June 2017 issue 1
THE CRESCENT HEAD
YAK
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
Welcome and have a YAK
This is a small, very small step, towards a Crescent Head that communicates with each other to achieve the best environment it can.
This is the first edition of The Crescent Head YAK. We have covered a few topics in the first edition of the YAK, including some boring but a reasonable explanation of The Macleay Valley Councils structure and management.
We are in many areas of communication, including our irreverent Facebook site “CrescentHeadWhatThe!? And our a little more sedate and informative website www.crescentheadsurf.com
Never before has a council been asked to do so much with so little …………… The subject of original owners is described in detail and a bit of interesting history. It could become a whole topic on its own, but we feel that right now is important and we should move to work together, but with a total understanding. The YAK is interested in the arts, and many things that Crescent Head has been able to accommodate. From its surfing past and present, to its busy little village. Musicians by the mile, and artists in equal proportion. All of these delights we wish to bring to you over time. We love Crescent Head as do our visitors, and it is our intention to deliver to them our best foot forward. This is vital for the ongoing permanent population of Crescent Head and the future of our children. Our cafes, club, pub and Fashion shops including surf shops and the post office are engines to drive it forward. Development should always be considered in a sustainable and esthetically pleasing way. The YAK will not be afraid to question both angles of the argument when it comes to developing the village. If we think we are custodians of the village then check our article “a bit of history” We welcome all points of view and will not gag debate in our humble little publication.
We ask you to join us for the ride and contribute your thoughts and wishes for the village. Editor Paul Hayllar (want to go to our site? Scan and go)
June 2017 issue 1
THE DETAIL Our reporters went searching for some factual information during the month and came across some pretty interesting numbers. Crescent Head like the rest of the Macleay Valley relies very much on the efficiency of it’s Council to provide water, sewerage, road maintenance and construction, and public area maintenance and improvement. It is also fair to say we rely on them to advise us through the red tape of government with things like housing approvals, plans and general building laws as they relate to living in the Valley. It is also noted that Council provides a link between business and the community and also volunteer work for the community. The council is administrators of ratepayer funds and also allocates work when and where affordable. They have a mixture of assets such as cars and machinery as well as manage sub contractors who supply their own assets for allocated work. There is also a workforce of council employees who are administrators and plant operators, inspectors, rangers and the like. We have elected representatives from our community and a Mayor. These people are an insurance that the community requests are dealt with and that funds are allocated in a responsible manner. So, you can see it is a highly structured and political unit, who hold us in the palm of their hands.
The Mayor receives a salary of $42k per annum, and councilors receive $19K per annum each. Expenses that are out of pocket are also reimbursed. (source: Macleay Argus, out of pocket expenses info., anecdotal) There are 8 Councilors. Staff at the council is on varying pay structures according to their level of employment. If we take an example of say, The General Manager, we can start to see the importance of accountability. If the General Manager is on $100K per annum (and we can not state that as fact, but only as an estimate) the we have to add to that the on costs. On costs are represented by sick leave, holiday leave, superannuation, public holidays and redundancy contribution. This list may represent all or part of the on costs in a Council pay structure. The usual amount as a ball park figure is an additional 30% cost to the salary, so using the General Manager as an example the real cost is $130K. We have a copy of the “responsibility organizational structure� on the following page. We believe we are looking at between $600K and $1M just for the directors without counting their staff.
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
So this gives you a background into the costs and services of our council. This is before a car is moved from the council compound, a backhoe has started its engine or a piece of dirt has been turned. We will leave it up to you to decipher this detail.
Editors note: Our alter ego, What The!? (found on face book) quite often lampoons council, with a degree of fairness. In order to justify this structure and for best value for money for rate payers it is absolutely essential that we are delivered full productivity by staff and workers and full utilization of assets. Only then can we measure the progress and outcomes of the projects council take on.
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
Our Village streets – Crescent Head Seen in many different ways by visitors and residents. A story or two to be told of the way we were, and the way we still are. Functional and busy during the tourist season which has now increased from many years ago. As the baby boomers retire, they travel to places like Crescent Head and now occupy the empty spaces of yesteryear.
