lived experience.
“I found it excruciatingly difficult after writing truth and nonfiction for so long. I came across something called Save the Cat, which is extraordinary. It gave me the 15 stages of the novel to go through so I could map it. It gave me narrative structure,” she says.
With this guiding framework, Lisa recently completed her first 85,000-word novel and is now keen to create more complex, fictional female protagonists inspired by her years working with women in business and motherhood. “I see characters everywhere and I am loving it.”
Lisa Messenger will be appearing at the 2025 Byron Writers Festival 8 – 10 August at Bangalow Showground.
The full program is released Wednesday 11 June.
Dr Jane Reffell is excited to announce changes at Womens Health and Wellbeing.
In July 2025 Womens Health and Wellbeing will be closing and the practice will be moving to another menopause practice,
Remi Menopause Clinic, where Dr Jane Reffell will continue to provide ongoing dedicated menopause care.
This will create a dedicated private menopause practice in the Northern Rivers, ensuring excellence of care for women as they move towards menopause and beyond.
This means Women’s Health and Wellbeing, now at Newrybar, will close at the end of June 2025 after 20 years, and Jane will move her practice to continue at Remi Menopause Clinic in July 2025.
Jane established Women’s Health and Wellbeing in 2002 as a holistic medical practice addressing all aspects of women’s health. Over the years it has been based in Bangalow and cared for women all over the Northern Rivers.
Currently, Jane focuses on menopause, premenopausal changes and associated issues experienced by women in their 40s. Jane is a member of the Australasian Menopause Society, ensuring she remains current with advancements in menopause management.
Remi Menopause Clinic (remi.com.au) offers in person and telehealth appointments. She has also developed a free app ‘Healthy Hormones’ that has an enormous amount of information on menopause and provides an online community for those women going through menopause or just preparing.
If you are an existing patient of Dr Jane Reffells you will receive an email with information or you can go to the website: bangalowhealthandwellbeing.com.au for information. NEW ADDRESS FROM JULY ’25
Remi Menopause Clinic, Ballina Health Centre, 32 Tamar Street, Ballina
Lisa and baby Hugo Photo supplied
Bangalow
BillyCart Derby 2025
The races have been run and won in one of 2479’s most iconic events. A bit of drizzle didn’t hamper the fun. There were plenty of laughs, great carts, and some spectacular spills. A big thanks to the Bangalow Lions Club, sponsors and volunteers for making the event possible.
Photos Lyn McCarthy Niche Pictures
Rebels rising
The first four rounds of the local rugby union season have been marred by heavy rain, sodden fields and postponed fixtures, but the Byron Shire Rebels have risen to the challenge.
This is only the third year for the new club formed by the merger of the Bangalow Rebels and the Byron Bay Rugby Club, but the Byron Shire Rebels have quickly established themselves as one of the major forces in rugby union on the Far North Coast. With a second-grade premiership and two junior age-grade premierships already in the trophy cabinet, there was a real sense of anticipation coming into the 2025 season.
Additional impetus came from an energetic new committee, new sponsors and a new head coach – local rugby legend Mick Muir. There were good numbers of new and established players across both men’s and women’s teams, and enthusiasm levels were high.
And then the heavens opened. Cyclone Alfred was followed by weeks of persistent rain. All but one of the pre-season trial games were cancelled as the grounds became unplayable. The first competition round was washed out. Coming into the second-round match, the Rebels still had not had a single full-scale run.
But it wasn’t enough to dampen their enthusiasm. On a soggy Byron Rec Ground, the Rebels’ women’s team led the way with an exciting 17–12 victory over Kyogle in the season opener. The men’s second-grade side followed suit with a high-quality 31–24 win over Wollongbar Alstonville Rugby (WAR). The disrupted pre-season preparation showed in a rusty performance in first grade against WAR, the 2024 premiers, with the Rebels going down 12–31, but there were some real signs of promise.
