Meg Nielson has been painting all her life.Now 71, Meg says her art has been on the backburner for a while, but she envisions more “relaxing and serenely painting in the garden” as the years pass by.But by no means is she twiddling her thumbs.As an artist, campaigner and radio personality – she has her fingers in a lot of local pies – including hosting a radio show on River FM and being the president of Lismore Art Club.“I’ve been busy campaigning against the gas industry invading the Northern Rivers,” Meg said. “I got involved when I realised so much needs changing.“I also have a radio show on River FM on Saturdays called Earth and Art. I like to invite guests onto the program, including specialists and researchers. It keeps me sharp.”Can’t You See? pastel on paper by Meg Nielsen.Meg came to Lismore 46 years ago in 1974. She said she was “passing through” on her way to New Zealand when she was 24.“I stayed here with my cousin and them I was offered a job - and the rest is history,” she said.Meg said she began her artistic career when she started art college in the UK.“Back then, I set up easel in the National Gallery and copied the masters,” she said.“I enjoy having a mentoring role in Lismore Art Club and helping others. So many clubs can be competitive, but Lismore Art Club is welcoming and supportive.Lismore Art Club workshop with visiting artists Harry Westera & Penelope Gilbert-Ng.Tricks of the trade“It doesn’t matter how inexperienced an artist you are, you can come along and learn the tricks of the trade.“I like to give tips to aspiring artists that when they see a painting they like, they can photocopy it and then copy it. That way you learn. It will look different, but it’s the practice of learning the techniques that is the shortcut to studying art.“All art is copying – even painting a landscape. You just set up an easel and copy what’s in front of you.“Northern Rivers landscapes and their resilience in rejuvenating after fires and drought is a big inspiration to me.“There’s a lot of great artists in Lismore Art Club who love to give advice on how you can get to be a better artist. We have Margaret E Bran, an accomplished watercolour artist in the club and Ann Slade is an amazing artist who trained at Lismore TAFE.”Lismore Post Office Tower, 2019, acrylic on canvas by Lismore Art Club member Roger Jones.Art exhibitionRecently, Meg has been instrumental in putting together the exhibition of Lismore Art Club members’ art at Lismore Regional Gallery – to celebrate the club’s 60 year anniversary. Meg has been a member of the club since 2004, and her art is part of the exhibition.Meg said she it was “frantic” as she worked with Lismore Art Club secretary Linnea Hannan to curate the exhibition.“Celebrating 60 years of history is important,” Meg said. “Celebrating 60 Years shows the diversity of our work from traditional to contemporary, in a variety of mediums, capturing the essence of this beautiful region.“We are spoilt here – we are surrounded by landscapes from the mountains to the coast.“Some of our greatest inspiration comes from observing the resilience of our community and our land, and the amazing rejuvenation that follows.”Hattie, waterclour by Lismore Art Club member Linnea Hannan.Lismore Art Club historyMeg said finding out about the history of the club and its early members was a highlight of her research for the exhibition.“I’ve met and chatted with early members – the last one died five years ago in her 90s,” she said.Halcylon days “Way back before the club was formed in 1960, artists from all around the Lismore area would get together at homes and sketch.“The early days were ‘halcylon’ days full of creative gatherings where people enjoyed the company of artists of all ages. They were topped off with lunches and picnics and bottles of wine.“It sounded wonderful and I wanted to be sitting there with them on a rug with an easel.“This time wet the scene for the art club to form in 1960. Since then, members work together and preserve a friendly, nurturing environment for anyone to join.”Celebrating 60 YearsThe Lismore Art Club’s current exhibition at Lismore Regional Gallery features the works of 22 of the club’s members – who each get to exhibit two or three works each.With at least 40 paintings and drawings, Meg said members had submitted earlier works as well as more recent ones to reflect a body of work over time.“We’ve been waiting since early last year to get a gallery space – we had an exhibition for the club’s 50th anniversary at the old art gallery on Molesworth Street.”The exhibition Lismore Art Club: celebrating 60 years is on at Lismore Regional Galley until August 16.Members of Lismore Art Club with students from Wilson Park Primary SchoolWorkshops and Wilson Park Primary SchoolOn the third Saturday of each month, from 9am-3pm, Lismore Art Club holds workshops and tutorials with guest artists from all round Australia and the world and Meg invites people to join them.“Guests can come along to Wilson Park School on Wyrallah Road and join in,” Meg said. “We encourage and support both emerging and established artists.“The school’s principal Helen Rae allows the club to share their premises and we have enjoyed a special relationship with this wonderful school for many years.“Every year teacher Gail O’Brien assists the school’s students to take part in our annual exhibition which is held in August each year.“It’s the longest running annual art exhibition in the area – and we love having the special school students exhibit there. Each year, we have a judge and the school students get prizes.“Lismore Workers Club donate the auditorium each August for the four day exhibition and we collect donations for the school through the exhibition.“We expect to still hold the exhibition again this August if all goes well.”Members of Lismore Art Club.Lismore Art Club workshop informationWorkshop tutorials are held on the third Saturday of the month. Doors open at 8.30am to set up ready for a 9:00am start, through to 3:00pm at Wilson Park Primary School – Wyrallah Rd, Lismore. Bring your own lunch, morning tea, drinks, a small table, easel, appropriate art supplies and preferably a chair. The cost of each tutorial/workshop is $25 for the day for members and $30 for visitors/non-members. For more information, visit http://www.lismoreartclub.com.au/

Blessed are the cheese makers It’s 7am in the beautiful Nimbin valley and, despite the rain, the blessed cheese makers of Nimbin are already hard at work.High on a hill at the Nimbin Valley Dairy farm, surrounded by white clouds and mist hanging low over the green hillsides, farm owners Kerry Wilson and Paul Wilson can see fields of lush, green grass and happy-looking goats.They have been at work since 5am, milking the goats so they can turn the milk into cheese and I’m visiting them to see how cheese is made.At the milking shed, surrounded by mud, lots of goats are patiently waiting to be milked. Some are getting bowls filled with feed before they clamber up the ramp onto the milking platform to have milking suction cups attached to their udders.“Three years ago, we started with three goats to eat the weeds,” Kerry says. “Now we have a herd of 200.”Kerry tells me he’s the outdoors animal man and farm boy, while Paul, his partner, is the cheese maker.“When we decided to start making cheese 12 years ago, one of us had to make the cheese,” Kerry explains. Sociable goatsKerry tells me their goats are more sociable than cows, as well as being “more emotionally needy”. They also hate the rain and prefer to stay under shelter if they can. Unlike most cows I’ve met, the goats in the milking pen are up for a scratch between the ears from us and just as I’m taking a picture of them, three goats turn around pose for me in a very human-like manner.“When you are rounding up cows, you need to get on the quad bike and chase them,” Kerry says. “But with goats, I only have to stand on the hill and call out ‘goaty, goaty, goaty’, and they all come running.”Both Kerry and Paul grew up on dairy farms and are used to the early morning farm routine, and by coincidence, they have the same last name.“We get asked which one of us is the older brother a lot,” Kerry laughs.As I’m watching the milking process, I can see a large pipe running from the milking machine straight into the cheese-making room next door. Grass rootsThe only thing separating the goats from the cheese is a wall.This is local cheese making at its grassroots finest. Unlike many other small dairies, the cheeses are produced here on the farm, direct from the goat to the on-site cheese factory where the cheese is literally made by hand. Standing in the milking shed, I can see through a little window into one of the cheese-making rooms, where Paul is wearing a little cap to keep any stray hairs out of the cheese.For Kerry and Paul, the path from raising goats to producing cheese came after they decided they wanted to “do something different” and produce cheese from their goat herd, as well as from the cows at the Wilson family’s dairy farm at Woodlawn. As the family cheese maker, Paul studied at the National Centre for Dairy Education and in 2007, won the Dairy Australia Cheesemaking Scholarship.Making cheese has now become Paul’s passion and he regularly attends workshops to learn more about the art of cheese making and cheese ‘culture’ (pardon the pun). His hard work paid off in 2010, when he won the gold medal at the Brisbane Cheese Awards for his Orange Billy cheese. The art of cheeseCheese making is an ancient art that has long allowed humans to preserve milk. Some sources say the earliest archaeological evidence of cheese making has been found in 4000-year- old Egyptian tombs, and it is known that by Roman times, cheese making was a mature art. It is also thought that Middle Eastern cultures discovered cheese after carting milk around in the stomach of a goat, where the curdling agent rennet is naturally found.I’m keen to see how the cheese is made, so I make my way to the sanitising room of the cheese factory where Paul is hard at work. I take off my dirty shoes, slip on a pair of rubber slippers and am transformed into a Cinderella of cheese. Over my hair goes a white cap and with thoroughly scrubbed and disinfected hands, Paul takes me into the cheese-making room.I can hear the milk sloshing down the pipe coming from the milking shed outside as it falls into a large, sealed cooling vat.“I’m making a soft, fresh goat’s cheese today, a bit like a camembert or brie cheese,” Paul says as he stirs 100 litres of warm milk in a large, open vat.PasteurisationPaul explains that before he can make a batch of cheese, the milk has to be pasteurised (heated up) in order to kill any harmful bacteria that might be in the milk. Every morning, a timer comes on while he’s still in bed and heats the milk for three hours to pasteurise it.“Pasteurising kills good and bad bacteria,” Paul says. “But we put the good bacteria back in through the different cultures we add to the cheese.”Curds and wheyPaul uses both his hands to stir the milk every 20 minutes and he explains that the rennet enzyme and culture he added a while ago will cause the milk to acidify and separate into curds and whey. He uses his hand to cut through the top layer of the milk and I can see a yellowing liquid (whey proteins) floating on the top as it begins to separate from the thick white clumps of curd. The coagulating curds are the fatty milk proteins that Paul will use to make cheese from, but he tells me that the whey won’t go to waste, and will be fed to the goats on the farm. As the curds thicken, Paul regularly uses different cutting tools to cut the curds into thousands of small floating cubes. Paul explains that the smaller he cuts the cubes, the more whey will drain out of them when they are put into their moulds.“Drier, aged cheeses like cheddar need to be cut into tiny cubes so we can get most of the moisture out of them,” Paul explains. Moisture content“But because I’m making a soft, fresh cheese today with a higher moisture content, the cubes are a bit larger.”I now realise that when little Miss Muffett sat on her tuffet eating curds and whey, she obviously was too hungry or impatient to let the curds mature and dry into a vintage cheddar. It’s more likely she was eating a fresh cheese like ricotta.While we are waiting for the curds to get thick enough, Paul takes me through to a refrigerated room where he keeps his maturing cheeses. Shelves full of different cheeses covered with colourful moulds line the walls. Cheese paradiseIt’s a cheese lover’s paradise in here, and certainly not like the dodgy cheese shop from the famous Monty Python skit where no cheese can be found. Paul pulls out some sliding trays full of goats cheeses in different shapes and sizes, and he turns them over, one by one. On each cheese, I can see a white fluffy mould growing on the outside.“I add different cultures to each type of cheese I make to produce a particular type of mould,” Paul says. Brie and camembert“To make brie and camembert, I use a Penicillium candidum bacteria which forms a white mould.”Paul explains that most cheeses need to have acidifying starter cultures added to them in order to convert the milk sugars (lactose) into lactic acid. He chooses each starter culture carefully in order to develop the cheese’s texture and flavour and says he is constantly learning and experimenting with different cultures.“This one is a cows’ milk cheddar that I experimented with,” Paul says as he shows me a round yellowish cheese covered with lots of white and blue mould. “People say it’s their favourite, but I haven’t been able to replicate it again.”He picks up one of the large round cheeses and takes it through to another workroom where his staff are wrapping in plastic small rectangles of cheese which are ready for sale. On the shelves nearby are plastic containers labelled Orange Billy, Chilly Billy and Lillian Fetta, all destined to be filled with fetta cheese mixed with oil, herbs and spices.MouldPaul passes the mouldy cheese to one of workers, who begins to push holes into it with a long skewer.“This cheese was made with the blue cheese starter culture Penicillium roqueforti,” Paul explains. “When we put it back into the fridge, over the next few weeks the holes will allow the air to penetrate to the inside and cause the blue mould to grow throughout the cheese.“I have a French cheese maker coming to visit me later this week to help me work on my technique for making blue cheese and speed up the process.”Paul checks the clock and it’s time to check on the vat of curds and whey in the other room again. He shows me how he expertly fills lots of little plastic basket moulds with the soft thick curd.“These will take a while to firm up,” Paul says as he turns the cheeses in their basket moulds, the excess whey dripping from them. “I’ll turn them three of four times a day then sit them out for the night. Tomorrow, I’ll cut them in half and put them in brine to give them a salty flavour, then they’ll sit out another night to dry off.”After that, it’s off to the fridge with these delicious morsels where they will grow their unique moulds on the outside and be ready for eating in about six weeks.As I take off my cap and rubber slippers and leave the land of cheese behind, Paul is just getting ready to make one of my favourite cheeses: haloumi. Now I know that haloumi gets its salty, rubbery texture from being cooked in whey and brine after being pasteurised.Where does the cheese go?Paul’s finished cheeses are sold online to be delivered in the Northern Rivers and the Gold Coast. He also sells them at the local farmers’ markets.Due to Covid-19, Paul said the farm lost its wholesale food service business – which made up about 40% of sales.“So, we’ve been trying to fill that gap in online sales and have started supplying Harris Farms,” Paul explained.“We’ve also been working with Cheese Therapy online.Innovation in Covid“When we lost the sales, we still and had milk coming in, so we started making cheddar.“It’s traditionally a way of preserving milk into a hard cheese. Traditional cheddar was crumbly and wrapped in a cloth and rubbed with pig fat to hold it together and keep its shape. “So, we used cloth, but rubbed it in macadamia oil instead.“It’s still maturing – it usually takes a minimum of three months. It’s just coming up to time to sell it, so we’ll sample some and put it out there.”If you’re at the market and see Paul or Kerry, drop by and say ‘cheese’. You can find out more about the cheese makers of Nimbin on their website at http://www.nimbinvalley.com.au

Being stranded on Bald Rock with his grounded helicopter and having a crew mate walk in with a pizza for him was one of Mark Sewell’s most memorable career moments as an air crew officer.Mark is celebrating 30 years with the Lismore-based Westpac Life Saver Rescue Service - and he said he owes his career in rescue to his wife, Maryanne, who already had an association with the Service.Maryanne worked in the Emergency Department at Lismore Base Hospital and often saw the helicopter bring patients in, so she suggested Mark consider joining.And so, in 1990, his career began as a Volunteer Rescue Crewman.“At the time I started, I was a diving instructor in Byron Bay, which I thought was the best job in the world,” Mark said.Mark’s attitude soon changed though as he realised he was now part of a team who was changing lives everyday on the North Coast.  His first training flight was at Lennox Head where he was only on the Helicopter for five minutes before he had to do a dive jump into what was very familiar territory as a former diving instructor.“It’s one thing to roll off the side of a boat but it’s totally different to drop from an aircraft,” Mark said. “The Helicopter would then come back with a qualified Rescue Crewman and pick me up. This was using a static rope as they didn’t have a winch back in those days - the pilot had to use a mirror to guide the rope to us for hookup, then static lift us back to the beach.”As far as career highlights from the past 30 years, Mark said any of the winch jobs he has done over the years are a stand out, whether it be water, boat, bush or mountain rescues they are always challenging and interesting missions.  Bald RockMark noted one memorable mission was in the Bald Rock National Park near Tenterfield where the aircraft had been tasked to rescue an injured bushwalker.They had landed on top of Bald Rock and once they were ready to get the patient back to hospital, cloud set in and due to having no visibility they had to wait till the next day to get the helicopter out.Mark stayed overnight with the aircraft for security, while the pilot went back with the patient and paramedics via road ambulance.The Crew Chief, Roger Fry, heard where Mark was and took his family to the area, picked up a pizza on the way and walked an hour in the dark to drop it off to Mark at the helicopter.Change and time“In 30 years, it has been interesting to watch how much the service has changed,” Mark said.“Back when we had the Jet Ranger in the first few years of my career, we would have to use maps, charts, pencils and rulers to plan the mission.There was no internet, mobile phones or GPS back in the day and the navigation system we used to get back to Base was pre WW2 technology.“Now with a click of a button, you can have the journey mapped for you and Night Vision Goggles (NVG) have made night missions so much easier. “Before NVG we would use a search light and now I look back on those early years and cannot imagine going back to that after using the NVGs.”AircraftDuring his career, Mark has flown in four types of aircraft used by the Service, including the Jet Ranger, Long Ranger, Dauphin and the current state of the art aeromedical aircraft of choice, the AW139.A father of three, all born in his 30 years with the Service, it was no surprise that son Shaun worked alongside his dad for a period as a Rescue Crewman.“It has been an absolute pleasure working alongside such an amazing bunch of people. Including the Crew, countless Pilots, Engineers and the Fundraising and Marketing team, as well as many NSW Ambulance Paramedics and NSW Health Doctors who make up our Critical Care Medical Team on board the aircraft, all collectively contributing to providing this vital service for the community,” Mark said.“In the early days, we were all heavily involved in the fundraising before the organisation expanded to include a marketing and fundraising team and in addition to flying, we would all lend a hand to complete improvements on and around the Base and other tasks.” “I thought a diving instructor was a pretty great life at the time but now, after spending more than half of my life with the Service, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else that provides the rewards and satisfaction that I get from helping those in need in the community.”AchievementsWestpac Rescue Helicopter Service Operations Manager Robert Jenkins and chief executive Richard Jones are both proud of the achievements of the Lismore based team member.“The professionalism of our aeromedical operations is achieved through the quality of our team and the depth of experience they bring to their roles, with Mark testament to the competencies that are present within the Service,” Robert said.“A career spanning 30 years speaks volumes of Mark’s commitment, his knowledge and most importantly his level of care and dedication to serving the community. “He is a great asset to not only the Service as a whole but particularly to our operations in Lismore and on the North Coast.”