June 2017 issue 1
A BIT OF HISTORY * Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area was inhabited by members of the Dainggatti Aboriginal language group. * There was a track out to Crescent Head as early as 1830. * Crescent Head was proclaimed a village in 1894. * A town slowly developed. It was basically a cheap holiday destination with many fibro holiday homes and a thriving caravan park. * The S.S. Wollongbar was torpedoed by the Japanese off Crescent Head on 29 April, 1943 with a loss of 32 lives. * Today Crescent Head is recognised as one of the finest surfing locations on the New South Wales coast. The headland produces exceptional surfing conditions. In June 2008, Crescent Head, home of the Dunghutti people, was declared a National Surfing Reserve, the fourth site in Australia to be recognized for it’s special significance. No one is sure how Crescent Head got its name. It is known that as early as 1833 the NSW Calendar and General Post Office Directory recorded: "From Port Macquarie northerly there is a beaten track and the country may present some obstructions to the formation of a road; travelling is not, however, difficult; the tracks follow the coast which is a succession of sandy beaches extending from Port Macquarie to Point Plomer, thence to Crescent Head and then to Trial Bay…” The area between Big Hill and Point Plomer is important to local Aborigines who occupied the area for 5-6,000 years prior to the arrival of Europeans. There is an historic Aboriginal fish trap at Barries Beach. There are also shell middens, burial sites, a large stone tool working site and a quarry for stone tool production. The reserve's name comes from the early days of European settlement when oyster shells from the creek were burned to produce lime for mortar. Free settlers moved into the area in the 1830s when the penal settlement at Port Macquarie was closed. The area adjacent the creek was declared the Orara Gold Field in 1881 though returns were insignificant.
DUNGHUTTI LANGUAGE, NIUNGACKO (LANGUAGE NAME AT TRIAL BAY) While many Aboriginal languages along the NSW coast disappeared during the Mission days, Dunghutti had miraculously survived. Dunghutti is the language of the Macleay Valley NSW and the surrounding high country which forms part of the Great Dividing Range. In 1925 at Kempsey Showground, James Linwood addressed in Dunghutti a meeting of the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, to protest the actions of the Aborigines Protection Board. Dunghutti continued to be spoken “right through” until the 1960s. Its survival so far into the 20th century can be traced back to the working camps of men from Bellbrook and Lower Creek who escaped social control whilst clearing land for property owners in the western end of the valley. Dunghutti was the language of the camps and working life, away from the pressure to switch to English in the missions and towns. Compared with many NSW languages, Dunghutti has a rich collection of historical sources, from written records in the late 19 th and early 20th centuries to recordings of those last speakers in the 1960s and 1970s. These records form the basis for language revival, because we can extract the grammatical information about sounds, words, word building and sentence building that they contain. On linguistic criteria alone, it seems that Dunghutti is more closely related to Anaiwan (Nganyawana) and Yugambal on the Tablelands than any other language. There were at least two dialects, Dunghutti and Buurrgati, the latter is associated with the region around Macksville. Aboriginal people were multi-lingual, speaking the languages of their neighbours as well as their own. There are significant social relationships amongst Dunghutti, Gumbaynggirr and Biripi peoples, including a shared set of marriage sections, which is also a feature of Anaiwan cultural life. Dunghutti has a unique “fricitivised rhotic” variant pronunciation of a trill or tap when it occurs between two vowels, as heard in mirri and yarri. This is an unusual sound in an Aboriginal language. Dunghutti has a complex word building strategies including inflectional and derivational suffixes on nouns, adjectives, demonstratives and pronouns. The pronouns include singular, dual
June 2017 issue 1