That promise came to fruition in the next round with a thumping 59–0 win to the Rebels in first grade over Lismore City
30 Byron Street Bangalow NSW 2479
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Champagne rugby in the mud Photo Amelia Davies
under lights at Shultz Oval in Bangalow. Despite the slippery conditions, the home team played some champagne rugby and really announced itself as a side to watch in 2025. Unfortunately, the second grade and women’s games had to be postponed, adding to the growing challenge of finding opportunities to replay the missed matches later in the season.
That challenge was a factor in the decision to proceed with the next round of senior men’s rugby games at Shultz Oval, despite continuing wet weather and soggy field conditions. The second-grade game was abandoned after less than 20 minutes following a potential spinal injury to a visiting player (which later proved to be much less serious than originally feared), adding to the tally of catch-up matches to be squeezed in later in the year. The first-grade game proceeded against the top-of-the-table Ballina Seahorses and soon became an intense, physical battle for supremacy in the difficult conditions. It often had the look and feel of trench warfare. At the end of 80 muddy minutes, Ballina took the win 24–13, but both sides had won the respect and admiration of the crowd.
The women were able to play their catch-up game against title-holders Lismore in yet another damp night game under lights, and it turned out to be one of the most exciting encounters of the season so far. At the final whistle, each side had scored four tries, and the difference was just one conversion, giving Lismore the edge 24–22.
The weather has played havoc with the junior rugby season as well, with multiple games cancelled or re-located. But like their senior counterparts, enthusiasm levels remain high among the junior Rebels, and player numbers are strong and building across most age groups – although new players are always welcome, especially for the under 12s.
Overall, it has been one of the most disrupted starts to a rugby season in memory. Not every result has gone their way so far, but the Rebels have risen to every challenge, and all three senior teams – men’s first grade, men’s second grade and women’s – have already shown clearly that they have the potential to go all the way.
With several games postponed, it will be an action-packed second half of the season, with several standout home fixtures for the Rebels across June and July, as well as the start of the Lions Series against Australia, which will be streamed live at Rebels watch parties at the Bangalow Bowlo.
Some key dates to get in the diary: Old Boys Day against Lennox Head on 21 June; Ladies Day on 21 July – both to be held in Byron; and rounding out the season, the last game will be held in Bangalow on 2 August, followed by a screening of the third Lions Test. We truly value the support of the local community and would love to see as many people down at our home games as possible. To keep updated on all things Rebels, follow us on Instagram @byronshirerebels or sign up to our newsletter at byronshirerebels.com.au.
Help support NRAS to rehabilitate, care for and re-home companion animals or provide:
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Donations accepted via • PayPal on our website
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James Boysons Club President
Long-time club member and former Juniors President, Dave Eastwell, with son, Jude, who made his first grade debut this season Photo Amelia Davies
After two decades of dedicated service to women across the Northern Rivers, Dr Jane Reffell is preparing to begin a new chapter. In July 2025, she will move her menopause practice to join the Remi Menopause Clinic in Ballina, establishing a specialised private service for women navigating menopause and perimenopause.
Dr Reffell has been a familiar and trusted presence in the region since founding Women’s Health and Wellbeing in 2002. Originally based in Bangalow and more recently operating out of Newrybar, her practice has provided holistic care for women at all stages of life. In recent years, she has focused exclusively on menopause and the complex hormonal changes women experience in their 40s and beyond.
As a member of the Australasian Menopause Society, Dr Reffell brings a research-informed and compassionate approach to her work. The transition to Remi, she says, will allow her to deepen that commitment. “This move is an exciting opportunity for me and my practice,” she explains. “It allows me to continue my menopause practice and continue care for my patients, and also extend the scope of my menopause practice.”
While the move to Ballina signals growth, it also marks the end of an era: Women’s Health and Wellbeing will officially close on 30 June 2025 after 20 years in operation. “It’s bittersweet,” Dr Reffell says. “I have valued being part of women’s health care in the Northern Rivers and look forward to the next chapter.”