In a scene reminiscent of a century ago, cloth bags full of stamped letters were picked up from Lismore’s oldest letterbox by a vintage car and driven to the Tiger Moth plane – ready to fly the precious cargo to Tenterfield. This delivery was part of Geoff Wotherspoon’s dream of creating a reenactment of the first ever air mail flight from Lismore 100 years ago. The journey took one and a half hours and involved a pilot and a Royal Mail contractor.The mail arrives.At the Northern Rivers Aero Club last Friday, June 26, Geoff brought history alive with the help of Bob Trevan and his car, pilot Bill Finlen and his rebuilt Tiger Moth and members of Lismore Chamber of Commerce, politicians and Lismore Council. Even the descendants of the people originally involved in the flight were there to celebrate the occasion.The day was the 100 year anniversary of the first ever Australian airmail delivery flight – from Lismore to Casino, then Tenterfield.Why Lismore?So, why, out of all the places in Australia, did the first flight happen in regional Lismore?Geoff spent three years studying the history of the postal system development and came up with a wealth of information about why our area pioneered the opening up of communication channels.After visiting historical society archives up and down the coast, he used the information he gathered to write a book about it - Per Aerial Mail – Australia’s first air mail flight sanctioned by and under the instruction of the postmaster-general. The book is filled with historical photographs, official letters and excerpts from newspapers that tell a story about a generation of people determined to see an isolated Lismore be connected to the rest of Australia by an efficient mail delivery system. Stamp loveIt was actually his love of stamps that led the third generation Lismore local down the path of historical study.A keen philatelist, Geoff is the president of Richmond River Philatelic Society and first started collecting stamps when he was a boy. Geoff said he started in 1970 when a stamp collector visited his parents’ business to buy packets of stamps – then he joined the local stamp collecting society.Geoff and Betty Wotherspoon in front of Lismore’s oldest remaining post box, now 130 years old.Family businessGeoff’s great, great grandfather was Andrew Wotherspoon, who in 1886 was Lismore’s first school teacher and Lismore’s second postmaster.“Out of Andrew’s seven sons, one was the mayor of Lismore and the others were plodders,” Geoff laughed. “My father and brothers were into sports and business.“My parents started Wotherspoon’s Food Service Design in Lismore. Now we have a second generation business that’s 56 years old and we design and build commercial kitchens.“My father started by selling scales and cash registers and over time, it developed into designing kitchens.”On top of running a family business, Geoff somehow found time to do historical research.The mail bags are delivered to the plane.SparkGeoff said the spark for his book research started with a special project he was doing for the stamp club.“I decided to do a history of Lismore’s social and regional development through looking at the post office. “When I started the research, I found out that the air mail plane took off from a site opposite my shop on Wyrallah Road – that really sparked my interest.”IsolationGeoff said until 1923, Lismore was geographically isolated – with a railway line that did not connect the North Coast to Sydney due to the Clarence River getting in the way.Mail at the time was collected from post offices and transported overland to Tenterfield on a mostly unsurfaced road – and it took time for the mail to get to where it was going, especially when it rained. “It was tough here - we had been through the Spanish flu and were transitioning into dairying” Geoff said.“There was often trouble shipping things out with the weather conditions.“Just to get the mail up the hill to meet the train at Tenterfield was a mammoth task.”“This made the people in this area incredibly enterprising and determined – we had to be because we are isolated.Geoff Wotherspoon with Frank Roberts Junior and pilot pilot Bill Finlen.Lobbying “At the time, politicians were lobbying for the dividing of States into smaller regional units and trying to break the Sydney-focus of development in NSW.”Geoff said that in 1916, it was the tenacious Lismore Mayor - Alderman - who instigated talk of a trial mail flight that would be endorsed by the Postmaster General’s Department.“Then others, including politicians and the Lismore Chamber of Commerce, got behind the idea of an official, speedy air mail delivery service.“Back in the day, if you paid two or three shillings you could have a letter delivered on a commercial flight.“Some of them only carried 10 letters, and they had nothing to do with the post office.“The shift was in creating a sanctioned mail flight as a full commercial operation, with the Postmaster General’s Department sanctioning the flight and responsible for any mail in transition.“The pos Postmaster General’s office knew the costings and logistics and it was about 6-9 months later that the first official air mail service began. “Lismore has the first – and it took off after that across Australia.”Above: Pilot in 2020: Bill Finlen. Below Original pilot in 1920: Frank Roberts.The flight, the peopleOn the original flight 100 years ago, pilot Frank Roberts was at the helm of his Tiger Moth plane.For the reenactment, the Frank Roberts’ son Craig Roberts, flew up from Melbourne to see the historic flight.He said his father died at the age of 95 and Craig arranged for him to go on a747 plane before he died.The pilot of the plane for the reenactment was Bill Finlen –  who said the plane was an original plane that had been completely stripped down and rebuilt. It made it’s first flight six months ago.“This has been flying since 1920,” Bill said. “It’s not easy to fly – there are no navigation aids and there will be cold noses.“It’s a gypsy moth – it was designed before the tiger moths. People who wanted a plane with more power than a gypsy designed the tiger moth. This plane is the only one that’s been built as it was intended – not a hybrid of gypsy and tiger.”David Cameron, the descendant of Water Lynn – the original Royal Mail contractor – was also at the reenactment.“100 years ago, the mayor and district postmaster were also on site to see the plane off,” Geoff said.“It’s good to have our current mayor here too, also with Matthew Wilson - the district area manger of Australia Post – as well as Kevin Hogan and Janelle Saffin who have been instrumental in getting this project off the ground.”The plane is farewelled as it begins its journey.The stationary, the bookTo mark the occasion, Geoff had a commemorative set of envelopes with stamps created that people wrote letters on and which were loaded onto the reenactment lfight for delivery.A set of these will be on display in Lismore Museum and in the Penny Man coin shop in Star Court Arcade. If you are interested in buying a copy of Geoff’s book Per Aerial Mail, you can pick one up at the coin shop, or from the Wotherspoon Foodservice Design shop at 45 Wyrallah Road.

It isn't every day that you meet a former stockbroker turned hippie. I'm sitting with Nimbin's unofficial mayor, Michael Balderstone, at the Nimbin HEMP Embassy, watching people wandering past colourful painted shopfronts.The little village of Nimbin has a unique laid-back lifestyle, with coffee shops, organic vegetable seedlings and hemp-based soaps.For the past 30 years, Michael has been the public face of the North Coast's Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) movement. As the president of the Nimbin HEMP Embassy and the founder of the Nimbin Museum, Michael is a self-proclaimed hippie and advocate for all things hemp; but his life wasn't always about living the alternative lifestyle and promoting decriminalisation. Before finding his way to the North Coast 36 years ago, Michael spent his school days at a private boarding school in Victoria before heading off to find his fame and fortune as a high flyer on the stockmarket.Michael outside the Nimbin Museum when it was still there.History"In the early 70s, the Poseidon venture was taking off and nickel mining shares went from $2 to $200," Michael said. "All over the country people were flocking to the investment business to make their fortunes on the mining boom. I was a country boy and I thought I was missing out on the fun and games, so I went to a firm in Melbourne and got a job as a stockbroker. I wore suits, had a secretary and felt important in the city."He obviously wasn't too bad at his job because Michael was sent to London to receive further training, where he also took philosophy and art classes at night."That's when I started thinking," Michael said. "One day I was ringing up Swiss banks telling them how to make more millions and thought, 'I want to do something more useful, there's got to be more to life than this'. I was asking questions, 'Is there a God? Is there order in life?'"My boss told me I should go into the church, but I thought I could find the answer myself."Michael resigned from his job and, with a group of friends, bought an old police van and drove overland to India on the London to Kathmandu trail. It was then that he became one of the long-haired, bead-wearing types he'd previously only seen on the television.Stockbroker to hippie"I went away a stockbroker and I came back a hippie," Michael laughed. "I had seen through society, its values and the games people play. I kept travelling east, searching for meaning, through Syria, Turkey, Jordan and Iran."For a year, he didn't cut his hair and in Afghanistan, he discovered the power of marijuana."I'd smoked before but never felt much of an effect," Michael said. "One day, we were camped in our van in an orange orchard and the caretaker offered us a smoke of hash from a hookah… and I came up hallucinating."Michael spent many more years travelling the world on his journey to find answers, often finding doors opening through his experiences with drugs, but also through meditation and fasting. In Greece, Michael found a guru and started meditating."He taught me to separate from my emotional self," Michael said."I realised I was on my own. I am the only one who knows myself and I had to face who I was. I cried, and I hadn't cried for years. I was a good Aussie bloke who'd gone to boarding school and the shutters were down. I got feeling back."It was a bit like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. My brain was trying to work out God."Western minds find it hard to accept there is not an answer. The truth is there - you can't lock it in a box, but kids can see it. There is order in the apparent chaos. We are evolving and heading somewhere and there are big changes afoot."Nimbin arrivalIn 1985, when Michael moved to Nimbin, it seemed he had finally found where he belonged. He bought a share in a community in the Tweed Valley, built a house out of recycled junk, put up solar panels and started a family."I've always loved the hippie dreaming, trying to live together in nature," Michael said. "Travelling in third world countries really opened my eyes to how people can live a lifestyle, alternative to the nuclear family model. “The North Coast is like a new age community for us. I dreamed of finding it. It's the pot at the end of the rainbow; no gold, but plenty of pot."He rented a shop in town for $35 per week and opened a second-hand goods business. Seven years later, when the local council finally sealed the road into Nimbin town, tourists started visiting, asking about the unusual looking village. Michael in one of the old Nimbin Museum exhibits.Nimbin MuseumIn 1992, along with a group of friends and artists, Michael called a community meeting and the idea to transform his shop into the Nimbin Museum was born."We wanted to make a visual expression of hippie thinking and what Nimbin was about," Michael said. "We wanted to show the timelines and history, from a perspective other than the mainstream white fellas'. It wasn't until the hippies came after the Aquarius Festival that the forests came back and Nimbin was re-born."For 23 years, the museum grew and flourished and cost about $100 per day to run - relying entirely on public donations. Then in 2014, tragically it burned down. The loss of the museum was devastating for Michael and the town of Nimbin. "The museum was where my heart was," Michael said. "It represented my journey of inner unfolding; looking for peace of mind, a new way of living.”After a long period of taking drugs, Michael slowly became aware of the importance of ending prohibition."I met Bob Hopkins who was rallying to end prohibition on his own," Michael said."Back then, in Nimbin, it was mostly heroine addicts selling pot for their habit. The kids and tourists were starting to smoke dope and the market was growing. I wanted to understand what was happening there more and I'm still there, doing it now."In 1992, the volunteer-run Nimbin HEMP (Help End Marijuana Prohibition) Embassy was also born. Through the embassy, the annual Nimbin MardiGrass 'Let It Grow' May Day rally and street parade began. This year was its 30th anniversary."I think this so-called global war on drugs is actually a cultural war, against changing consciousness and other ways of seeing reality," Michael said. "I see the dominant culture getting lost in decadence and it doesn't want us questioning its consequences and values, which is exactly what using the traditional 'knowledge plants' do."These mind-altering insightful plants were used by our ancestors for millennia as sacred plants. Remember the CIA experimented with pot as a 'truth drug'?"Dominant culture is unsustainable and needs everyone working and consuming - whether they are enjoying themselves or not has become secondary. "Fortunately science is now beginning to catch up to what the hippies 'saw' as the truth when we were tripping years ago. The old cultures had medicine men who guided trips whereas we stumbled along in the dark. “My first mushroom trip, in Bali, blew my mind. I needed a decade wandering around the planet to work out what to do next after that. In 50 years, we'll look back and say 'What have we done? We are working against nature'."ProhibitionAfter years of campaigning against prohibition in Australia, Michael is happy to see legislative changes for cannabis reform taking place in America."In California, they may vote to treat pot like wine," Michael said. “"There are regulation controls and it's becoming de-glamourised. It's the illegality of it that makes it glamorous. Decriminalising pot would take the paranoia and fear out of it. Here, I see refugees from the war on drugs; people are afraid and smoke in back lanes. What is prohibition achieving? "We still have issues and that's all the more reason to take it out of the illegal market. We need regulations and truthful education. Cannabis is a strong drug, it stimulates the imagination and doesn't suit everyone. We need to be able to do the research into it, that's what we need."As a vocal campaigner, Michael has often had opportunity to confront politicians with the prohibition issue. When he met with former Prime Minister John Howard, Michael offered him a piece of hemp fibre to look at, but Mr Howard declined the offer with a clenched fist and refused to have anything to do with it."If you believe in something, you need to speak up for it," Michael said. "I'm happy to be a voice but I feel shy of the public beating around the ears I've had over the years. I've been blamed by some for turning Nimbin into the marijuana capital of Australia.“I'm shocked at how few people want to publicly say 'end marijuana prohibition'. We need more people in suits to stand up for it. Kids still get kicked out of home for smoking and people still believe the reefer madness guff. "Most other hippie ideas that were crazy 40 years ago are becoming mainstream now, but the drug war remains, along with other wars. Hopefully we'll learn before we destroy ourselves."