and plural number and several cases. There are at least two classes of verbs based on transitivity, with complex word building patterns to express tense, aspect, mood, and to derive other verbs and nominal forms. Dunghutti is the language of the Macleay Valley NSW and the surrounding high country which forms part of the Great Dividing Range. On linguistic criteria alone, it seems that Dunghutti is more closely related to Anaiwan (Nganyawana) and Yugambal on the Tablelands than any other language. There were at least two dialects, Dhanggati and Buurrgati, the latter is associated with the region around Macksville. Aboriginal people were multilingual, speaking the languages of their neighbours as well as their own. There are significant social relationships amongst Dunghutti, Gumbaynggirr and Biripi peoples, including a shared set of marriage sections, which is also a feature of Anaiwan cultural life. Dunghutti has a unique “fricitivised rhotic� variant pronunciation of a trill or tap when it occurs between two vowels, as heard in mirri and yarri. This is an unusual sound in an Aboriginal language. Dunghutti has a complex word building strategies including inflectional and derivational suffixes on nouns, adjectives, demonstratives and pronouns. The pronouns include singular, dual and plural number and several cases. There are at least two classes of verbs based on transitivity, with complex word building patterns to express tense, aspect, mood, and to derive other verbs and nominal forms. Niungacko was the most common language, along the coastal area between about South West Rocks & Scott Head, in the north, and the coastal area to the south east Cresent Head. Niungacko a more southern language, is believed to have been a dialect of Dunghutti. Dunghutti is 'part of a chain of languages which ran down the east coast of Australia from south Townsville to the Victorian border. It is described as the language of the Macleay Valley
Local Indigenous surf champion Robbie Page
Dunghutti art work
June 2017 issue 1
POWER POLES GET DRESSED WITH ARTWORK: Children from The Crescent Head Public School begin artwork on one of the 12 power poles allocated for artists to paint the theme of ocean and surfing. The intention of this initiative is to bring Crescent Heads streetscape into a more pleasurable and visual experience. This is a form of development needed in the village to celebrate its unique place on the coast. More initiatives are planned, and will most likely be community based without reliance on the council.
Local Mel Timmins
June 2017 issue 1
CRESCENT HEAD. CAN IT BE A BANDS “GO TO� VILLAGE? The Village is quite often a venue for local and out of town bands/groups/Musos. Particularly popular during the summer months we have been able to enjoy a lot of different music. Currently the main venue is the country club and The Tavern a little less regular. It has not gone unnoticed that the surf club with its spectacular views is starting to do the odd show as well. Keep the pressure up and pester your regular drinking hole to get more bands.
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
ICONS OF CRESCENT HEAD
extensive understanding of rock music. A great crowd communicator, it is rumoured he is now doing a vocal or 2 around the traps. Rob was replaced by the very capable and well dressed ? Gary. A totally different style of drumming but powerful and fits in with The Roys like a hand in a glove. Dave is the lead guitarist and main singer, John plays base and does vocals and Bob does just that bobs…..and also plays keyboard and base. It all works, and without doubt everyone walks away with a tune in their head and a friendly laugh at the interaction between band members. Holiday times and especially Christmas The Roys fire up Crescent Head, Point Plommer and South West Rocks with their familiar rock covers along with a bit of blues and contemporary music. Personally, I would like a dollar for every time a visitor has said “hey are The Roys playing this weekend?”
As far as music is concerned, one of the icons of Crescent Head is the The Roys. They have been around a very long time and it is rumoured were playing before colour was invented. Never the less they are great performers and musicians with a song list as long as Crescent Head Road. Many an afternoon has been enjoyed at The Tavern with The Roys going off, much to the publicans delight as the number of followers pour in. Quite often the “your fired!!!” sign nearly comes out as they do that one song too many over the allotted time. A little over 12 months ago, their drummer and long time band member Rob Marchment hung up the drumsticks. Incredible, given his knowledge, and
Crescent Head is known for a lot of things , but one that is always up there are THE ROYS. ( written for The Yak by Paul Hayllar, a Roys tragic)
June 2017 issue 1
MUSIC MADNESS
NATIONAL SURING RESERVE A PLACE FOR ALL CREATURES... The marine and local habitats, enjoyed by all those who visit Crescent Head, include the rocky pools of the shore, which are tiny microcosms teaming with
June 2017 issue 1
starfish, sea urchins, sea snails, crustaceans and tiny fish.
permission from the Kempsey - Crescent Head SLSC to use the board.