Dr Reffell will join Remi founder Dr Emma Harvey and a team of experienced menopause doctors. Remi offers both inperson and telehealth appointments, with no GP referral required. All appointments are Medicare rebate eligible. The clinic also supports patients via its free Healthy
Jane Reffell
Hormones app and online community, and recently hosted the sold-out So Hot Right Now menopause event at the Sydney Opera House. Until 30 June, bookings with Dr Reffell will continue through Women’s Health and Wellbeing. From July, patients can make appointments via remi.com.au.
Email updates and website information will help ensure a smooth transition.
Dr Reffell says the support she has received from patients over the years has been “deeply appreciated” and she is looking forward to continuing her work in menopause care with this next phase in Ballina.
The Bangalow Herald
Long-standing Bangalow practitioner, Dr Jane Reffell, bound for Ballina Photo supplied
Business news
Bangalow Hotel DA revised
An amended version of the Bangalow Hotel DA will soon be open for submissions until 10 June 2025. This follows a meeting in late March between key stakeholders: hotel owners, their planning advisors, and BSC assessment staff. Plans have now been modified to help address identified issues.
The most significant structural change relates to the Byron streetscape, no longer dominated by a bulky hotel addition. However, the owners remain committed to the concept of easy access to pokies and greatly expanded capacity for serving and consuming alcohol. The idea of a village venue that retains its special historical character and leverages the opportunity for good food and music is not supported by the owners.
There are many new documents to consider, all identified by a ‘2025’ prefix. Documents available here: tinyurl.com/45d9jrnk
While there is some scope for further refinement of design and engineering detail, fundamental principles are the big issue –and changing these will be challenging. Comments welcome.
Ian Holmes Bangalow Community Association
Pipit pops up in Brooklet
Pottsville fine dining hotspot Pipit will be popping up at hinterland accommodation destination The Brooklet for a two-month inresidence dining experience. Pipit’s two-hatted menu will be available for Saturday and Sunday lunch during June and July. With seating for only 10 guests, this is a high-end, intimate dining experience. The Brooklet’s outdoor wood-fired kitchen and poolside bar will be transformed for diners to share the region’s finest seasonal ingredients and magical sunsets, with drinks by the fire. Limited one- or two-bedroom villas are also available during this time for those who would like to indulge even more. Bookings essential.
The Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers are holding their final Introductory Training for 2025 on Sunday 15 June in Knockrow. Working through winter to upskill volunteers, the group aims to be ready for spring with as many hands on deck as possible to help with the influx of babies and regular stream of injured wildlife. Northern Rivers Wildlife Carers Inc. is a not-for-profit network of trained volunteers licensed to rescue and rehabilitate sick, injured or orphaned wildlife for release back into the wild.
Rescue & Rehabilitation of Native Wildlife Training Sunday 15 June, 9am–3pm $25 for members, $45 for non-members (includes a year’s membership)
Find out more: (02)6628 1866 | training@wildlifecarers.com wildlifecarers.com
Just your average day in at the Bangalow pub Photo Lyn McCarthy Niche Pictures
Osso Buco with Gremolata
As the weather cools and fires are lit, we can warm to slow cooking for our meals. Here is a hearty dish that transforms a tough cut of meat into a soft and tender treat.
It’s economical too. Osso buco is the forearm shank portion of the cow. You can use veal or beef. The best way to cook it is to braise or slow cook. Osso buco means ‘bone with a hole’ – the meat is cross-cut, allowing the marrow to seep into the sauce for extra depth of flavour. You can cook this a day ahead and store it in the fridge for 3–4 days to reheat.
INGREDIENTS
• 1.8kg beef shank
• 2 cups broth (beef, bone or vegetable)
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 cup diced mushroom
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine
• bay leaves
• Fresh thyme
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Pat dry shanks and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet or cast iron dish and brown shanks for 10–12 minutes until browned. Set aside.
Add vegetables to the hot pan along with garlic and sauté until soft and fragrant – about 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and deglaze the pan with wine. Reduce the wine by about half.
Add broth, bay leaves and fresh thyme. Return the shanks, snuggling the beef into the sauce. Cover. Cook at 170°C for 2 to 2.5 hours. Turn beef about halfway through.
Serve with gremolata, mashed potatoes or polenta – or a side of your choice.