When Ros Sten was a child growing up in North Lismore, she would ask her grandmother lots of questions. As she listened to her grandmother’s stories, Ros found out more about her Aboriginal heritage and who she was. As she grew older, Ros developed a thirst for learning and a passion for family history research that would eventually take her on a path toward helping other Aboriginal people through education and advocacy.After spending 10 years as an educator, supporting students at TAFE, the Bundjalung Elder joined the local police as an Aboriginal Community Liaison Officer (ACLO) in 2010. Read more news: Hundreds defy public gathering regulations in support of Black Lives Matter rallyFirst Widjabul woman ACLORos was the first local Widjabul Aboriginal woman to take up a position in the Richmond Local Area Command and works with other local ACLOs in the Crime Management Unit (CMU).“We are the front line, the connection between the police and the community,” Ros said. “We support the police in policing and the community in understanding. I sometimes go into the cells and talk to the people in there and talk to their families. “The police also ask us for advice on how to speak to community members and I’m impressed with the way they do business.”Ros has also played an important role on the Council of Bundjalung Elders and she sees her ACLO role as important in helping to break down the barriers between the police and the Aboriginal community.Community link“These jobs are a vital link with community,” Ros said. “If we are open and accessible to the communities, we can help families and know what’s going on.“It’s a diverse job and involves a lot of trust. Now that I am here, I can deal with local women’s issues; that hasn’t been done before… and there is a high representation of women here.”Ros believes that having ACLOs in the police force is a positive cultural shift, showing that Aboriginal culture is being acknowledged and identified. She would like to see more ACLO positions in the future, including Aboriginal women of different ages, and believes that having locals doing the job is essential to providing effective support to local Aboriginal communities.Read more news: Sales of 'entertaining' foods on the rise: Time to share your recipesEmpathy and passion“To do the job, you need to have empathy and passion,” Ros said. “It’s important not to judge people and to understand people make mistakes; we all make mistakes, but it should never take away our right to improve.“For young people today, it’s hard as there is a great deal of expectation on them… and there are a lot of single mums. “We need to educate ourselves and take the opportunities we can. If I can achieve the things I’ve done coming from the background I come from, then anyone can do it. ‘“It takes guts and determination and a sense of worth.”HistoryRos grew up in Lismore during an era prior to the 1967 Referendum, when Aboriginal people did not have the rights and freedoms they do today. She grew up in a religious family, with 16 children (including five cousins), all living under the restrictions and controls of the Aborigines Protection Board.Her father was in the army, travelled a lot and was rarely home, so Ros “grew up in a wonderful world of women, aunties and cousins”.“My mother, Margaret Felton, ran a tight household and we always had a clean house. “The welfare workers from the Protection Board would often show up at our house and check to see that we had sheets on the bed and that no dust was gathering anywhere. “I didn’t have a youth or teenage years with freedom like people expect today. I would always be looking after the kids or cleaning, with lots of responsibilities in a large family.”Albert Park SchoolRos remembers going to Albert Park School, where she and the other Aboriginal children at school were made to take showers and had their hair checked for lice with paddle pop sticks.“The Aboriginal kids were all put into one class… it wasn’t until I was older I realised they had put us in a special class for people with learning disabilities, when we didn’t actually have learning disabilities.“The best thing they did though was to keep us together. “We stuck together, learned off each other and our culture did not die. We often got into trouble for using lingo at school… back then, people could lose their kids for not speaking English.”When Ros went to Richmond River High School there were few Aboriginal people at the school and only four girls in her class.Lingo“It was hard because I’d come from a world of women and I didn’t understand the teacher’s lingo,” Ros said.“We used Aboriginal words at home, so I listened to learn English and would ask my girlfriends what the words meant.“I didn’t grow up in a white world, I grew up in a black world and we were not accepted by society.”Ros left school at 15 to work in a clothing factory in South Lismore and hated it.“Coming from a family of 16 children, my parents had no money for me to do the HSC. I made my decision then and promised myself I would go back to school.”MarriageIt wasn’t until after Ros married Graham Sten from South Lismore, had three children and travelled around Australia with Graham, who was in the Air Force, that she finally found herself back in school at Lismore TAFE in 1993.“I moved back to Lismore and one of my cousins turned up on my doorstep one day and told me I was starting at TAFE at 9am on Monday morning,” Ros said.“She was a strong woman; I was terrified, but it was to change my life.”Ros successfully studied for her Year 10 school certificate and then went on to get qualifications in business management, business governance and training.“I wanted what had been denied to me; I loved learning and now had an opportunity to do it,” Ros said. “I had a great English teacher at TAFE who taught me the value of learning."He was respectful and knew the protocols and style of learning that worked with Aboriginal people. He encouraged us and told us that we could have whatever we wanted out of life.”UniversityRos became a passionate student and went on to Southern Cross University to study a Bachelor of Indigenous Studies.“If somebody years ago had said to me I would go to uni, I wouldn’t have believed them,” Ros said. “I loved research, gaining clarity and understanding. Everything I’ve done has a flavour of Aboriginal history, my own and my community’s history.“I need to be who I am. I want to know who I am and share my cultural knowledge and extend that so people know who they are.”TAFE and identityRos began working at Lismore TAFE in 2000, and began passing on her love of learning to other Aboriginal people and helping them make it through their course work.“I taught Aboriginal people about identity – I loved teaching and was passionate about it,” Ros said. “I see so much beauty in young people. “They are getting cleverer. I tell them to keep on the path and dream the dream; you are responsible for your own life. “It’s our own personal responsibility to close the gap. Take your opportunities and don’t put a time limit on it. One step at a time, every day.”Family treeRos’s biggest passion in her life is family history research. She has researched her family tree back to her great, great grandmother Mary Kapeen who, according to Ros, lived on land in Lismore that Mr Wilson, one of the first white graziers in the area, settled on when he arrived.“Mary then worked for him and was eventually buried on that property,” Ros sFamily is important to Ros and she is passionate about helping Aboriginal people learn more about their culture.“It’s important to explain to young people who they are, so that they know,” Ros said.CultureLater this year, Ros will be contributing some of her family pictures to a Lismore City Council project to help create local history information panels, as part of the redevelopment of the Lismore Visitor Information Centre.When asked about the Aboriginal cultural tradition where people are not supposed to speak the names of those who have passed on, Ros believes it’s important to not forget the people you have loved.Grief“There is a grief period after someone has passed on and you don’t want to talk about them, but it’s important not to block out that person,” Ros said.“We can’t afford to use the grief process to forget them; we need to keep their memory alive, but we need to respect the right of people to go through their own personal journey.”For Ros, it is the women in her life who have been her most inspirational role models.Inspiration“My grandmother and my mother were my inspiration for being strong,” Ros said.“Our women were always controlled by white men, but women are the nurturers and the strong leaders in our community; we have resilience and haven’t forgotten ways to stay strong,” she said. “My life started out under colonisation but now it’s not under that control. “Me and my sisters are making the next steps in history to improve the status of Aboriginal women… and make choices to benefit the continuance of Aboriginal culture.”

As she shuffles her cards, smoke from the burning incense wafts around tarot reader Lyn Rvby Morris. Sitting in her reading room at Inner Sanctvm, she is surrounded by colourful tapestries, crystals and bronze statues, all hinting at the esoteric wisdom about to be imparted through her tarot cards.“People from all walks of life come to see me,” Lyn said. “Lots of people have problems and are victims of prejudice, bias and judgement and come to me rather than going to a counsellor. "Tarot reading is like spiritual psychology.”Lyn is not a psychic or a fortune teller, but uses the tarot cards to help guide people on their life journeys.“Tarot can help us to make decisions,” Lyn said. “We are all intuitive and instinctive. People know on one level anything I tell them. “I can just speak it in a way so people can relate to it and get some guidance on how to move forward.“People come to see me when they are feeling fearful because they don’t know what’s going to happen – but we are like that about the unknown. “There’s usually tears and smiles throughout the reading. We romp through the emotions in an hour and they usually leave feeling relief.“I have a lot of sceptical men who come for one reading and then come back for more because they enjoyed the whole experience. “Men get a lot of comfort from being able to talk to somebody without judgement, where they feel there won’t be consequences or be told what’s wrong or right.”Tarot deckA tarot card deck has 78 cards, comprising a major arcana (22 trump cards representing major milestones) and a minor arcana (40 cards representing everyday responses and 16 cards representing personality types). Each card depicts symbols, numbers and images relating to aspects of human life and psychology. Lyn sees the tarot as the key to helping connect the mind’s subconscious pathways to the conscious ones. By using symbols, tarot cards can act like mirrors, reflecting things the unconscious mind already knows, then feeding this information through the conscious mind.“People are interested in being able to go into deeper levels of themselves,” Lyn said.“In tarot, we can have small revelations where something subtle shifts in you and, energetically, things change. Subconcious and conscious “As the conscious and subconscious engage, we find words to explain our thoughts and we become more conscious of ourselves and what’s happening for us.“I like to help people to be spiritually in touch. You don’t have to be an amazing guru – it’s open to the most ordinary of us. Listen to yourself and don’t diminish yourself because small revelations are important and precious.”The most common questions Lyn is asked in tarot readings are about relationships, work and relocating.Yes and no“I have some people who come in and want to know about a business deal and I get nervous and think, ‘that’s a big thing to lay on me’,” she said. “I don’t give people a definite yes or no. The cards can help give a sense of how an issue is, or how it might turn out, but it’s still up to the individual to make the decisions.“I’ve had people who have come to me some years later and said they couldn’t relate to the reading straight away but three years down the track they say, ‘you were so right’.“I think what people receive from me is a genuine warmth and caring. I really do have a soft spot for people. I think, as human beings, we are delightfully flawed and we should stop trying to be perfect and start trying to be ourselves.”HistoryLyn has been reading cards for other people for 30 years and prior to that spent 15 years studying the tarot while developing her own perceptions, intellect and intuition. “About 28 years ago, she founded the Inner Sanctvm Healing Centre above Noah’s Ark Bookshop in Lismore and believes that it was her relationship with her tarot cards which helped her to manifest it.“I didn’t have a lot of money behind me, but I had faith,” Lyn said.Lyn discovered the tarot in Sydney when she was 16 years old and illustrated her first tarot deck. “Following her love of arts and poetry, Lyn gravitated into the Sydney bohemian set during the 1970s, where her associations with poets and artists found her attending parties held by renowned artists such as Brett Whitely.“Poetry was important to me. Poets like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell awakened me to a deep sort of beauty and made me realise that you can think beyond what you are taught,” Lyn said.FamilyLyn believes that meeting her husband Alan 30 years ago was instrumental in developing her deep understanding of tarot.“Alan’s intellect and knowledge of Latin and history, together with our shared passion of the esoteric, helped me open my mind and develop my perceptions and intellect,” she said.Together, they travelled and eventually settled on the North Coast, where they raised a family and now have two daughters and five grandchildren.ArchibaldLyn received a great honour four years ago when artist Fran Tomlin painted Lyn’s portrait for the Archibald Prize.“A lot of people have asked to do my portrait, but she was the first I allowed to do so,” Lyn said.CoursesAs well as reading tarot cards, Lyn now also runs tarot courses to help people understand and use the tarot.“People can benefit from learning tarot because it opens up their understanding of self and helps them realise that they have this awareness,” she said. “It can bring to the surface a lot of creativity and offers humour and fun around serious subjects.”Lyn believes the foundations of the knowledge of the tarot is as old as the world.“We have the four elements, seasons and aspects of ourselves. “This symbolism appeals to a deep memory of ourselves as human beings and when these symbols come in a dream, they can help us to interpret and understand them.”OriginsWhile the origins of the tarot are unknown, the first documented appearance of tarot cards in Europe can be traced to 1392 when a sum of money was entered into the court ledger of King Charles VI of France for three packs of illustrated cards ‘ornamented with many devices’. “Tarot cards were also used in 14th century Italy as playing cards and it is thought that modern playing cards originated from the tarot.“With the rise of the Christian church and the Spanish inquisition, much of the symbology of the tarot was changed to Christian symbols to allow people to use them without fear of persecution,” Lyn said. “In modern playing cards, only the jokers have been left behind after the major arcana was removed.”MythologiesThere are now hundreds of different tarot decks available, each using mythologies from different cultures such as the Roman pantheon or Celtic mythology as a basis for the stories and symbology illustrated on the cards.Lyn, a poet and writer herself, has been writing a fictional novel based on her experiences of growing up in Merrimbula on the south coast of NSW. She had a difficult childhood and believes that her need to escape her difficulties helped her to gain an understanding of how the mind can create other worlds as survival tools.“I write all the time. I enjoy delving into human psychology with compassion and understanding," she said.As a consultant and teacher, Lyn’s passion for mystical knowledge and following the esoteric path has brought many people to see her who are looking for a spiritual path or guidance.Spiritual journey “Tarot lets people pursue a spiritual journey without having to commit to a religion or spiritual group,” Lyn said. “I have no one religious belief. I am open to all religions and integrating them within symbology.“There’s a whole generation of people who have missed out on having faith. Historically, Christianity has given people a good sense of faith using moralistic stories about helping and caring for each other. “A lot of people who missed out on this are floundering and grab onto evangelicalism and fanatical religions because they feel desperate and want to grab hold of something. “It’s sad that people don’t pray because that’s dialogue with higher self. You don’t have to be a Christian to put your hands together and pray. Pre-Christianity“Prayer pre-dates Christianity. It’s a beautiful symbol of bringing energies together – ask and you’ll receive.“The words of Jesus are just as beautiful as the words of ancient philosophers. There’s nothing wrong there, it’s just what’s been done with them. “Christianity has helped me just as much as the Qabala and all the other studies I have done. “When you are open minded and draw this knowledge into places of love, it can be beneficial. There’s nothing beneficial about prejudice and bias and judgement.“What I love about tarot is that it doesn’t tell you you have to believe in anything. It helps you how to think and when we start to think, we start to understand and fit things.”Lyn is currently doing tarot readings and teaching people how to do tarot. If you would like a reading, give her a call on 0477 246 636.