"Crescent Head has the best surf" Midget Farrelly: World Surfing Champion (1964) The sand dunes are host to ghost crabs and are stabilised by the native grasses. Higher up the shores are dotted with ruggedly beautiful pandanus palms. Off the shoreline the area enjoys casuarinas, banksia, tuckeroo and paperbark varieties. The Sea is abundant with black fish, bream, and drummer feeding off the Black Boulder. Pelagic species including taylor, mackeral and salmon move through and jewfish provide a thrill for recreational fisherman.
In 1958 John Westaway, Bob Marvin and David Cheers purchased solid balsa boards in Newcastle and took to the waves. Other surfers soon followed.
Surfers are often joined on the waves by dolphins and Crescent Head is visited by migrating whales as they cruise north and south annually. Stingrays are often seen basking on the sand and loggerhead turtles are a special treat when surfing the point. The sky an surrounds are home to the osprey, brahminy kites and seagulls. Pelicans also visit the creek dwellers and fishermen. THE DUNGHUTTI PEOPLE Crescent Head lies in the middle of the eastern border of the lands of the Dunghutti people. Dunghutti people lived in harmony with the land and their pattern of life was governed by codes of conduct regarded as sacred, having been handed down through countless generations. The Dunghutti people crafted canoes from the bark of the canoe tree and used them whilst hunting and fishing in Killick Creek. There was a track on the Maria River Road through to Crescent Head, which was created by Dunghutti people and also used by early settlers. THE FIRST SURFERS The first person to surf the Crescent Head point break, using a surfboard as we know it today, as John Westaway in the 1950s. John had to obtain
Surfers who discovered the swell and magnificent sets of Crescent Head would camp over weekends, often leaving their boards at the beach until their return the following weekend. Bob Evans started Surfing World Magazine in 1962, and arrived in Crescent Head in 1963 with a team of 25 experienced surfers including Midget Farrelly and Alby Falzon. A good three to five foot wave with perfect conditions meant the word spread fast about Crescent Head. Midget Farrelly once commented that Crescent Head had the best surf in the area, and by the early 1960s approximately 20 surfers were regularly surfing the point. Soon after in 1964 Midget won the first World Surfing Championship, and this opinion attracted many more surfers to explore the location. Midget Farrelly and Bob Evans would have the reputation forever for establishing Crescent Head "the first stop on the surfers NSW North Coast journey in pursuit of the perfect wave". CRESCENT HEAD WAVES ARE SPECIAL This truly unique right hand break is characterised by a 300m length of ride and the consistent wave formation means it is suitable for all levels of surfing. Crescent Head is a sleepy township nestled in the side of its high grassy headland, protected from the southerly winds. At the base of the headland the shoreline is formed by large cobblestones that curb around to the entrance of the river mouth and continues on to form semi-circular shaped beach some 10 miles long.
June 2017 issue 1
The area from the point at Crescent Head to the river mouth is entirely rock bottom which forms the basis for a really consistent wave shape. The Take-off area on the point produces a fast tubing wave which drops onto the shallow reef. The wave then follows the curvature of the shore-line pealing off in walling-up hot-dog shape until you reach the final build-up into an exhilarating shore ride. Such a ride ends up in the mouth of the river, a distance of some 300 yards from the point. It is vital to the community of Crescent Head that we preserve the area to ensure that the younger generations will enjoy the rich surfing culture of those who rode the waves before them. THE SURF RESERVE The local community has a long history of working together to protect the natural environment and to preserve their way of life. There have been many small projects, petitions and achievements dating back; ◦ In 1996 six melon head whales beached themselves and they were all successfully recovered and nursed back to good health by Crescent Head locals. ◦ In 2000 a campaign to restrict the development of a prawn farm at Racecourse Beach was also successful, and Racecourse Beach remains untouched today. ◦ 2002 saw Crescent Head win the regions "Keep Australia Beautiful" award. In 2008 the Establishment of a National Surf Reserve to share, protect and preserve this special place will ensure its safe keeping forever. Crescent head stood out as boldly as its proud headland - to be finally recgonised as one of the worlds great surf environments. Few other places embody the connection of our famed Australian surf culture as classically as the love affair that surfers have enjoyed with their beloved Crescent Head, following on from the belonging of the indigenous people of the area. Its richness in so many personal connections with surfers from north to south, and world over make Crescent supremely worthy of the auspicious status of a National Surfing Reserve.