For the gremolata, combine ½ cup chopped parsley, zest of one lemon and one finely chopped garlic clove. Sprinkle over finished dish.
Recipe and image Lyn Hand
All That’s Left Unsaid
by Tracey Lien
Back in the 1980s I had a cousin who lived in Cabramatta, Sydney – the place of Australia’s first political assassination. I visited; just the once, because it did not feel safe there. Tracey Lien was raised in a safer Cabramatta but has written an unputdownable crime story set in that earlier period of unrest, a period when there was a heroin epidemic and families were frightened for their safety.
Ky (pronounced Kee) has been avoiding her parent’s phone calls which only serves to make her feel more guilty when she listens to their voice message and hears that her little brother has been brutally murdered. Having escaped Cabramatta she lives in Melbourne and is working as a trainee journalist; it is unbelievable to her that her darling, perfect brother could die in such circumstances – he was an intelligent, high-achieving, good person.
Her parents are numb with grief, and she can get nothing from them when she asks them what they have been told by the police. Acting contrary to her natural instinct she goes to the police station for more information. There she learns that, of the 12 people who had remained in the Lucky 8 restaurant until the police arrived, nobody saw anything!
Struggling to accept this as the truth she proceeds to investigate the murder herself after a white police officer kindly and covertly allows her to see a list of those present.
Some of the chapters in this book are a reflection on Ky’s life growing up in Cabramatta with parents who are anxious for the safety of their children. She articulates how refugee children are often under pressure to be high achievers at school so they don’t have to work in dead-end jobs like their parents. There is kindness; Ky’s mother, for many years, nurtures and feeds Ky’s best friend, Minnie, because Minnie’s home is not a safe place. It’s a very complex community because so many of the residents are suffering from PTSD.
Other chapters write about the witnesses who Ky will speak to revealing a little more of how this tragic event happened.
Without being at all preachy, this book informs the reader not just of the cultural beliefs that the Vietnamese refugees brought to Australia but how those differences manifested in the minds of the refugee children and the first and later generations who were born here.
I can’t wait to see what Tracey Lien writes next – this was an outstanding debut.
Goodreads rating: 4.0 stars
Published by: Harper Collins
How do you sum up a life? How do you capture who a person was, what they meant to you, and who they could have been?
Tracey Lien
Carolyn Adams
Ghost lights
Dr Airdre Grant reflects on humanity and hope, and the light that never goes out.
Do you know what a ghost light is? When a theatre is empty or closed, a single light is left shining, usually at the front of the stage. This light has two purposes. One is practical – to shed light to prevent anyone falling off the stage or bumping into sets and various other objects. The other reason is to keep the theatre ghosts happy. These are the members of the ghostly company who come out when
the theatre is empty and play in the space. This is a ghost light and they are important because they keep the theatre going and stop it going ‘dark’. While this may seem fanciful to some, it speaks about keeping the spirit of something alive. The ghost lights represent something which says that we are still here and we will come back; this theatre is still alive, even in the dark times.
There are times, whether you follow the news avidly or not, when you could feel we are in a very troubling period and unfathomable darkness is pressing in. We know we can
no longer rely on the old ways and givens. Plus, we get so much more news these days, and are exposed in detail to environmental disasters, famines, wars and other human-borne acts of brutality and greed, we can’t look away. But this is exactly when we need to keep the ghost lights on to illuminate our lives, to help keep faith.
Think about it. Do you have a symbolic ghost light in your life which speaks to your determination to keep going and keep believing in a good and optimistic future? How do you shine your light despite the onslaught of grim and quarrelsome news? How do you stay hopeful when facing a daily barrage of statistics and worrying graphs?
Despair about the world is not new, sadly. Humans have been worrying about it for centuries. In 1886, Russian author Tolstoy, who gave away a lot (but not all) of his fortune to charity and beggars, wrote a story called What Then Must We Do? It derives from the Bible (Luke, Chapter 3, verse 10), which answers the question by saying Add Your Light to the Sum of Light.