Lismore beekeeper Brian Windows works in one of the oldest professions in the world - beekeeping. While modern bee keeping was invented in the 1700s, Brian has actually been keeping bee hives for 30 years. The man who was once a CSIRO scientist took up the hobby of beekeeping and has never looked back - he may, however look around to see if there are any bee swarms. Brian is the secretary of the Northern Rivers branch of the Amateur Beekeepers’ Association and has see the club's membership grow massively in the ten years since he moved to Lismore and joined the club.Brian took The Lismore App editor Liina Flynn on a tour of his backyard hives, so she could find out just what beekeeping was all about.Read more about Brian, the bee club and the flow hive: The sweet hobby of bee keeping gains popularityBrian Windows.“Bees hate the colour black and they don’t like dark blue either… most bee keepers wear white,” Lismore beekeeper Brian Windows tells me as we get ready to go and look at his bee hives. I’m wearing a black singlet top and blue jeans. Luckily I have a large white shirt with me that will hide the offending colours and hopefully avoid, according to Brian, “one of the most painful insect stings you can get”.Onto my costume, we add a netted helmet and white gloves and we’re off down the hill to his hives.The sun is shining, the sky is blue and there’s a gentle buzz in the air as hundreds of honeybees go in search of flowers to extract nectar and pollen from, pollinating flowers as they go. The bees industriously carry the fruits of their labours back to their hives and make the sweet honey we humans so love to eat. It’s a perfect day for beekeeping. Beekeeping is always done on warm days, because bees need to be warm to be able to fly. They can’t fly in wet weather and stay in the hive in cold weather to eat their stored honey reserves. In winter, hives decline and bees have to shiver their bodies to generate enough heat to keep themselves alive.Smoking beesBrian takes some tea-tree bark and sets fire to it, placing it in a small black can with an attached bellows. He walks over to one of his hives and pumps some of the smoke into the small gap where the bees enter. He says the smoke makes the bees think there is a bushfire and they all start gorging themselves on honey in preparation to take flight away from the hive.It also makes them docile and means they won’t want to attack the beekeeper, for at least 10 minutes anyway.“This was originally a swarm,” Brian says as he opens the lid on the top of the hive box.At the entrance gap, you can see bees arriving with puffs of orange pollen gathered on their legs, carrying collected flower nectar in their mouths. They store the nectar inside the cells of honeycomb and dry it out to create honey before capping the cell with a lid of wax.“Honey is the energy food for bees and pollen is their vitamins,” Brian says.Pheromone communicationBrian tells me that bees communicate with each other by dancing and using pheromones. When a bee returns to the hive and wants to tell the others where to find some tasty flower nectar, she will dance in a figure of eight pattern, with the axis of the eight pointing in the direction of the flowers, and the distance of the circles showing how far the bees need to fly.I’m told to stand at the side of the hive because if I stand at the front, the bees will probably come out and chase me.Brian believes their attack strategy is an ancient defence mechanism, possibly from having to defend their hives from bears. He said bees will attack your head first then, if you don’t go away, they will attack your ankles.Bees die when they sting you, so they aren’t doing it just for fun.Most professional beekeepers wear gloves, but Brian isn’t wearing any today.He is, however, wearing a full white body suit with a netted helmet. Although he’s handling a honeycomb frame covered with hundreds of living bees, he doesn’t get stung once.He claims that his bees are bred to be fairly docile and it must be true.Amateur beekeepersBrian started beekeeping as a hobby in 1990, when he lived in Sydney and worked as a CSIRO scientist. After he and his wife moved up to the North Coast in 1995, he grew his hobby from only a couple of hives to 50 hives and he’s now the secretary of the Northern Rivers branch of the Amateur Beekeepers’ Association. As well as keeping hives at his home in Lismore Heights, he migrates his hives around to three different local sites, including one at Monaltrie.He said the North Coast area has one of the highest percentages of beekeepers in Australia, especially since the flow hive was created - making keeping bees a lot easier and cheaper.“It’s an interesting hobby and quite complicated,” Brian said.“I thought ‘this is something I can do after I retire’ and it gets me out of the house. If you don’t count the labour of looking after them and extracting the honey, you can make a profit on it. You can get 100 kilos of honey from one hive in a year… most commercial beekeepers have 400 hives.”He moves his hives around the area throughout the year to wherever the trees are in flower; at the moment he has most of them on a Macadamia farm. Because of nature’s variability, some trees like the ironbark are unpredictable in their flowering and can’t be relied on as a food source for the bees. Honey typesBut macadamias have the advantage of predictably flowering every year and also have good pollen which helps to build up the strength of Brian’s hives.Brian said ironbark honey was one of the most popular honeys on the North Coast, but that further west, much of the honey was produced from Patterson’s curse flowers.Locally, a unique Australian honey made from jelly bush is produced near Woodburn and Brian said it was considered medicinal due to its ability to kill bacteria. In fact, honey in general is considered good to put on wounds because it has natural peroxide in it.Despite honey’s healing properties and sought-after sweetness, Brian said there are not many women in the local amateur beekeeping club, “because they don’t like getting stung”. Apparently, beekeepers’ wives can even develop allergies after they have been stung a few times; the stings often happening when they wash the clothes of their beekeeping husbands.“If you get a lot of light stings you could become allergic to the bee venom,” Brian said. “But if you have heavier doses, you can become more tolerant.”A bee lands on the leg of my blue jeans, but Brian has warned me not to swat at a bee. They hate that.The queen bee is larger than the other bees.Queen BeeBrian pulls out a frame of honeycomb from the brood box and starts looking for a queen bee.“There’s the queen,” he says, pointing to a large orange bee with a pointier bottom.Every hive needs to have a queen bee to lay eggs, and she’s definitely bigger than the other bees.There are bee eggs and larvae in some of the cells, and lots of worker bees moving around the queen. Bee societyBees live in co-operative, communal society and there are similarities between bee and human societies. Each bee citizen plays its own societal role from being worker bees, with tasks such as nursing, housekeeping or going out into the field, to the roles of drones and the hive queen. Fertilised bee larvae destined to be queens are fed royal jelly by nurse bees. It’s a bee food made from honey and pollen which makes the bees’ ovaries grow, turning them into queens. Unfertilised eggs turn into drones. Brian said the drone’s only task is to mate with and fertilise the queen - after which, he dies. When mating, the queen takes to the air and mates with up to 50 drones on the wing - and gets five years worth of semen in one go.And at the end of summer, drones gets booted out of the hive because they are unproductive and the hive keeps the food resources for the workers over winter. A bee can live for six weeks, so it’s no wonder the queen has to constantly lay eggs.“Worker bees don’t have much of an existence,” Brian said. “They work all day long and the queen lays eggs, but it is an efficient way to survive.”Brian looks around and tells me we need to look around to check there are no bee swarms, because sometimes, that's what they do.SwarmingHe explains that bees swarm when the bee hive gets too crowded and half of the bees leave the hive with the queen bee to look for a new hive.Before they fly off in a big group, they gorge themselves on honey to prepare themselves for the process of building a new wax honeycomb structure in the new hive. It takes seven kilos of honey for a bee to produce one kilo of beeswax from the glands in their legs.Bee swarms can be quite large considering there are up to 60,000 bees in a full production hive, but Brian says a good beekeeper’s job is to prevent the hive from swarming.Hive beetles in a hive.Hive beetlesBrian is checking another frame in the hive and he spots a little black beetle crawling around the honeycomb. It’s one of the small hive beetles, a problematic and destructive beekeeping pest believed to have been introduced into Australia via fruit a few years ago. Brian said the beetles’ larvae feed on protein, eating the bees’ larvae in the hive, eventually killing the hive if not managed with careful vigilance. He lost six of his hives last year to beetle infestation and he now manages the pest with beetle traps placed under the floor of the hives, which catch and kill the beetles and their larvae.There are many growing problems with diseases and pests that are affecting the beekeeping industry in Australia. Bee declineIn fact, bee numbers have been declining worldwide over the last few years and in 2009, one third of the bee colonies in the US did not survive the winter due to a mysterious colony collapse disorder. Some studies have shown that pesticides and chemicals may be detrimentally affecting bee physiology.Brian said with the loss of many forest tree species on the North Coast due to logging and bell-miner dieback, there are now fewer areas where bees can gather suitable flower nectar for honey production. He has also looked at a recent study into forest plantation types that shows the majority of plantation species are not appropriate for beekeeping. With the decline in nectar-producing flowers and fewer younger people taking up the art of beekeeping, we can only hope that the future of the honey industry stays strong, or else we may not be able to keep enjoying a spoonful of honey in our tea.Brian said there are a few younger people taking up the business, but more are always needed.“It is a good occupation,” Brian said. “You need to be a good businessman, like being out in the bush and be ready to do heavy work sometimes.”And no doubt, you will need to have no fear of being stung by bees.Bee factsBees live for 6 weeks in summer.In one day, a bee will fly up to 3 kilometres.Honey contains less than 20% water content, which is why it doesn’t ferment.Read more about Brian, the bee club and the flow hive: The sweet hobby of bee keeping gains popularity

Grayson Cooke doesn’t ignore the clouds - he makes films with them. In fact, he believes that with global warming, it is becoming more and more vital that we understand how clouds behave,Part multimedia artist, part geoscientist, the Southern Cross University (SCU) academic has been using his time in Covid-19 isolation to create unique videos using data from satellite images of the earth.His latest creation - Himawari - is an art meets science video project capturing the time-lapse movement of water vapour swirling around our planet, set to a soundtrack from local musicians “I can’t paint and I couldn’t draw a horse, but I’ve always been a musician and a photographer and what I do now brings those things together in the digital realm,” he said.Lockdown art“I’ve spent some of my lockdown time getting my head around accessing and processing the incredible imagery and data that comes off the Himawari weather satellite, run by the Japan Meteorological Agency,” Grayson said. “When I’m working with the water vapour data recorded by the satellite – from the geostationary orbit, 35,786km above the Earth – I see we are all one organism under the giant swirling mass of water that makes our planet liveable.”Grayson took a steep learning curve as he worked out how to work with high resolution data files from satellites.“It took a lot of time and processing to get visual images out of volumes of data,” he said. “A two minute film can take 15 hours of work.”Darwin, 2018.OriginsGrayson is now the course coordinator of the digital media degree at SCU, but his love of photography, music, media and the environment have been around for a long time. “I grew up in New Zealand, hiking and on the coast – the scenery is stunning there and it gave me a strong appreciation of the natural world,” he said.Grayson came to Australia in 2001.“I’d been living in Montreal and did my PhD there,” he said. “Then I thought it’s time for a new start here in Australia and I ran a small web design firm, then went back to study and got an academic position.“Over time, I did media production and taught multimedia and film production and developed a profile as a media artist using skills in the classroom.”Climate change Grayson’s obsession with geology and multimedia art went on to combine with his desire to do something about the changes caused by climate change. So, he made videos, with a goal to use science to explore our relationship with the earth.“Over years and through collaborations with others, I learned a lot about geoscience and environmental science– the clouds, rocks and desert environments,” he said.“I love the wonder and diversity of works and the people on Earth. “I’m equally in awe of earth processes – as human beings we’ve done a lot of damage to our planet through technology and industry development.“Climate change is the biggest issue facing human kind today – and I wanted to address the urgent nature of it as it becomes more present in all of our lives.Grayson is currently working on a video project which includes interviews with climate change scientists and is designed to make people think about the state of the world. “It will be shown on an enormous LED panel display at Adelaide Festival Centre in July – if we are out of lockdown by then.”Kati Thanda 2018.HimawariGrayson said for his latest movie, Himawari, he used Himawari satellite data of electro-magnetic thermal infrared bands showing water in the atmosphere The video uses two days’ worth of satellite data from last year, February 3 and 4, from the Geoscience Australia and the Digital Earth Australia platform. The music is by New Zealand sound artist Dugal McKinnon.The Bureau of Meteorology draws data from Japan’s Himawari satellite for forecasting weather in Australia.The Himawari video forms part of a new larger project Grayson is developing called Path 99. It will be a full dome planetarium projection at the Carter Observatory in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2021 – and Dugal McKinnon is creating the soundtrack.“The project uses Landsat and Himawari satellite data to investigate Australia’s cloud layer, using scientific imagery in an artistic context to reflect on the wonder and complexity of Earth processes vital to all life on this planet,” Grayson said.“Landsat satellites orbit at around 700kms from the Earth and see a swathe of the planet only 185km wide. But weather satellites sit at a geostationary orbit, 35,786km from the surface, and they see around 42% of the Earth’s surface at one time. “And because they’re multi-spectral, they record both visual images as well as invisible details such as water vapour and cloud temperature – and when you map the water vapour bands to the red, green and blue channels of a digital image, you get this stunning and constantly unfolding imagery of the Earth.”Feature filmOne of Grayson’s early collaborative projects was the feature film Open Air.“It was a collaboration with Mullumbimby based painter Emma Walker painter and the music of the Nicks – and it won an award,” Grayson said.“The film was the beginning of a relationship with Geoscience Australia to find creative ways of using satellite data that adheres to the scientific notion of using data to investigate environmental change - but in artist’s context.“How artists think and feel about earth and our effect on it is different to scientists’“I found working with satellite data brought an emotional and sensual response – I’m more interested in how this can make you feel, and how will it affect the viewer?”If you would like to view any of Grayson’s artworks and movies, visit https://www.graysoncooke.com/

Warren Noble’s passion for cricket eventually lead him to becoming a charitable Lord’s Taverner and providing free meals to the residents of Our House in Lismore. As well as playing representative cricket, he found time to run a dairy farm, as well as sit on the Norco board for over a decade, influencing dairy politics in the region.Warren, now 78, was born in 1941 on a 50 acre dairy farm in Eureka, which he and his wife ran until the deregulation of the dairy industry in 2000.Dairy farming“I was born into dairy farming and I learned from my dad, Bob,” Warren said. “In the 1950s, the whole family helped out on the farm – whether it was treating calves or sweeping a yard.“I remember every bit of land from Casino to Byron Bay and Nimbin had dairies and Norco had 3000 suppliers for the Richmond Tweed area."There are only 180 suppliers now. These days the farms are bigger and produce more milk.”“We would get up at 5am to milk the cows – we weren’t the earliest farmers in district.“Dad was one of the first to get milking machines in the war years - lots of farms were still hand milking.“As the years went on, we bought a couple more farms and by the time we closed the dairy, we had 200 cows."School on horsebackWarren said each morning, he would catch his horse and ride it the three kilometres to Eureka School.“A few students rode horses to school,” he said. “I left school at 15 and I was keen to be a farmer and apprentice under dad.“I specialised in pigs and took over that area of the farming and made it bigger so our produce was cream and pigs.“I eventually married my wife Heather in 1962 we had three children. By the time I was 27, we took over running the family dairy. “I was madly keen on cricket as well.”Warren and his wife Heather.CricketRunning a dairy with early morning starts was a big responsibility for Warren and it made it difficult for him and his family to leave the farm for a day, let alone for a holiday. But still, he found time to play cricket.“Like any passion, I didn’t find a lot of time to practice, but I played every Saturday competition and went to away matches,” he said.“I played for Clunes district at first, then I was on the North Coast team when I was 17 and I was picked to play against New Zealand. “I became team captain for four years until 1962, and that gave me exposure as a player. “I was lucky enough to play four tours with the NSW team and I played South Australia in Lismore and the ACT team in Tamworth. “Considering I was a dairy farmer, that’s as good as you get,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy life trying to run dairies, have kids, play cricket do everything else."Warren met local cricket legend Stan Gilchrist when they went to coaching school in Sydney together. Warren watched Stan move into playing representative cricket – an opportunity he didn’t have as he held the responsibilities of being a farmer.Stan became the catalyst to Warren joining the Lord’s Taverners in later years. Warren Noble and Stan Gilchrist in a cricket team photo from 1960.NorcoAt the age of 29, Warren got involved with the board of local dairy cooperative, Norco.“Since I was 15, I went to Norco meetings with my dad and I got involved with the dairy farmers association in my early 20s,” Warren said. “That’s when the Norco deputy chair asked me to stand for the board.“It was very competitive – there were three vacancies and 12 nominations and I got elected that year and stayed on the board until 1997. I was chair for 10 years and deputy chair for seven.“I was heavily involved with dairy politics in a time of big changes to the industry.“I was on the dairy planning group in the 1990s and travelled to Sydney for meetings once a week. “With so much to do, I employed someone to do the milking for me five days a week.“Looking back, it never gave Heather much opportunity to get away from the dairy with the milking lifestyle where you had to be there twice a day. “It’s a great lifestyle, being close to the family and not travelling to work every day, but you can’t go away for a day and not come home – at 4pm the milking needs to be done.“We were lucky that in later years we were able to take small holidays and stand back and get an overall picture of the world.Pictured on Gordon Pavilion at Oakes Oval Lismore in 2010 were: Lismore City Council General Manager Paul Sullivan and Mayor of Lismore Cr.Jenny Dowell, with Lord’s Taverners Northern NSW Branch President Warren Noble and Branch Chairman Stan Gilchrist.Heart attack“When Heather had a heart at 44, it have me a jolt – I thought about how there was a world we needed to see. “We went to Sydney so she could have a bypass and the doctors said she may not be round for more than 5 years, so we started to go on trips. Now we’ve been to Europe, England, America, Asia and New Zealand.“We love travelling, especially in the years since we closed the dairy. “My wife is a miracle lady and she’s still around after having 13 stints in her heart. I’ve been lucky.”Dairy politics“When I was Norco chair in the 1970s, it was a difficult time for farmers - we were excluded and couldn’t get our North Coast milk into Sydney markets. We had to fight for it.“At the same time, each State had its own dairy industry and we also couldn’t send our milk over the Queensland border.“It was crazy, but that’s the way politics was at the time. Later, we got some access to Queensland and farmers’ returns improved when Norco bought a Beaudesert company to get access to Brisbane.“When deregulation came in in 2000, it took away the State borders. It decimated the Queensland dairy industry as farmers got out of the business because returns were too low.“I retired from Norco in 1997, but when milk deregulation came in, I closed my dairy as a one man protest against it.Warren as Norco chair, made the newspaper in 1989.Deregulation“Deregulation has been a disaster for farmers. There’s only been a few years when farmers got a reasonable return on milk.“These days, Norco is well positioned as an organisation – it’s a cooperative owned by suppliers.“There’s no regulation anywhere now – the supermarkets deal with the factories now and farmers got devastated.“Coles brought in cheap milk prices and kept the price to farmers at 50-60 cents a litre - it should be 70c.“When I was chair on Norco, milk was 57c a litre and we got 35c – and that was 35 years ago.“Supermarkets dictate the price to pay – they say ‘we charge customers this and you take what’s left’.”Warren believed the groundwork from his time on the board positioned the organisation well to deal with the way dairy politics went in the following years.He believes that one of the biggest challenges at the moment to the dairy industry is the take up of foreign investment.“Japanese companies which own shares in Australian dairy organisations are selling to the Chinese now,” Warren said.“The Chinese are interested in food security for the future. They are not interested in the farmers and what they get.Got out alive“I wanted to fade into sunset after Norco - few chairmen got out alive.“A lot of the Norco chairmen died in office and some were removed and bitter. I was one of two who left the board of own choosing at the time - and I was happy .“I didn’t get involved with any squabbles - they sacked the general manager a few years later in the late 1990s, then deregulation came in and Greg McNamara came on board and did a good job of pulling it all together. He’s still there now."Lord’s TavernersStan Gilchrist - former cricketer and champion for charitable organisation the Lord’s Taverners - remained good friends with Warren throughout the years.He was even at Warren and Heather’s wedding day.“Stan used to be a school teacher and inspector. He moved to Lismore 30 years ago and he retired from school work," Warren said.“Stan was watching Adam (Stan’s son and former Australian cricketer) play cricket one day and he ran into an English commentator who said he should think about starting up a Lord’s Taverners association in Lismore.“They were a group of cricketers who used to enjoy watching cricket from the Lord's Tavern pub and thought there must be more to life than cricket and beer – so they started a charity for recreational youth cricket and disability sports. Their catch phrase is to give the young and disabled a sporting chance in life.Warren and some of the dedicated people who made meals at Our House happen.Lismore branch and Our House“Stan is a great organsiser and with his passion, he started the Lismore branch of the Lord’s Taverners. “Stan knew I’d been retired from Norco and he asked me to be president. I agreed, but stepped down a couple years later. I’m still an executive member.“Adam was the patron of MacDonald house and he and Stan went to see what was being done to help kids in hospital in WA. “When they came home to Lismore, the Our House facility was being completed in Lismore for cancer patients to stay in and we thought we would put meals on for those staying there.“We had enough Lord’s Taverners members for six teams to put on one meal every week. We started twice a month initially and it was going so well that we called a public meeting and got about 60 people turn up – it blew us away.“From that, we got about 36 teams of five or six people from church groups, real estate firms, Lions, Rotary, and fire brigades - and they each on dinners every Tuesday and Thursday night.“Most teams only do it twice a year. It’s a great service to the residents –they get two free meals a week and a chance for conversations.“The teams that do it feel so good they have done something great – they say they get more out of it than they put into it.”Warren said the Lord’s Taverners also raise money to help young people with financial problems to go to university, or to travel overseas to play cricket.“The North Coast branch of the Lord’s Taverners is the now the strongest and most active one in Australia,” he said.Covid-19Warren said since coronavirus restrictions were brought in, the Lord’s Taverners haven’t been able to put the regular dinners on.Recently, Our House fundraising coordinator Rebekka Battista and Steve Mackney from Football Far North Coast joined forces with the Lord’s Taverners to call for the community – particularly the sporting community - to donate food and money to feed the residents of Our House and those at the Winsome Soup Kitchen.Read more: Sports players urged to get off the bench and into communityThe future“I’m helping my wife with health issues at the moment,” Warren said. “She’s 80 years old and we have great kids and grand kids," Warren said.“I’ve had enough compromises and fights and political arguments over the years – but life has been satisfying. “I’ve had a blessed life.“I’ve seen the dairy industry in the late 90s be the most stable it’s been. I was a little cog in a big wheel when deregulation took it away and the rug was pulled out from us.“We had the second best dairy industry in the world, apart from New Zealand - and they had govt support. It’s tragic.”To find out more about the Lord’s Taverners, visit http://www.lordstaverners-northernnsw.com.au/Read more about the work of the Lord Taverners and how you can help: Sports players urged to get off the bench and into community