A view from the top. Crescent Head bare and bold.
June 2017 issue 1
Before Development…….
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
Sunset in Crescent Head.
June 2017 issue 1
CRESCENT HEAD – WETLANDS
June 2017 issue 1
A TALE OF TWO MISUNDERSTANDINGS There was a classic book by Charles Dickens named a Tale of Two cities. It was set in the time of the French Revolution with all sorts of cool characters. It had strange characters scheming over how they could bring down the aristocracy, the well to do who simply didn’t care about those that were not in their class structure. The gaps in human interaction were horrendous.
The village has changed dramatically over the past few years as evidenced by the increase in sustainable Cafes and accommodation occupancies for visitors. The Cafes seem to be full each Weekend morning with a mixture of locals and visitors and through the week with visitors and tradies. There is also the cafeé at the Surf club that maximizes its opening hours to the pulse of the point.
Of course there were those who didn’t listen and who didn’t care either, because they were set for life, with inherited wealth and arrogance.
We also have the ever suffering markets at The point every 3rd Sunday. In competition with Gladstone Markets, diminishing participation and quite honestly …….well lets just say a revamp or something needs to happen.
A common understanding was lost.
Where are we going with this article?
The biggest thing we know in todays world is that it is changing it is in a state of flux. It’s between how we always did things and the fear of the unknown ahead of us.
We are saying the village needs to be established as the centre of Crescent Head. The village needs complete landscaping suggestions and then construction. The businesses need to have people in Main Street, Rankin Street and East Street.. The markets should be held in the Rankin Street carpark where people can buy their trinkets and use the cafes and other shops to satisfy their purchasing hunger.
As we rush toward this unknown we can miss important essential changes happening around us. Things like people ageing, demographic change, job opportunity change, community sentiment and much more. It always surprises me when I ask our business owners in Crescent Head how they are going. Of course they are diverse businesses, ranging from Pharmacy, Cafeé , Real Estate, Pub, Club, Butcher, Baker, Post Office, surf shop, fashion shop. The surprise is the limited boost to their businesses brought to them by events, any event held at The Point. This is n not to say events at The Point are not with the best intentions and are appropriate for our surfing heritage. But we do not have a coordinated approach to these events, therefore losing a great cohesive village input and outcome.
The Point would then have its cafeé with carefully manicured hours. The surf club is a real feather in the cap and will be in a league of its own, especially in summer. But it is a single strength on The Point. Organisers of events need to take into account the commercial centre of the village.
June 2017 issue 1
The Green Room Cafe CRESCENT HEAD VILLAGE The Bakery Crescent Head Butcher Crescent Head Newsagent Crescent Head Bottle shop Crescent Head Cafe Crescent Head Tavern Crescent Head surf shop Crescent Head Post Office The Blackfish cafeé Pandanis – exclusive fashion Foodworks Crescent Head Country club Point Break Real Estate Hooked Crescent Head Pharmacy
June 2017 issue 1
We love people who share their pictures and stories. The Blackfish cafeĂŠ has a board for you to check. INSTAGRAM
June 2017 issue 1
Here are some other cool sites on Insatagram: #indotheartist #canggu_life #deustemple #pandanuscrescenthead #carlyinart #patagonia_surf #whitehorsemag #findingfirko #anniesfishtales #poopdeck #mahaladrift #kipcaddy1
#maccasphotos #vanimosurflodge #jacknorton21
June 2017 issue 1
Architecture of Crescent Head
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
Advertising enquiries: (we advertise across all social platforms) info@crescentheadsurf.com Paul Hayllar mbl 0419416367 Thanks to: Indo the artist Mel Timmins Geordie Bull SPONSOR
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1
June 2017 issue 1