As the winter weather begins, and we look for ways to stay cosy and take on the work of navigating our way through uncertainty, there are some glimmering opportunities we can just see, as we pilot our way across strange thresholds. Keep your ghost lights on. Do what people have always done, address what’s in front of you. Light a candle. A candle is a physical representation of spirit of place and light in the darkness. They have been lit across time and the world, in all manner of religious ceremonies, rituals and spiritual practices.
While oligarchs squabble over riches, rich people become space tourists, wars flare up in distant countries, people starve, weep, die – keep your ghost light on. Tolstoy wrote ‘as one candle lights another and can light thousands of other candles, so one heart illuminates another heart and can illuminate thousands of other hearts.’
Light those candles. It’s a lovely way to keep the darkness at bay.
Where the past meets the present.
Family histories, items of historical and cultural interest, community space and coffee cart.
socials: bangalow heritage house www.bangalowhistoricalsociety.org.au
A glimmer in the dark Photo Basil James
This lovely shrub, found growing freely from Cairns to south-east Victoria, flowers profusely from autumn to spring along coastal areas and inland in open woodlands and heaths.
Part of the enormous family Proteaceae, this shrub has been formally identified as one of three varieties with small differences in leaf shape and flower spikes, ranging from golden yellows to pinks and rusty reds and oranges.
The others are B. integrifolia, B. ericifolia, and B. aemula – the Wallum Banksia, currently at great risk of being bulldozed by a housing developer in Brunswick Heads, where it has so far survived in its natural habitat.
Spinulosa means “with small spines”, referring to the narrow, tough and slightly prickly leaves, which may have hairy undersides but no prickles like, for example, roses.
It was first catalogued by J.M. Smith, working in England on specimens brought back by botanists in 1793. As you can imagine, these exotic plants caused quite a stir and also proved relatively easy to propagate, soon becoming much sought-after collectors’ items.
Apart from the fabulous flower spikes –which can be made up of thousands of tiny pairs of florets – the foliage is greyish green and very decorative, and used by many modern florists.
There is also a fascinating adaptation mechanism present called a lignotuber. The official definition of this is: “a rounded, woody growth at or below ground level on the trunk that contains a mass of buds and food reserves that allows the plants to regenerate after bushfires or severe drought.”
Banksia spinulosa is part of the lignotuberous group of survivors, and some eucalypts also possess this clever adaptation.
Easy to grow and freely available at good nurseries, it is moderately fast-growing once established. It prefers well-drained, sandy soils, but will manage heavier clays as long as they are well drained and in full sun. A well-shaped medium shrub – up to three
Hairpin Banksia
metres tall and wide – it responds to light pruning, but the flower spikes form on lateral branches (not terminal ends) that are two to three years old. So, the more pruning, the fewer flower spikes. Obviously, it will need a bit of space to be seen to best advantage. The flowers provide valuable nectar for bees and birds and shelter for small creatures. As they are adapted to harsh conditions, they are great for low-maintenance gardeners.
I love these hardy natives partly because, all through the year, there is something of
interest – the hairpin-like spikes followed by the glorious flower display, and later the longlasting banksia nuts full of seeds.
Of course, there are also happy memories of childhood readings of the Banksia Men in May Gibbs’ Snugglepot and Cuddlepie series as well. How scary were they – and didn’t they play a part in showing Anglophiles the true beauty and variety of our native flora?