Gaia Heart’s artist residency was cut short when Covid-19 forced the Lismore Regional Gallery to close.The 20 year old Nimbin local had been half way through a great residency experience – having secured a coveted position she was lucky enough to be awarded at her final TAFE visual art exhibition.“I was there for two weeks before the gallery had to be closed,” Gaia said. “I felt great there.”Gaia was chosen out of 15 exhibiting student artists as part of the inaugural residency program – a partnership between TAFE and the local gallery.“The day the gallery told me, it was a shock,” she said.“I had a space to work for a month and get to know people in the gallery and talk to the curators.”Gaia Heart with Joy in Paradox. Oil on Board. 2019 ©Gaia has always made art. She spent most of her childhood on Siddah Farm/Lilifield community near Nimbin and has always had an innate love of life and nature.“My name is Gaia Heart – it’s a responsibility,” she said. "I think a lot of people have hope that their children will help save the earth in this time of crisis.""Mum and dad were pretty alternative, Gaia was originally my middle name, but when I was four I said 'I think I'm just Gaia'. I was very forthright as a kid and knew what I wanted."Then seven years ago, when her family moved to their own property near Nimbin with a view of Blue knob - landscape became the central inspiration for her art."I love the landscape of rolling hills, dotted with trees - their shadows extending over the curvature of the land," she said."I have always felt that we're living in tumultuous times environmentally - the way that capitalist consumerist culture is impacting our world.Before the Rain.It was the journey between Nimbin and Lismore that inspired the work she was creating for TAFE and as part of her residency at the Lismore Regional Gallery.“I love the landscape of rolling hills, trees dotted over them and shadows,” she said. “It’s interesting how beautiful how such a damaged landscape can be.“You can find joy in something completely stripped of its natural beauty. It’s regrowth farming land, but it still has the ability to pull you out of your and body and give you a broader sense of experience.”“I always felt we lived in tumultuous times for the environment – with the way individuals are living.“We need to find a way to find that balance and live in symbiosis again – not abusing the earth completely – the earth is our home and our house is on fire.”Sun Storms, Oil on Board. 2020 ©Fires last year"It was a very concerning time during the bush fires last year" she said.“I was in the middle of creating my body of work and the fires were coming.“So I stopped my work and spent a week clearing dry leaves around the house, nailing tin around bottom of house and putting sprinklers on roof.“It was intense and I was feeling for forest which burnt – it was devastating for the animals."I'm a sensitive person and it was heart breaking seeing everything burn, and worrying about peoples homes - but I knew the rain would come eventually."The Dream. Etching 2019Residency“When I was at the gallery, I had a few oil paintings going at once,” she said.“The hills to me symbolise life itself - the ebb and flow, ups and downs, shadows and light - I am addicted to them."I did one painting exploring the landscape before the rain, where the land was yellow and dry, and another depicting the green that follows rain - green hills and dark stormy skies.""I enjoyed having the space to make art without other distraction. Its an internal experience. Going into your own mind and reflecting what you see"“There’s a Margaret Atwood quote I like – ‘The main problem writers face is not writer’s block, it’s being interrupted’.Change. Etching 2019. TravelWhen Gaia’s residency was abruptly stopped, it was the final weeks in the lead up to a long awaited overseas trip, where she was about to fly to Paris.“I wasn’t expecting it to happen – I’d never been overseas before and I had an eight month trip planned – so I had to make a weird readjustment.”“I was going to meet my older sister for the first time in France as well as see other parts of the world."We live in an insular, alternative bubble here and I'd like to step out of that and experience something new - but now is clearly not the time for travel.“I’d like to look into other residencies in Europe and new environments – I applied for in Norway already, on a little island nature based project.“I’m sure it can still happen.“I’m young and feel I haven’t found what I want to do – my style is evolving quickly.“I identify with my work but it’s not me – it can change and come out in different ways depending on what I do.”Detail of Sun Storms.Covid-19While Covid-19 affected her residency, Gaia said she won’t let it change her artistic creativity."Some people have been finding positivity in what we are experiencing with this pandemic, that its allowing us the space to reassess how we are living and what we value in life. People might feel they have time to think more deeply," she said."I feel that I have always felt a little lost - with a kind of constant uncertainty about what to use my life for."I've been trying to be present, enjoying the experience of making art - expressing whatever comes up."These times we are living in can be very unsettling."When I find myself too caught up in my mind, I take a step back - often I'll go for a walk in nature to remember where I am."I'm using this time and lack of interruption to find a balance between thought and experience."I often listen to philosophy and science podcasts while i paint larger works during the day - and utilise the quiet of the night time hours to write and sketch from my mind -with pen and watercolours. "To be engrossed within an idea from thought through to materialisation is a crucial part of my practice.If you want to find out more about Gaia’s art, you can find her Instagram at golly_gaia.Journal Sketch. Watercolour and Gouache. © 2020 

Lismore has a rich heritage, first with the Bundjalung nation then in the late 1830's when white squatters arrived (sheep and cattle graziers). It was proclaimed a town of NSW in 1856. Not a lot of families living in Lismore & surrounds can claim a history dating back to anywhere near that time. The McLennan family can, their deep history goes back to the mid 1850's. I met Robert when I was doing a story on the New Tattersall Hotel in Keen Street. As I was talking to Robert I became fascinated in his families roots in the Lismore community. Robert is a fourth generation McLennan in Lismore, this is his and his families story.The McLennan family Australian story starts with Kennith McLennan who was born in Inverness, Scotland and arrived on our shores in 1830."Kenneth got an assisted passage to Lismore when he was 12 years of age, he was a convict. He and another fella had done something naughty over there, I think it was stealing a coat and they were sent out here to Cumberland Park as a farm boy for the Macarthurs.So he worked as a farm boy learning all about sheep farming and sheep management. Then he went out to Lambing Flats near Young and worked his own sheep farm as a leasehold farmer. He had 7 boys when his wife died of rheumatic fever then six years later he remarried and had another 7 boys. He was 56 and she was 27.Three of those sons William, John and Kenneth moved to Lismore between 1856 and 1865."The house was full of other kids so they came up to Lismore. They came up to what they thought was Queensland as the state hadn't been divided then, it was all NSW then. When they declared the border they found out they were in NSW.William Henry McLennan, Roberts great, great, great grandfather, was a horticulturist and through his love of horses owned a horse stable and taxi service.William had a horse stable in what is now McLennan Lane and ran a handsom cab taxi service between the railway station in South Lismore and the CBD. It was a bit like a Queens carriage pulled by one or two horses. He used to pick up his fares at the train station, there was a low level bridge that came across over the river from Pine Street that came up from this side of the wharf. He worked the cabs until the other bridges were built.William was also a keen gardener. He owned a small store in Dawson Street near the Catholic Church for a while before it burnt down then developed a market garden where St Vincents Hospital now stands.William's brother John, my great, great uncle, had the shipping agency. Before the railway was established in 1894 people would arrive by boat from Sydney at the old wharf where the car park is now down near the river.John was one of Lismore's first councillors in 1879"He was one of the first councillors in 1879 and spent a lot of time fixing up potholes in Molesworth Street because all around town was black pug, real sludgey boggy stuff and the horse and carts used to get bogged in the streets. He was instrumental in getting the streets sealed and getting lights in the main street.John was on the race committee and a housing land developer. He developing parcels of land seeking titles of land variations from the government. Then he moved down to Coraki and lost his first child and never had any more children after that.As I said earlier, William loved his horses and rode some winners as a jockey in the racing club and events at the time. He also rode some of Tom Somerville's horses for a win in local events.Ken worked as a steamship engineer on the steamships in Byron Bay. Started a major shipping dock there and that arm of the family is still up there.William married Ellen Sarah Mitchell (from Corndale as it is known today) in 1881."They had three children, Reginald, William and Sarah McLennan.Around 1900, William selected land in the Jiggi/Georgica area, about 187 hectares (463 acres).Dad's mother, Rebecca Hetherington was 10 when she came out from Ireland, she was a Milliner (hat maker) with her parents. She and her sister married Dad's father and Dad's uncle so William and Henry who were sons from this old bloke. They went to Jiggi and selected land in Georgica in what they called a billen.A couple of years later the first world war started and Reg went to the war and William stayed on the farm because it had to be homesteaded so both families could survive. Through a court process you selected the land, then you had to clear it and establish a fence around it, then build a house on it. They put two houses on it, one for each brother.It was mainly vegetable farming as William had a bent for horticulture while Reg was more mechanically minded so when he came home from the war he was installing milking machines which were relatively new in those days. In those days dairy farming was the macadamia industry of the time, it was the boom industry.Anyone who could run 60 head of cows could make enough money to raise a family. They became known as economic rut subsistence farmers, it was very hard to break out of that subsistence farming.Tom went through the depression in 1927 after having lost his father at the age of 7 in a freak journey accident. He was crossing a flooded creek on his horse to get the midwife for Jean, his brothers wife when his horse stumbled and went down, he drowned.Rebecca was now a single parent with four kids to care for. Luckily a little farm came up for sale opposite, on Jiggi Road, opposite where the Jiggi Hall is now and with the assistance of Rebecca's parents she was able to buy this property and resettle her family there. The old house had to be repaired and the dairy and piggery had to be built.Twelve months later Tom McLennan married Phyllis Smith from Nimbin. They moved onto a leased property at Warby Road, just across the paddock from his mother where he started dairy farming. This is where Beth and I were born.(Robert on the knee of his father, Thomas McLennan, age six months)We lived the struggle of the leasehold farmer, it was difficult way to make a living.When I became a teenager, I found other jobs then back to the farm and was able to buy a herd of cows and took on the farm as a Dairy farmer. I did this for a period of time and bought some land but as the family gained economic strength we bought other land and was able to become a landholder then. Tom planted a batch of banana's at Goolmangar that later put the family on its feet due to three years of high banana prices.The 1974 cattle price crash nearly sent me broke, we had a lot of debt. I took a cynical view of the lack of concern for farmers, we were considered to be the peasants of the population and I used to say to my wife that we really are no better off than the highlanders in New Guinea. We used to sell a few calves, get our money, buy some groceries in town and go home again. We would survive until we got our monthly cream cheque from Norco, subsistence farming.Time for a changeI loved farming and did all my courses on rural technology and so forth, I was a farmer through and through but I decided I needed to change. My wife got cancer around the same time so this made the decision easier. It was 1976 and we had two young kids so I took the view that I couldn't continue to run a big dairy herd because your wife was part of your team. She came from a farm too and knew that you both had to put your shoulder to the wheel to make it successful.Janice had treatment in Sydney so was up and down for about two years including major operations but she survived. It's been a rocky road but we came through it.(Robert on the farm in 2000)During that time we kept the farm but sold some land and moved to Lismore. Grant and Paulette moved from Blakebrook to Lismore Public School and I started work at a real estate office. I started the real estate course while I was on the farm in preparation to change my direction because I couldn't see any future in bringing the kids up in that environment and in that enterprise and thought that if we stay there they won't know any better either.My father never forgave me for turning my back on farming, he was really bitter about it because he was a fourth generation farmer.So, I worked for a Lismore Real Estate agent for a couple of years, obtained my license through TAFE, then started off my own in Goonellabah in 1982. Janice and I were the team again, we started with a phone and two listings. A lot of twelve hour days for the next fourteen years followed including working Saturday's and Sunday's to get some extra business.My driving to provide for the family came from my mother-in-law. We were sitting at the kitchen table soon after we got back from out honeymoon without a cent in our bank account, when she asked if we had some money coming in. I was working for my Dad at that time and I said the calves were on the ground now and we can start to sell them in three weeks and that's enough to buy groceries so it was just the three weeks we had to get by. Minnie said "do you have any prospect of some money coming in"?, I said yeah when we get going after three weeks we'll be pretty right. She said "always remember Bob, when money stops coming in the door, love goes out the window". I've never forgotten that.Bob turns 80 this year so I asked "how long will you keep going on"?You have to plan for the inevitable but you have to also keep an open mind as to how long that might be. My view is that you are better to wear out than sit around waiting to die. I firmly believe you have to have goals and I see this as just another goal and inside I don't feel any different to what I did when I was 60. I'm just finding it a bit harder to get out of bed in the morning but I try and keep healthy and stay active, that's the secret of it you know.We've had a lot of challenges in our life and you learn not to get too excited when you are in the middle of a muddy stream, you have to believe that you will get to the other side.Bob and his family have a long involvement in Lismore and surrounds so the obvious question was "how can we get Lismore back to having a positive sentiment"?I addressed the Rotary Club in the year 2000 "Where to from now?" and I gave an hour long speech on that. To break it down into small pieces basically you have to have economic growth to have social growth and to have prosperity in a town. You have to have an economic engine and I could see the end of the dairy farming era that drove me off the land.In the late 1970's farmers were providing cheap food so the rest of the economy could prosper. The discretionary spending was good so people can spend money on white goods. Back then the owners of the businesses lived in town so the profits were invested back into our economy. Now, the money is getting sucked out of the town by the corporate entities like Woolworths and Coles. In the early days in town you had McLeans, Jeanettes and the other little family shops where the money stayed in the town, millions of dollars. All of a sudden, if you see Lismore as a bucket, someone has drilled little holes in the bottom then the sides so when you fill up that bucket all the water runs out and goes elsewhere.It is more difficult for the small business owner now. Once they pay rent, wages and tax they barely have enough left over to buy groceries. They throw their hands up and say well if I am going to work for nothing I might as well go and sit on the beach and work for nothing. So, if you remove incentive out of society you reduce the drive. The economic driver that they had before has gone and we need an economic driver in any community.