Carole Gamble
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Byron St, Bangalow Phone: 02 6687 1881
Banksia spinulosa var. spinulosa – Photo Carole Gamble
Land & Rivercare (8.30am Sat) Noelene 0431 200 638
Lions Club (6pm 2nd/4th Tues) Nashy 0418 440 545
Men’s Shed John 0427 130 177
Op Shop (M-F 10am-2pm, Sat 9.30am-12.30pm) 6687 2228
Piccabeen Park Lynn 0429 644 659
Park Trust Committee Shane 0475 732 551
Police – DCI Matt Kehoe 6629 7500
Pool Trust Jo 6687 1297
Community Association Ian 0414 959 936
Poultry Club Hector 6687 1322
Quilters (2nd/4th Thur) Karen 0413 621 224
Red Cross (1st Fri) Liz 0409 832 001
Show Society Anne 6687 1033
Sport
Bowls men (1pm Wed & Sat) Gerry 6687 1142
Bowls women (9.30am Wed) Frances 6687 1339
Cricket Anthony 0429 306 529
Karate self-defence Jean 0458 245 123
Netball (3.30pm Wed) Ellie 0429 855 399
Pony Club Rebecca 0410 706 959
Rugby Union (Rebels) Dave 0412 080 614
Soccer (Bluedogs) 0434 559 700
Tennis court hire Bernie 0433 970 800
Venues
A&I Hall
Belinda 0499 392 812
All Souls’ Anglican Hall 6684 3552
Bowling Club Chris 6687 2741
Coorabell Hall coorabellhall@gmail.com
Heritage House Trisha 0429 882 525
Lions Club Kiosk Nashy 0418 440 545
Moller Pavilion 6687 1035
Newrybar Hall Kerry 0414 560 119
Scout Hall Shane 0475 732 551
St Kevin’s Catholic Hall Russell 0423 089 684
Bangalow Rainfall
Dr Jane Reffell is excited to announce changes at Womens Health & Wellbeing
In July 2025 Womens Health and Wellbeing will be closing and I will be moving my practice to another menopause practice, Remi Menopause Clinic, where I will continue to provide ongoing dedicated menopause care. For appointments visit remi.com.au If you have an existing appointment you will be contacted personally to confirm.
ADDRESS FROM JULY 2025
Menopause Clinic, Ballina Health Centre, 32 Tamar Street, Ballina
Dr Graham Truswell
Julia Chiu Dr Clinton Scott Dr Patrick Ivits Dr Emily Dunn Dr Max Gulhane
Northern Rivers Animal Services invites residents of Bangalow and the wider Northern Rivers region to its monthly Cat and Dog Adoption Day, held on the first Saturday of every month. All animals available for adoption have been vet-checked, desexed, vaccinated, microchipped and treated for parasites. Consider giving a rescue pet a forever home – your new best friend might be waiting for you!
This month our guest speaker will be one of our members, and a Bangalow Herald regular writer, Carole Gamble, who will be talking about Plants for Shady Gardens.
New members are welcome. For those of you who are new to the area or new to gardening, why not join the garden club and learn about gardening in the sub-tropics? Our meetings include flower of the month, where members bring flowers from their garden and discuss how they are grown, Q & A, guest speakers who talk about a wide range of garden-related topics and the lively plant auction. After the meeting we gather and chat over a delicious afternoon tea provided by our members.
Enjoy a warm welcome and good old fashioned service at Déjà Vu Bangalow. Offering a wonderful selection of beautiful ladies apparel & unique accessories, fabulous silks & French linen. 9 Byron St, Bangalow. Ph: (02) 6687 2622.
Shire Choir Bangalow
When Thursday 5 June, 7–9.30pm
Where Bangalow Hotel, Byron Street, Bangalow Tickets $15/$20 via shirechoir.eventbrite.com
The original and the best audience-participation choir in the Northern Rivers, Shire Choir is back at the Bangalow Hotel to bring the joy of collective singing to the community. Learn a classic pop/rock song in three parts and then belt it out with a room full of friends – new and old. Expertly led by Melia Naughton and accompanied by Jamie Birrell, this is a joyful event for anyone with a voice. No experience required. Shower singers most welcome!
Beefheart & McQuinn is the new project from UK artist Moby Beefheart aka William Murray (formerly of UK outfit FUR) and Melbourne/Naarm musician Winter McQuinn (Sunfruits, jadeimagine). Sharing a love of the sounds of yesteryear without pastiche obsession, Beefheart & McQuinn make contemporary psychedelic folk/soft-rock – a rich sonic tapestry of vocal harmony blends and deft musicianship and production. Supported by The Kinder Rox (Brisbane/Meanjin).