Ken Jolley was a tunnel rat in the Vietnam war. His job was to crawl on his belly down the Vietnamese tunnels – and it was scary. He can talk about his experiences now, but it took a lot of therapy for him to be able to finally open up. “It’s 53 years on Monday since I came home from Vietnam,” Ken said. “We got treated like dirt when we came home, but I put it aside and got on with life.”Ken said wartime Australia was nothing like Australia under Covid-19 restrictions.“Staying at home is not the same as war,” he said. Since returning to Lismore, Ken has breathed life into the North Lismore war memorial and plans to keep the Anzac spirit alive next week – from his own home. BeginningsKen has always lived in Lismore and grew up on a family farm in Rock Valley in 1944. “I was born on the dairy farm because mum couldn’t get to hospital,” Ken said. “I went to school at Cawongla (the school is not there anymore) and I hated high school and only spent two years there.“Then I came home and helped mum on the farm until I was 18, milking cows twice a day. It was a great life and my dad worked at Foley’s butter factory.“Then I joined the army in 1963 and spent two years fighting in Malaya and Borneo, then to Vietnam in 1966 for a one year tour of duty.Ken and a friend in Vietnam.Vietnam“We thought we were hardened troops after Malaya, but Vietnam was much worse.“When we arrived in Saigon, we were put in choppers and flew to our base.“Four hours later, we had 100 choppers lifting a mob of troops to Nui Dat, where we had to clear an area within eight hours – it was straight into the sharp end – I’ve never been so scared.“Going into the unknown was the worst of it.Tunnel rat“I was a tunnel rat over there. I went down into enemy tunnels head first with a bayonet and a torch.“I was shit scared. It was dark and wet and sometimes I could stand, up but mostly I would crawl on my belly.“The enemy was down there. We were looking for cache supplies of ammunition and were laying mines and booby traps.“We had to pull one bloke out of the tunnel sick from gas – it was so scary. “I can understand why I go to a psychologist.“I locked everything away and didn’t want to talk about it.“It was when I went to Canberra with a few mates for a funeral and I went to a war memorial in Canberra, I started crying. Then I came home and went to a counselling service Friendship forged under fire“In Vietnam, the people I was with have become friends I’ll never lose. Friendship forged under gunfire will only die when we die – it was an intense experience we lived through 24/7.“We got mortared one night – being hit with mortars is terrifying. It was in the lead up to the battle of Long Tan on the 17th of August.“We heard them coming down into us – we jumped up and picked up our weapons. We were in water with lizards - and one bloke said to me ‘you saved my bloody life’. I said ‘yes, we all did’.Operation Ingham, 1966.Changed and unlocked“It changed me. I locked up until I saw a psychologist. Now I’ve unlocked everything. “It was good for marriage and my kids and I saved myself. Lots of things happen in war and people lock the door and throw the key away.“It makes a hell of a difference opening up – I couldn’t see myself talking to the kids after war. It’s scary, I was frightened – there’s no glory in it.“Now, I love talking to schools and kids about Anzac Day.“I’ve even written a letter to read out at my funeral about what I want to say - and I’ll send it to my two kids.“I have a great life now - Australia has been good to me.“If I could do it again, I would – I’ll always help my country.”After Vietnam and the Westpac Rescue HelicopterAfter Vietnam, Ken got married and spent the rest of his life working around Lismore as a rigger, jack of all trades and semitrailer driver.Since 1982, Ken has been fundraising for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, selling raffle tickets.He said he started volunteering because he saw the importance of the service after his experiences in wartime Vietnam.“In Vietnam we had chemical dust offs hit us and if people got ill, our helicopters meant we were only 30 minutes away from hospital,” Ken said. “We would come in under gun fire and the helicopters were lifesaver machines.“One of the first local Rescue Helicopter pilots here was a Vietnam veteran - Harold Frederick.“When I first started with Harold, I’d sell raffle tickets at the Lismore Show to guess weight of bullock – that was a long time ago now.”North Lismore war memorial“I was president of the South Lismore Returned Servicemen’s League sub branch for years, but now, I’m just a member.“There was an old dilapidated war memorial in North Lismore and we brought it to the South Lismore Hall and did it up – it looked great.“Then we sold the hall, so we moved the memorial to the Lismore railway station. The council approved it so everyone could see the memorial when they got on and off the train.“About three weeks after we put it there, the train stopped. It stayed like that two years – then with council help, we shifted it again. Monumentals Mason in North Lismore also helped us put it back to North Lismore.”The North Lismore memorial on Alexandra Parade.SignificanceNow, the memorial stands on its original site, near the railway tracks next to the Lismore Showgrounds on Alexandra Parade.There’s a big significance to that site. It’s where a railway station used to be and lots of army troops left Lismore from there, on their way to war.“Soldiers used to camp in the Lismore Showground, then then hop on trains to bring them to European battles,” Ken said.“The memorial was put there in 1926 as the first war memorial for Lismore.“It cost 120 pounds to erect and the Council at the time never had enough money to put an avenue of trees in. There’s still no trees, but there’s a bench seat and I keep it mowed and look after it – they deserve it.Anzac DayFor Ken, Anzac day on April 25 has a special significance and he believes it’s important to commemorate the occasion. “I lost a few good mates in Vietnam and I think of them on Anzac day, I don’t think of myself,” Ken said.“It’s a special memorial day for me and my family.“Every Anzac Day, I usually put 140 poppies in the garden – there’s 140 names on the war memorial there.”This year, because of social distancing regulations stopping people from gathering together, Anzac Day will be a very different experience.“At my home this year, I have a made a special ‘Lest we forget’ sign and on Friday morning, I’ll put 14 crosses in front of it.”Lismore memoriesWhen he was young, Ken remembers riding horses on weekends and with no drugs, he and his friends used to have fun stealing mangoes. “We never had two bob to rub together,” Ken said. “Instead, we would go into Lismore town.“One bloke had a car and we would go into town on Saturday night and walk around. We would go to the dance halls and maybe have a couple of beers and act stupid – then go home and back to work on Sunday.“There used to be loads of people on the streets and there used to be a pub on every corner – not like now.”

Roxy Tickle used to have the body of a man, but the mind of a woman.Now, after three years of hormone therapy and gender reaffirmation surgery, she’s become more comfortable with herself, and lives life as if there’s a future worth living.Her journey to become who she is now was not an easy one, and now she’s on a mission to help others understand what life is like for people who have always felt as though they never fitted into the stereotypical models of gender roles in our society.Fired upTransgender person: one whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex.Cisgender person: denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender corresponds with their birth sex.“Since I stated my transition of male to female, I realised most words for sex and gender are clumsy – gender is a spectrum,” Roxy said.“I’ve decided to help the community understand what it means to be transgender. I’ve experienced problems and people have reacted against me because people think they understand me and what it means to be transgender“If you are sis gender, your body and mind matches the same end of the gender spectrum – for me they were at extreme opposites. It was the way I was born versus how my mind saw things.“I never felt comfy in male toilets, but when I started transitioning, I finally felt comfy about going into female toilets. If other people are around me, I still feel afraid they will yell at me or assault me because they believe wrongly I shouldn’t be there. That’s happened to some of my friends. “I have a legal and moral right to use female toilets. No law in Australia that says who should or shouldn’t go in – there is an anti-discrimination law that says you can’t discriminate based on sex or gender.Read news about Roxy: Transgender hockey player Roxy Tickle shapes national inclusion guidelinesAssigned at birth“People shouldn’t use the argument I as assigned male at birth to stop me. “A doctor said I was male at birth, but it was only in the last few years I was able to understand that and started to do something about it.“Three years ago, I started on a course of hormones of estrogen and progesterone and now my hormones in female range. I now have less testosterone than most sis gender women.“It culminated in October last year with gender affirmation surgery, when a clever surgeon took away the genitals I was assigned at birth and refashioned them as female genitalia.“For the first time in my life, looking down there looks normal - I always thought it was deformed before.“I don’t loathe myself, my body and my mind anymore. “It used to be hard for me to engage with community. I had severe depression my whole adult life and I didn’t know because I always had it – by my late 40s when it was gone, I realised it was there.“Now I have a whole new lease on life and I feel like there’s a future and happiness there.“I’m about as comfy as most people in my body now and that shows me how far I’ve come – I hope I will be happy and I’m working as hard as I can to get point. Gender affirmation surgery “It is not an easy journey to gender affirmation surgery.“I needed to get a referral from a GP to a clinical psychologist, who assessed that I wasn’t suffering from delusion, or experiencing other conditions that masquerade as gender dysphoria. “After 10 sessions, I was referred to a surgeon. Then I had hair removal - 200 hours of electrolysis over two years.“Then I needed a secondary letter from psychiatrists to make sure I’m not suffering medical conditions masked as gender dysphoria. It was a long, expensive journey.“It generally costs about $100K to transition to male to female today. It’s more expensive for female to male. It’s done in private hospitals with private surgeons and I pay $80 a week for top level private health insurance – It costs a fortune, but now I have a reason to live.Friends and family“More than just money and time, I’ve lost friends along the way, and a lot of my family.“I’ve gained many more friends than I’ve lost. Some people can’ see past who they thought I used to be, but I was only pretending to be that person.“When I told friends I was transitioning, some people already kinds of knew - it surprised me.“For some people, the gender or sex box is important. Some people who have a fixed idea of gender believe girls should play with dolls, and boys should play with machinery.“I remember I was six, my parents upset didn’t want me to play with my sister’s dolls, and dad gave me a play gun and wanted me to fire it – it was strange – I didn’t want to. “Now I can buy the dolls I was never allowed to.“Being denied who you are for decades by your parents is traumatic.“I keep in my life the people who love and care for me.“Life is too short to spend time with people who don’t listen to the words that come out your mouth.“Since transitioning, female friends have affirmed me as being female and now I can be myself.“The division between male and female is clumsy – that they should be one thing or another within the division society has set up."I do my best to fit into female side of spectrum and my friends feel comfy with that.Fashion“In my prior before, I was expected wear a suit, but I’d always get brightest ties and socks – that was my only chance for expression.“I always wore plain clothes, but now I’m female, I wear whatever I want. I have colourful flowers on loose pants, and shorts with patterns, and I have a lots of dresses friends have gifted to me.“During the virus lockdown, I wear dresses at home to make work Zoom calls.“I’m leaning about makeup and colour coordination. I have a struggle with facial hair still and am looking forward to learning more about make up.Romantic relationships“I always struggled with romantic relationships.“I was married to a lovely woman – and that ultimately failed. Probably because I was trans and couldn’t get my head around it. It was distressing I caused pain to her 16 years ago, when it ended.“I’ve mostly been single because it was difficult to put my mind and body in a place when someone could interact with it.“I’ve had lovers but it’s never worked because my brain wasn’t in the right position to become a part of it.“I was also secretly dating men – none of my friends knew this – I didn’t mind the concept of being a gay man, but there was a wall there I couldn’t break through.“I had a string of short term male lovers and I was uncomfortable with them too.“I spent 16 years trying to become involved with men and women and none of it worked.“Then three and a half years ago, I made a stand with my brain. I said to myself I didn’t care who I am, but we need to get to the bottom of this if we are going to keep on existing in this world.“Then over a few months I finally understood I was trans – I was actually born with a woman’s brain and I needed to do something about it.“I felt comfy with myself finally, and I never even knew trans people. It set something free and I could finally be myself stop pretending – then a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.“For the first time in my life, I felt I had a future that I could never see it before. Now, I could plan. I previously had no savings or long term goals, but now, I have a reason to live for myself.Discrimination and sport“So many people discriminate against me or hate me.“Discrimination happens when people don’t stop to actually think about it“Until last year, I hadn’t played sport for over 20 years – I felt so uncomfortable playing in men’s teams even though I liked sport.“Last year, I played softball for a Lismore Masters Games women’s team.“Playing sport as the gender you are means you feel you belong, that you are a part of society.“My team mates enthusiastically welcomed me. It was a tricky journey to get there at first because no one was sure if I could be there.“The sports authorities and organisers all agreed it was ok for me to play, and it was a beautiful moment when I found out - I cried a lot when I was welcomed into a team after decades.“It was like I’d played with my teammates forever – I loved it and I hope I’ll be able to play gain – I’m just taking it easy and healing after surgery at the moment.“It's important that trans women feel ok about playing sport in female teams.“In the softball team, I wasn’t the best player, I don’t have great hand eye coordination and I’m not the fittest, but it was a great experience.“Playing sport was the most positive experience of my last 40 years and I need to address any fears people might have about it."We are getting used to words like misogyny and feminism the more we talk about it and now we need to talk about trans phobia – it’s fear of trans people or discrimination against them.Legality"I am now legally a woman.“I am already allowed to have a female gendered passport thanks to the letter from my GP confirming that they are treating me.“I only have one step left - to update my birth certificate to say that I’m female.“I needed two medical specialists saying they have seen my genitals and they both needed to sign a form in the presence of a JP.“These are the most extreme levels of identity proof I’ve ever come across – to have to show your genitals to an MD is embarrassing to prove who you are. The documentation has all now been completed and I will mail it this weekend.Challenging discrimination“People have preconceptions and I will do as much as I can in the time I have left on this earth to help people understand what it means to be trans.“I will talk to people about things I’d rather not – for example my genital, hormones and innermost thoughts. I am sacrificing anonymity to help the generations of trans people coming after me.“It frightens me that trans kids are going through now what I went through in my childhood.“I want to help educate people, so I’ve been writing and have a blog theroxyepoch.com that I’ve been writing for a few years. (Visit https://www.theroxyepoch.com/)“I finally joined Tropical Fruits last year and have been invited to help out with a trans and gender diverse community forum recently set up."I’ve never done anything like this before - I’ve always been an intensely private person and it frightens me putting myself out there, but I’ll sacrifice that to achieve my aims.“I don’t pretend to speak on behalf of all trans people – we are all different."

If you still haven’t heard – Lismore has a Botanic Gardens – and they are located on Wyrallah Road, near Lismore’s recycling and waste facility.While the Lismore Botanic Gardens are currently closed due to the global pandemic, the plants are still growing beautifully.One of the garden’s founders, Pat Offord, shares her story of how the gardens came to be, as she prepares to retire from an active role in managing Lismore’s botanic legacy.When Pat Offord moved to Lismore in 1992 and realised there wasn’t a Botanic Gardens here, she took steps toward building one.After more than two decades of working with Friends of the Lismore Botanic Gardens, Pat is retiring from her active role as curator and is keen for someone else to step into her shoes.As a younger woman, Pat always had a love of plants and animals. She studied botany and zoology at University in Sydney, graduated as a science teacher and went on to work in high schools.“I always used to take students to the Botanic Gardens in whichever city I was in,” Pat said.  “When I moved to Lismore, I was teaching Richmond River High School students and realised there was no botanic gardens here. “When I retired in 1996, I saw a committee had been formed to look at establishing some and I joined a core of people who were looking at potential sites for the gardens.”Palm Gully at the Lismore Botanic Gardens.Beginnings at the waste facilityAfter looking at many sites - most of which the group couldn’t afford - in 1998, Lismore City Council offered land alongside the waste facility.“It had good bush land with some native species on it and we decided to start it there,” Pat said. “We started the Friends of the Botanic Gardens group and created a master plan for the gardens and started clearing weeds on the site.“We got a lot of ticks on us, but we got to know each other – and those friendships you have for the rest of your life.“With a small grant from council, in 2002, we had enough money to buy plants and had 30 people help on our first planting. “Council helped prepare the area along road, and you can see the original plants on the left when you drive in now.“We persuaded council to provide a gardener who helped us, and we created a system of dividing up the gardens into rooms, with a path running down middle. Our aim was to plant rainforest trees that occur within 200kms of Lismore.“We got to know local nurseries and Mark at Firewheel Nursery, who is experienced in the propagation of plants, became a mentor and suggested plants we should order. “Then our committee grew and we had other positions come up, including a position for a curator, whose role is to work out what plants we have to get – and to keep records of all plantings since 2002. Pat working at the Lismore Botanic Gardens.Garden rooms“Each room in the garden has a focus. One room has all the species growing in the Wilson Park reserve, some have sub-tropical rainforest species, and some gardens are devoted to families of plants.“One special garden is the rare and threatened species garden. It’s on a hill with terraces. If scientists want to come get specimens and cuttings, they can contact us.“Sometimes people visit from other gardens and universities who are researching rare species.“The sensory garden is fairly new and has been developed with coloured flowers with perfumed leaves or that have characteristics which attract people and make them feel peaceful.“We need to replant them regularly because some plants only flower once or twice. It’s peaceful and quiet there – plants have senses too and some move their leaves or their petals close, and we talk about them and how they communicate with their environment.“We also inherited a hoop pine forest that covers a whole hill. At the top is a bell from an old church and a maze. It’s a popular walk, and now we have guides who take people there once a month and stay for cuppa afterwards.Volunteer jobs and members“Besides the people that plant, water and keep records of plants, we have another team of men who love building seats, sheds and nurseries. The Wednesday work day is popular and we often see mostly women weeding and men building things, but we all come together for morning tea.“Since we started in 2002, it’s amazing to see the change from early days of the site being an old unused paddock to now having bridges over creeks, and rocks and paths.“There’s a nursery up on the hill at the back of the gardens. On Tuesdays, people propagate native plants – and we sell some surplus plants to the public – so there’s a job for everybody. “The only condition we have if you want to help is that you join the Friends of the Botanic Gardens so you are covered by insurance.“We also have open days where people are welcome to come along. It’s good for kids too and we have special places children can plant small plants.“We don’t allow horses, dogs and cats, and council deals with foxes. So, dog walkers can’t bring dogs, as they would frighten wild wallabies and the koalas that live in the eucalyptus forest there.“The area is a haven for wildlife, and birdwatchers come in regularly and see so many birds in the trees.”Volunteer working at the Lismore Botanic Gardens.TransformationEstablishing a botanic gardens next to a waste facility might seem a bit strange, but over the years, the transformation which has occurred is major.“There are big trees along the border between the waste facility septic ponds and there’s only a whiff occasionally if the wind is blowing strongly,” Pat said. “The ponds are still occupied with birds and council has also put in a eucalypt forest near the road which helps shield the gardens from offensive smells.“Some people turned their noses up because of the area we established it in, we didn’t have the millions needed to set up in another location.“The site also has natural creeks with lots of birds and animals.”Pat cleaning the pond.Fond memories“I remember cleaning the dam when it got clogged up with bulrushes and falling into slimy water,” she laughed.“I’ve enjoyed working with all the people there and have fond memories of what we did in the early days. “We all played a part and formed a family of people who love to work with plants and I’ll miss the friendship and arguments about where to put plants.“But it’s the pride I admire – they are all proud of that they’ve achieved and worked for – and I’m proud of them."Birds abound at the Lismore Botanic Gardens.Curating Pat’s favourite plants are lilly pillies, banksias, flannel flowers and coastal heath plants. Despite knowing a lot about plants already, Pat said as the Lismore Botanic Gardens’ curator, she’s learned a lot about sub-tropical species.“As the curator, I needed to keep the records and learned a lot more about plants I’d never seen before – researching flower colours in books. It’s a perfect job for a retired person,” she said.As Pat prepares to move out of the Lismore area to live closer to her family in Sydney, she is looking for someone to take over her role as curator.“If you learn quickly and enjoy researching, we are looking for a somebody who hopefully has a background plant classification and can keep records,” she said.“It’s an interesting job. You don’t have to look at a plant and know what it is - you can use the help available from books and the knowledgeable people helping out in the garden.“The curator has two other people working them – one takes a GPS reading of the plant’s location and the other enters the records into the database.  “If a plant dies, the curator reorders that plant species. We don’t lose many plants now, because the gardens are well established. In the height of the drought, some of the plants we planted in the last two years were affected, but we replaced them in springtime.” Captain Cook memorial gardenPat said the Friends of the Lismore Botanic Gardens applied successfully to establish a garden to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s visit to Australia. Again, work on this garden has been postponed until after the pandemic lockdowns are lifted.“Captain Cook brought two botanist with him and we have records of what they saw in Australia because they kept specimens and made drawings that are now in the Australian Museum,” Pat said.“They stopped in Botany Bay in Sydney and saw flannel flowers, wattles and bottle brushes.“They came up the coast and noted bangalow palms on the shoreline at Byron Bay, but didn’t . They noticed the natives going up a hill, who weren’t interested in a ship. Then they went up the Queensland coast and had an accident at Endeavour River where a reef put a hole in boat ad they stopped to repair it.“They saw warrigal greens - native spinach and Cook kept his soldiers fed on it and avoided scurvy.“We are planning on planting banksias, little violets, wild geranium, bottle brush, hoya vine and flannel flowers – among the 20 species in this special garden. “We’ll also have kids’ so children can learn to identify plants in gardens.”FutureThe Friends of the Lismore Botanic Gardens have received a grant of $25,000 from the NSW government towards the building of accessible toilets at the visitor's centre.The design was prepared by Ben De Nardi and will be built by BT sheds, once normal operations resume post-pandemic restrictions.

Lismore & Villages Relay for Life was to have taken place this weekend. In fact as you read it may well have been coming to its conclusion with teams and individuals walking for 18 hours non-stop around the SCU oval to raise money for the Cancer Council. Leanne Thompson is the volunteer chairperson of the local organising committee. Digby Hildreth wanted to find out more about Leanne's life and her reasons for working with Relay For Life.The Lismore & Villages Relay for Life has been postponed, like so many other events, due to the risk to often vulnerable participants from the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. And while Leanne Thompson, the volunteer chairperson of the local organising committee, is disappointed the Relay didn't go ahead this weekend, she sees the setback as an opportunity to make it even bigger and better when it takes place later in the year.The response is typical of her unflappable, can-do enthusiasm.Leanne is so embedded in the Relay for Life experience that she uses the name of the charitable fundraising pageant as an active, first-person verb.“I relay because …”, she says – a construction that reveals her colossal – but modestly understated – commitment to the Relay on behalf of the Cancer Council.And that “because” – the reason behind Leanne’s six years of dedicated service – is that she is possessed of a fierce sense of community.“I don’t relay because of personal experience. I have had family members who have had cancer, some who have passed from the disease and some who currently have it, and dear friends too. But they weren’t the reason I made the decision that this is what I was going to do.“What drew me to Relay was the community engagement around it.”It’s the same power that draws 800 or so people together to form teams, engage in an astonishing variety of activities and walk for miles to raise funds – and awareness – for the greater good.Besides performing a service for the people of Lismore and surrounds, Leanne’s more personal motivation is as a parent, a wish to communicate her fundamental values.(Leanne and her son Braxton Marsh heading to the wet 2012 Relay For Life)“I want to set an example to my children: this is a great way to show them that not everyone is as fortunate as us and that we should support everyone,” she says.The public-spiritedness was modelled for her by her own mother – a nurse.Leanne and her brother and sister grew up on a beef farm near Coraki, where their parents still live.(Leanne on the farm at Coraki with her Dad)“We came from a small community and I saw that my mother was often involved with fundraisers through the Coraki Hospital, where she worked. I liked the sense of community, the feeling of engagement that my mum’s involvement produced.“I was very lucky to have her as a role model.”(Leanne and her mum, )Her introduction to Relay for Life came through her mother too: they took part in it several times together, walking to raise funds, before she joined the organising team.That was in 2014, when Leanne was working for the Woolworths subsidiary Masters Home Improvement as their community engagement co-ordinator in Lismore.“We were encouraged to go out and engage with community groups and their activities and I ran into (veteran cancer carer) Don Campbell at the Square. He was on the Relay for Life committee selling raffle tickets and I thought ‘this is something Masters could get involved in’. I ended up on the committee and here we are!”Leanne had joined Woolworths while she was in Year 10 at Trinity Catholic College in Lismore, following primary school at St Joseph’s Coraki.Trinity provided another great example of service to others, she says. “It now has more volunteering programmes in place than when we were there but even then it was very community orientated.”Her eldest child, eight-year-old Mark, is presently at Summerland Christian College, which, again, “is very family orientated, a very loving, supportive environment”.After graduating Leanne started a business degree at Southern Cross but gave it up after 12 months.“It wasn’t for me at the time so I deferred the course and didn’t pick it up until this year.”She has re-enrolled, again in business, with plans of majoring in Human Resources. “I have a diploma in HR and have done a lot in that space but I want to further my learning. It’s a good fit for me now, to be busy, because I need to be mentally active.”They say that if you want a job done, give it to a busy person, which means the Relay is in good hands, because Leanne’s studies come on top of some part-time book-keeping, parenting Mark, plus a toddler and a nine-month-old, as well as steering-committee work for the Cancer Council.She is one of six members across NSW to liaise between the Council and the Relay’s executive committee members, with responsibility for the Northern region, from Tweed to Taree and out to Tamworth.(the 2020 Relay For Life organising committee)“The aim is to mitigate problems the Relays might be facing and also to celebrate their wins. So if someone has something that’s working really well in their community, we look at how can we duplicate that in other communities that are similar,” she says.Like the Lismore & Villages Relay chairperson job, the role is voluntary.It’s fortunate she has the support of her husband, Shane Marsh, who with his brother co-owns Ongmac Trading, the agricultural and construction equipment suppliers in town.But Leanne’s a thoroughly modern woman, and kept her maiden name when she married in 2008 – “living on the edge”, she jokes, for those days, when it was still quite unusual.“I just thought ‘this is my name and it’s the name I’ve always had and I don’t think marrying should change that’. Also, my mum is Italian, and in Italian culture they don’t change their surnames.”(Leanne with husband Shane Marsh and their three children)The 2020 Relay is her fourth: how has she seen it change over the years?“The event nationwide has evolved over its lifetime, in response to the feedback from the community – and perhaps nowhere more so than in Lismore,” she says.“When it started it was more regimented: everyone in the team had to walk, they had to stay the full 24 hours and a team member had to be always on the track. I think that may have scared some people away.“We’ve been encouraged by the Cancer Council to adapt it to what suits the community. When it started in Lismore it was a 24-hour event. Community feedback saw that change to 18 hours. We go from three in the afternoon till nine the next morning, mainly because if we went from nine to nine it’s the hottest part of the day, people don’t want to do that.“Lismore people like the fact that it is theirs to do their way and it’s become a very much looser type fit. We have really tried to emphasise that people can come for one lap or for 100, come for one hour or stay the whole event, join a team or come as an individual. It’s your choice, because you’re the participant, you participate how you want.“So it’s become more inclusive. We want to make sure that everyone who wanted to be a part of it in any way, could.”Even raising money is not a pre-requisite to joining in.“Relay for Life in my eyes is a community awareness-raising event … awareness about the Cancer Council services available, and its role in in prevention and advocacy, its presence in the community and what we do to assist people.“That awareness includes the money that is spent in research, and how that affects our local patients and their families, and how their journeys are changed because of what has been put into that research – the testing, the medications and services that are now available that weren’t in the past, all because of funding from the Cancer Council.“We encourage people to fundraise, but if they don’t want to, we encourage them to go to someone else’s fundraiser and have a good old time.“The event has also grown, particularly in Lismore, to be more of a festival-style event, with food trucks, a staged area, bands and DJs.“It still has the basics – the opening ceremony, and a Survivors and Carers opening lap, but the Lismore committee has gone a little bit rogue, again based on community feedback, around the opening lap,” she says.“We’ve added ‘Those Living with Cancer’ to the name, because not everyone can resonate with the term ‘survivor’. Everyone is on their own journey and that journey is very fluid, and ever changing. Someone with a Stage 4 diagnosis, for instance, can’t relate to being a survivor.”With dusk comes the Hope ceremony, “when the world stands still, music and everything stops, it becomes dark and we celebrate and remember the people we have lost”.It’s very sombre, people are profoundly moved, she says. Then there’s the lap of silence in the dark. “It’s really special, Very respectful … very lovely. If someone attends, that will change them.The ‘lift-up’ event follows. “In the past it was fireworks, but we’re not doing that this year, again, in response to feedback, particularly from Friends of the Koala, with the sanctuary being so close to Southern Cross University, where the Relay is held.“This year’s event is still under wraps and will be announced on the day. It’s a big secret, to bring everyone ‘back’, before a band rocks us on into the night, and people continue walking.”The walking is symbolic of the everyday reality that cancer patients and their families face, Leanne says – “every step of the day, every minute of the day, rain, hail or shine it’s with them. We walk to honour that”.As is common with people like Leanne when they’re asked what make them so public-spirited, she struggles to give an answer. And when she does, it’s more about what she can do than about personal qualities.“You have to be organised, and have the ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, to negotiate with situations and be attentive to the needs of the committee, the community and individuals.”(Leanne with Tilly Howe, 2019 NSW Cancer Council Young Hero of the Year Award Winner)To which could be added unselfish, humble, inclusive, good humoured, generous and, as her response to the relay’s postponement shows, adaptable.Teams can still register and fundraise, subject to COVID-19 restrictions, to help Relay reach its fundraising goal. 