The Furry Friends Festival
When Saturday 7 June, 8am–1pm
Where Bangalow Showgrounds
Bring your dog – on a lead – for a fabulous morning of furry fun including live music, delicious food and drink, Paws & Claws Market Stalls and a free photo booth. This year, there’s a new fenced Doggy Arena happening on the Showgrounds oval with some great events to sit down and enjoy with your pooch across the morning including dog shows, trainer talks and vet advice. Of course there are treats, and prizes for doggos who are very good boys or girls. Enjoy this free community event hosted by Byron Shire Council.
Radio Free Alice at the Bowlo
When Saturday 7 June, 6pm
Where Bangalow Bowlo
Ticket $29.45 via oztix.com.au
Melbourne’s Radio Free Alice deliver frenetic, guitardriven post-punk with theatrical flair and a distinctly art school edge. They have shared the stage with The Killers, and Royel Otis. See them in action at the Bowlo supported by Sex Mask, and Gimmy and the Babygirl.
Outdoor Gathering around the Firepit
When Sunday 8 June, 5pm
Where Bangalow Uniting Church (outdoors), Station Street, Bangalow Info bangalow.uca.org.au
You are invited to join an informal worship with food, marshmallows and hot chocolate around a firepit at the Bangalow Uniting Church. This family-friendly event is an opportunity to ‘try out’ the Uniting Church-style of church and meet some great people in the community. Everyone is welcome and you are encouraged to dress warmly.
Recess Dance Party
When Saturday 14 June, 6.30pm
Where Bangalow A&I Hall
Ticket $50 from sites.google.com/bcps.org.au/itsrecesstimebcps/home Byron Community Primary School is hosting its annual fundraiser at the Bangalow A&I Hall this month. Get ready for a huge dance party featuring local legend DJ Sally Sound spinning crowd-pleasers all night, the Versace Boys turning the energy up to 11, and internationally renowned DJ/producer Groove Terminator finishing the night with a smile. Common People Brewery will keep the taps flowing, plus there’ll be wine by NOW and drinks from Brookie’s. Grab some friends, tie your laces and make sure you’ve got your hat... your dancing hat, that is.
Beefheart & McQuinn Photo supplied
women’s lobby group
ArtsNational Northern Rivers
June Lecture: ‘The Art of the Japanese Garden’
When Monday 16 June, 6pm welcome drinks for 6.30pm start
Where A&I Hall, Station Street, Bangalow Ticket Guests are welcome and non-member tickets are $25 via trybooking.com/CWFKM Info northernrivers@artsnational.au @ArtsNationalNorthernRivers artsnational.au/societies/northernrivers
The elements of a Japanese garden seem so simple, yet their combined effect is undeniably engaging. This talk investigates the history of Japanese garden design that, like much of the country’s art tradition, developed in isolation from European influence.
Bangalow Community Association General Meeting
When Thursday 19 June, 6pm
Where Bangalow Museum, 4 Ashton Street, Bangalow Info 0414 959 936
All 2479 postcode dwellers are invited to attend BCA quarterly general meetings to discuss currently active Bangalow development and infrastructure matters. Informed feedback from an engaged and collaborative community helps to achieve significantly better outcomes for our village, so come along and join the conversation.
Bangalow CWA Cake and Produce Stall
When Saturday 28 June, 8am–12pm
Where CWA Rooms, 31 Byron Street, Bangalow Info cwasecbangalow@gmail.com
Another opportunity to take home some delicious CWA cooking. There’s always lots to choose from – whether it’s for afternoon tea, school lunches, a gift, dessert or the freezer – come in and take home some home-made goodies. Money raised helps us support vulnerable women and children in the community. It’s win/win.
KWT Social Night
When First Thursday of the month, 5.30–7.30pm Where Bangalow Hotel
Tickets Free – RSVP at kindredwomentogether.com Contact kindredwomentogether.com
Join us at the Bangalow Hotel to connect with other women from our community. Enjoy a drink and/or dinner (at your own expense), and share some laughs with like-minded women. Kindred Women Together is a social club for women seeking connection and friendship. All women are welcome!
Friday Raffles and Members Draw at the Bowlo
When Every Friday from 5pm
Where Bangalow Bowlo, Byron Street, Bangalow Where thebowlobangalow.com.au/whats-on Swing by on Fridays for the classic community raffle from 5pm. Meat trays, local seafood, maybe even a cheeky bottle of wine. The Members Draw’s at 6.30pm, so stick around for the laughs, the yarns and perhaps a win.
Russell and Billie at the 2024 Furry Friends Festival Photo supplied
Norths grilled over delays on Bowlo promises
Greg Nash travelled to Sydney to attend the AGM of Norths Collective after having earlier submitted a number of hard-hitting questions and comments regarding the lack of progress on promised club renovations and improvements, poor member communication over the last 12 months, and the current unsettled management and staffing issues.
Norths Collective has had two difficult trading years for a number of reasons – post-COVID impacts, cost-of-living crisis, lack of available discretionary spending, rising costs in all expense areas, changing entertainment preferences and pokies being on the nose (good!). The hospitality industry is generally struggling across the board, and Norths Collective is no different. However, they have reset and restructured in all key areas and are trading well in 2025, with high expectations of turning things around in fairly short order. They are most definitely not engaging in any further club mergers or acquisitions and understand that they need to focus on their existing assets. They intend to reduce bank debt by selling off a valuable Sydney asset and significantly improve cash flow in order to invest in the remaining group assets, including the Bangalow Bowlo.
Here’s the outcome of last night’s meeting:
The Draft Master Plan and Draft Development Application for the proposed major renovations for the Bowlo are on hold for the short to medium term – likely one to two years – and until their financial position has significantly improved to allow what will be a multi-million-dollar investment. They have five years following amalgamation – that’s until mid-2028 – to commence the major renovations, according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and I think they will need all of that time to commence and complete the job. I advised them in no uncertain terms that Bangalow Bowlo members and, indeed, the Bangalow community are deeply unhappy with this outcome and that it’s most definitely not what we signed up for, despite what the MOU terms and conditions may state. They heard it loud and clear from me and well understand our acute concerns. They appear to be contrite and genuine. However, they are heavily capital-constrained, and it’s just not possible at this time. Most disappointing, given our high expectations in 2022. It’s a gut punch, for sure.
What will commence and mostly be completed in 2025 includes the following work items:
• Complete replacement of the bifold windows and doors in the auditorium, for both aesthetic and acoustic reasons (just completed in May 2025 – well done, Salvo!)
• Fresh painting of the property, including repairs to gutters and eaves
• Screening and clean-up of the under-veranda storage area
• Screening of the refrigeration unit located in the car park
• Repairs to outdoor shade sails
• New outdoor festoon lighting
• Upgrade of the audiovisual system to assist in the operation of functions, events and other promotional activities
• Repair and replacement of furniture items throughout the venue
• Make the pokie room less conspicuous – there are no plans to add more machines
• Install new television screens and related equipment
Norths Collective has appointed a new Group CEO and a new Group COO, both of whom are very experienced. I met with the new COO and he said he’d anonymously visited the Bangalow Bowlo last weekend just to have a look (he doesn’t commence until June 2025) and committed to sorting out the management and staffing issues as a priority. I advised him that our team members are distressed and confused and need immediate assistance and support.
On an interim basis, experienced staff will be redeployed from Tweed Heads Seagulls until a new GM for the Bowlo is appointed. They need to appoint a strong, experienced GM as soon as possible and sort out the spotty service problems – including better rostering, I advised.
My assessment is that Norths Collective will paddle along until their financial position improves and allows for the promised investments and building upgrades at the Bowlo to take place. I think they’ll get there – but we shall have to be patient, grrrr! I don’t believe that they have any grand plan to do anything other than run a licensed club at Bangalow, so please don’t be concerned that our much-loved club will turn into a block of flats overnight. We won’t let that happen, and my assessment is that it’s not on Norths Collective’s radar at all.
In the meantime, please support the Bowlo – eat, drink, play –that’ll help.
Greg ‘Nashy’ Nash
A sign of the times Photo Lyn McCarthy Niche Pictures