The business of selling fruit, vegetables and staples is a booming trade at the moment, and an unenviable one for Pirlos Fruit Barn owner Suzanne Singh-Dhesi.Suzanne and her husband Bobby have been working from 6am to 11pm every day this week to keep the shop shelves stacked, after a rush of customer panic buying emptied out the store on Tuesday.Pirlos shelves re-stocked after crazy panic shoppingSuzanne and her husband Bobby.In these unusual times, where the threat of coronavirus puts a high-profile spotlight on food retailers, The Lismore App decided to find out more about family-owned local business, Pirlos Fruit Barn, on Union Street, South Lismore.Suzanne said she and Bobby took over the Pirlos business 21 years ago, when its previous owner, Louis Pirlo, was ready to move on.“Louis said to my mum, Anne, ‘I’m sick of this, I’ve been here too long’ and ‘tell your useless sons to buy it off me’,” Suzanne laughed. “My parents George and Anne Singh were running the Bexhill shop at the time – they bought it in 1992, so it would be a family business and a place for their kids to work when they got older, and they retired to the farm. “We were looking for a cool room to expand the business, as my parents had a farm at Caniaba, so when Bobby and I considered buying Pirlos, it started as a joke, but we decided to do it.Family history in retailSuzanne said her family been in retail since her grandfather Joalla came out from India at the turn of the century as a very young man. “He sold fruit and veg from a horse and cart - and my dad was the only one of the children who stayed with it,” she said.“Me and my brothers kids picked peas and beans from our parents garden every afternoon, and we did the markets for over 30 years, including at the original Lismore Car Boot, Lennox and Ballina markets. “When my grandfather came out to Australia, there were no wives for the men, so they would bring young boys as workers with them. “They would work on farms in the area, clearing farmland and making rock walls from Eureka to Federal.“My grandfather travelled for work and also did sugar cane, turf and bananas in Woolgoolga “He was from one of a few families who didn’t dump Lismore and go to Murwillumbah and Woolgoolga - that’s where the Indians bought the Italians out of bananas when they wanted to move on and sold their farms.”Full time jobSuzanne said working in Pirlos is a full time job, seven days a week. “There’s no rest when you have perishables – there’s always bananas to sort and you need to make sure you order ahead and have enough stuff,” she said.CheesePirlos doesn’t just sell fresh vegetables and fruit – it sells lots of staples and a range of organic foods too. Suzanne has also expanded the range of products in the last 20 years to include a new cheese section. “When I introduced the cheese, I was told I was stupid,” she said.  “Dad used to work at Norco and I’d always loved cheese and ate blue cheese like butter.“We used to just sell parmesan, romano and salami – then I got goat’s cheese and more - and people were buying it.Multicultural“I always knew there was a market out there for the foods we sell – we have lots of Italians, Indians and Chinese people here in our community and they want staples from their countries.  “People just used to do without, or wait until relatives visited. “In 1978, when my parents first took me to India, we brought back lentils, rice and pickles because you couldn’t get it here, but now everyone is eating it.CoronavirusPirlos has made a name for itself as a wholesale business and services the whole region, from Yamba to Alstonville. With recent changes to what’s allowed as far as people gathering together in large numbers goes, Suzanne is also seeing a reduction in wholesale orders from clubs and affected businesses like tourism-based backpacker businesses. Suzanne said the local panic buying of food staples she has been seeing is because people are scared about the coronavirus situation, and the uncertainty about the ongoing supplies of food if we have a long period of quarantine. “It’s the unknown – this hasn’t happened before,” she said. “They are buying food they can store in the cupboard and that’s why we are running out of pre-packaged foods quickly. “People have forgotten how to shop and don’t know how to do cook things – that’s why they chronic buy and the noodles are all gone.“People need to not rely of pre-made food all the time – that’s what people’s problems are – not thinking outside the box. “I’m worried that people have bought so much food that when this is all they over, they will have so much food in their cupboards that they won’t need to go shopping. If they don’t know what to do with the extra food, maybe they can donate it to those that need it.“Bigger companies have allowed that to happen. I don’t carry foods that Woolworths has – I think outside the box and want things to be different.”CoronavirusBalanced diet“Doctors say don’t eat too much starch, pasta, bread, rice and potato – to have a balanced diet – people will get sick if they don’t have a balanced diet. High sugar and canned stuff and no fresh vegetables will make people sick.”“In six weeks, time we will have so much fresh produce it will be amazing. The farmers are a little behind because we had so much rain.Local farmers“I speak to all my local farmers and suppliers of produce regularly – they are all planting seedlings now rather than two weeks ago when it was wet - and the seedlings would have gotten powdery mildew. “Soon we will have cauliflowers, broccoli, potatoes, cabbages, cucumbers, pumpkin, zucchinis - and we have hothouses. We can grow stuff we normally only have in spring like silverbeet and tomatoes.Suzanne currently employs 12 people in her business and said that when the blueberries growing on the family farm are ready to pick at the end of May and June, they will have lots of work for people.“We would love to have local people doing it – especially now jobs are harder to come by – and backpackers are not coming into the country so much,” she said.Social isolationWith an uncertain future, Suzanne worries about the long term effects of social isolation as more people stay at home or switch to working from home.“Where do we go for social interaction,” she said. “Maybe we can get something good out of this situation – it might be that we appreciate each other more. As we stay home, maybe we can learn skills like cooking and teaching children to make bread because we can’t go to the bakery every day. “Maybe we can turn off the internet and spend time with crafts, cooking, communicating, cleaning and caring for each other, instead of being busy on phone, working or busy doing nothing.”The Lismore App wants to remind you to support local businesses at this time. Your patronage keeps the doors open and protects the livelihoods of people in our community.

As the Lismore Speedway comes to another season close on April 18, we take a look back at the story of Bronte Jordan. Miss Speedway, or the Trophy Girl, as she is affectionately known, is far more than what the cover suggests. Bronte spoke to Chris Speed.I dropped out of Year 12 after two weeks. I was at Casino High School and I got a two-day trial with Poletto's Mechanical Repairs in McLennan Lane, Lismore. Then a week later I began working here.I wanted to get out of school because I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to go do something involving cars. At first I wanted to be a welder, I did my welding course and everything, and that just turned into cars. I’d be fiddling with the race cars and helping pop (speedway driver Pat Newstead] with his cars.From about the age of seven my sister and I used to ride motorbikes on my dad’s property (mainly cattle and horses) at Ellengowan, which is 20 minutes drive south of Casino. I spent a lot of time with my pop. He was a mechanic, as was an uncle (speedway driver Shane Newstead), and he would always be out in his shed working on something. So I would be out there working with him. I had my own special little tools I used to work with.The way an engine works sparked my attention – there’s so many different parts and components that come together.It just amazes me how versatile they can be, how much you can do with them. If you’ve got the mindset, you can do it.After having the whole engine pulled apart, putting it back together and seeing it all run at the end. Especially little things like sensors that can make an engine not run, this tiniest little thing. It’s satisfying.CV grease! I hate grease! Probably the worst things are grease and fingernails. My work clothes stink of gear oil. But there’s nothing I don’t like about it, every day is something different, you’re always learning something everyday. Diagnosing different things.Bronte Jordan is about to finish her apprenticeship as a mechanic at Poletto's Mechanical Repairs. Photo: Chris SpeedSpeedway’s always been a huge part of my life, ever since I can remember. Every Saturday night was spent at the racetrack. My uncle Shane and my grandfather Pat raced so that was a big part of it, it’s just always growing up around that. My grandparents used to babysit me while mum worked, so instead of going shopping with my grandmother I’d be in the shed with my pop. So it was just normal for me growing up to have cars around and be interested in cars. For me, being a female and being interested in cars isn’t abnormal.If an opportunity to drive came up, I’d be in for sure. Sitting on the infield and watching them race and seeing how much my uncle enjoys it, and hearing stories from my Pop, makes me want to. I’ve got the motivation behind it. I’ve just got the thrill for going fast. I reckon I’d give them a run for their money, definitely! Most of them just get in the car and drive it, they don’t have that much to do with the engine. I’m still trying to convince my uncle to give me a run, use the AMCA, but he won’t!AMCA Nationals are purpose-built modified race cars based on American Dirt Modifieds. All chassis feature a HQ-WB Holden front clip and drivers have the choice of running either a Holden V8 253ci engine, which produces around 340 horsepower, or a Chevrolet V8 350ci crate engine, which produces around 350 horsepower.Being Miss Speedway is definitely not what I thought I’d see myself doing - at all! I was always the type of girl who thought of being a car girl as being a double standard, a chick who’s just doing it for attention. That’s what people think when they see me there [at the speedway] but then they get an insight into what I do for a living and they’re like ‘oh, okay, she’s kind of got the best of both worlds’. She dresses up as a female [at speedway] and sees behind the scenes and she comes here [to work] and looks completely different. All my customers that come here, most of them go to speedway and they don’t recognise me. When I’m here at work I’m hair up, grubby, boots and work clothes, and at Lismore Speedway I’m looking like a female.They wanted someone there [for promotional purposes]. They always knew me around there and they asked my auntie if she knew of anyone, and she’s like ask Bronte to do it, she’s always here anyway.Bronte Jordan, as the Trophy Girl, with Mr Modified opening round winner Jai Stephenson (centre) with runner-up Mitch Randall (left) and third-placed Mark Robinson. Photo: Tony PowellTo me it’s good that I can go from here, being a little grub, to out there, still being able to be a female but still being part of the car scene. I like dressing up but I still like having something to do with cars. The boys will see me at the racetrack and if my uncle needs a hand working on his car I’ll be there with my [Miss Speedway uniform] under the car.Now if it was another girl who wasn’t used to working in a male-dominated area then yeah, I could see an issue. But all the blokes there know me well enough. I get respect. People know my family, they know what I do for a living but if it was a random female I’d say it would be a different story. The boys will stand there and talk to me how their car was running after they get off the track.The top drivers are all good role models for younger kids and I’ve known them since I was young. My grandmother used to change (former Australian V8 Dirt Modified champion) Andrew Pezzutti’s nappy when he was little!Being Miss Speedway is more just a bit of fun for me. I get to go to something I love watching and be on the infield, the best seat in the house. I don’t see it as a job, or work, it’s just fun. If they stopped Miss Speedway, I’d still go there and watch it.More women should be in trades like mine. Females should be able to do anything, whatever they want to do, they shouldn’t be afraid that a male is going to be like ‘you can’t do that, you’re a female.’ Even here (Poletto's Mechanical Repairs) when I first started working here, I doubted myself so much. I was like, I’m not going to be able to do it, I don’t have the muscle. When I first started here, there was so much I couldn’t do but I’ve learnt so much, If something’s seized, hit it with a bigger hammer! My boss said to me the other day, after three years you can finally lift a 37 inch tyre! There’s definitely no reason a female can’t do it.It’s great to see Natasha Hearne racing. And all the young girls in juniors, it’s so good to see.I had a bloke come in here, he said ‘You’re the reason my daughter’s now getting into cars and going to TAFE as a mechanic'. That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard! For my niece, she’s only one or so, for her to grow up in an environment where working on cars as a female is normal, and doing anything as a female is normal, not having the whole male-dominated trade anymore, it makes me happy for her to see that.The whole sexism thing is just dying down, which is good.Fausto Poletto told the Lismore App that Bronte was recommended by her TAFE teachers.Fausto Poletto says Bronte Jordan has always been willing to learn, willing to listen. Photo: Chris Speed"When I rang them up they said ‘Oh you’ve gotta get this girl, she’s really really good’, and that’s when it all started to roll into place. She knew what she was on about, she knew what she was talking about. Nowadays it’s very difficult, you might get somebody in that you think knows a lot and they know very little. She didn’t pretend she knew everything but she knew a fair bit about what she’s doing. From day dot she was willing to learn, willing to listen."The reaction to Bronte did surprise me. I was a bit concerned to start with about the older gentlemen, we service their cars, how they felt about a woman working on their cars, but a lot of them just love her. They’ve come to realise she knows what she’s talking about and she’s not just here for decoration."I know she copped a lot of flak from her tech mates for being the trophy girl (Miss Speedway). I’ve got no problem with what she does. As long as she comes to work, does her work well. She’s got her head screwed on, she’s got her life together. She was saying she wants to own a workshop full of women."David Lander, owner/operator of Lismore Speedway, said Bronte was in her second season as Miss Speedway.Lismore Speedway owner/operator David Lander said the paying punters would be shocked to know Bronte's a mechanic. Photo: Tony Powell"She’s our trophy girl, we run a program competition and she helps people fill out the forms. She’s a regular helper for the patrons."The competitors all like her and I think the public do too."She’s got an uncle that races, she has that mechanical experience which is unusual – I think she’s an asset."I think the public would probably be surprised about Bronte. I think if she told them she was a motor mechanic they’d be shocked. But she’s not the first female motor mechanic I’ve encountered. She’s done it and she’s done it well. I had my last [car] dealership in Sydney and we had a girl we took on as an apprenticeship, she completed it, and then went on the service counter and was very good at it."Bronte does it well, she’s an attraction, she’s a good looking girl. While she’s popular we’ll keep her. If she chucked it in tomorrow, I’d get another girl, I wouldn’t get a bloke."I had a dealership that employed 88 people in Sydney, 34 of them were female because to be honest with you, they are better employees. They’re there to prove that they can do it and they’ve proven to me for years that they’re better employees. They come to work on time, they don’t take sickies when it’s not needed."I had a female mechanic, spare parts drivers, spare parts pickers, sales girls, every thing. Over the years, and I’m 72, they’ve proven that they’re better employees. No sexism there!”Bronte finishes her apprenticeship shortly.Bronte Jordan has plans for her future but is happy to work as a mechanic in Lismore for the time being. Photo: Chris SpeedI’ll definitely stay here for a few more years, but eventually I’d like to venture out to the mines, go into heavy diesel and machine operating. They’re requesting females out there too because they’re just so much easier on the equipment. I’ve had a few job offers recently but I’ve got it too good here.

Stephen Axford has a new species of magic mushroom named after him, and the joke is - he doesn’t take mushrooms himself, because they make him sick.The Booyong resident has made a name for himself photographing fungi. As a fun guy into fungi, his hobby (and now job), has catapulted him into international stardom.Steven received the surprising news this week that a new type of fungus found in China has been named in honour of him.The luminous fungus is another new species that Stephen Axford saw in Mawlynnong on a Balipara Foundation field trip in north east India in 2018.The fungus Panaolus Axfordii is a hallucinogenic mushroom, named after Steven by the Kunming Institute of Botany in Yunnan Province, China.“It’s an interesting, but appropriate honour to have a fungus named after me,” he said.”The institute wanted to honour me as I’ve been to Yunnan four times now, and worked with the botany institute to help them document the finding of the fungus.“The fungus grows on the lawns in the of the institute and shows itself in July – that’s its season for fruiting.”Steven said most fungi have a season and the mushroom we see is actually the fruiting body of the fungus, like an apple on a tree.“The rest of it grows underground or in rotten wood,” he said.“Fungi are one of the three most important kingdoms of life, along with plants and animals, and there are more species of fungi than plants.“We think there may be four million species of fungi on this planet, but names are only given to about 2000 of them.”Panus lecomtei. PhotographyWhen Steven first started photographing fungi, he didn’t know much about them.Now retired and 68 years old, his hobby pays for him to travel the world, photographing fungi.“I used to work in the computer industry, but when I retired, I started photographing nature,” he said. “I love walking in forests and so I started photographing mushrooms too.“You really need to get down on the ground on their level to photo them, a bit like children.                                                                                                                                                                            “I’ve always been interested in science, but never had training in it and it fascinated me more as the years went on.“Before I retired, people said to me ‘why not take up professional photography?’ but I didn’t want to photograph weddings and thought I’ll stick to what I know and love.Marasmius sect. Marasmius subsect. Marasmius.“One day, I put some photos on the internet and they became more popular. Then a website called This is Colossal asked if they could publish them in their blog for free.“I hadn’t realised how much respect that website had – then I started being contacted by British newspapers and European nature magazines like National Geographic and Roots. They saw my pictures and offered me money for them.“Then the BBC contacted me about photos of a luminous fungi I put up and wanted to know more about them, so they sent a producer out and I had 1.15 minutes of time lapse photography on Planet Earth. Since then, it’s been a steady stream of work on eight nature documentaries, including on Hostile Planet, with David Attenborough doing voiceovers.”Phillipsia subpurpurea.TravelThen Steven began being contacted by international educational institutions, to come to their respective countries and visit remote places where new species of fungus were being discovered.“The Kunming Institute of Botany contacted me one day and said ‘would you like to come to Yunnan and photograph fungus for us?’,” Steven said.“Now, I go most years and they cover all costs. I don’t get paid, but what an opportunity – I get to travel to places that aren’t marked on Google.”When Steven travels, he travels with his film-maker partner, Catherine Marciniak, who also works for the local ABC.Steven's partner and film-maker partner, Catherine Marciniak.“They take us to new locations where they know lots of fungi grow, but don’t know what they are,” Steven said. “I’ve been to Yunnan four times, Myanmar, north east India twice and Nepal – and I’m going to Nepal and Mexico next year at the invite of NGOS.”He and Catherine have also found a new species of luminous fungi in India and a co-authored a paper on that too.Steven said his photographs are sought by the institutions to be used in their educational resources.“A good quality photo means a lot and is a great way of communicating,” he said. “A scientific article on fungus is much more interesting and well read once you put in a beautiful photo.“In Nepal, they are reproducing my pictures on A1 posters and using them to educate kids in schools and get them involved in what they find in forests - and hopefully save the forest – you never know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”Sky blue mushroom. Entoloma Hochstetteri, Fox Glacier, New Zealand.Local fungusSteven’s favourite fungus is a special blue one that he found close to home in the Northern Rivers.“I’m not the first to discover it, but the first document it,” he said.“It’s very blue looks and looks like blue plastic on the ground. It’s been found in mulch in Lismore and the Booyong Big Scrub. It’s not a common fungus – it likes a lot of rain.“You mostly see fungi after rain, but sometimes after fire too. Most fungi need water and grow under the ground where it stays moist until the fruiting body comes up into the air.Aseroe rubra (starfish fungi).WhimsicalPerhaps surprisingly, Steven didn’t really take up photography until 2000.“I took it up on a whim and bought a digital camera,” he said. “I worked up from there and now I have a good set up.“I have one camera I use to photograph fungi with a macro lens – and I’m now sponsored by Sony.“I don’t make a lot of money, but my equipment and travel costs are covered. When you are retired, what more could you want?“I’m going to keep doing it – I have no choice now.”Interestingly, Steven said he has about 10,000 photographs of different mushrooms, but not Panaolus Axfordii, the one named after him.For more information about Steven and his photography, visit https://steveaxford.smugmug.com/