Nimbin Rocks

 

Nimbin
Australia's most famous hippie destination
There was a time was a sleepy little dairy village hidden in the hills behind Lismore and Murwillumbah. Being 785 km north of Sydney via the Pacific Highway and Lismore (it is 25 km north of Lismore), and being on the edge of the Nightcap National Park, it was an isolated settlement where things had barely changed since the arrival of Europeans in the 1840s. Then in 1973 the Australian Union of Students (AUS) chose the Nimbin Valley as the venue for an experimental Aquarius Festival. The festival was to be 'a total, cultural experience through the lifestyle of participation' and attracted students, alternative lifestylers and hippies from all over Australia. It was an extraordinary period when people put up tents and camped and talked and dreamed. Most of the weekend visitors returned to the cities and their regular jobs but a small number of idealists and visionaries stayed on and formed the basis of a lifestyle experiment which has attracted attention over the years.

Before European settlement the area was inhabited by the Bundjalung, Nimbinjee and Whiyabul Aborigines. It has been suggested that the town's name comes from the Nimbinjee people.

The early settlers in the area were timber cutters and farmers. The timber cutters moved through the area in the 1840s searching for cedar and other hardwoods. The town was subdivided in 1903 and gazetted in 1906. By 1908 the district was producing enough dairy products to justify the establishment of a local Dairy Co-operative.

 

St Marys Anglican Church

 

The town's dairy industry was in decline by the 1960s and in many ways, although the locals were initially resistant to change, the arrival of the alternative lifestyle community sustained the entire region.

After the Aquarius Festival the Tuntable Falls Co-ordination Co-operative was established. It purchased 486 hectares for $100,000 and sold 500 shares in the co-operative for $200 each. This was the beginning of the radicalisation of the valley and it led to the establishment of other co-operatives including Paradise Valley Pastoral Company and Nmbngee.

The 'alternative society' has been able to prosper because this is impossibly rich land with a rainfall which ranges from 1500-2000 mm per year and which is ideal, particularly in the pockets of rich rainforest, for the growing of bananas, paw paws, mangoes and kiwi fruit. Some of these fruit are grown commercially and sent to the markets in Sydney and Brisbane.

It is equally true that many of the people who settled in the area were deeply committed to alternative forms of agriculture. Today, local practitioners of permaculture, organic food growing and energy efficiency are at the cutting edge of world developments.

Visions of Nimbin is an annual festival held in September.

 

Things to see:  

Nimbin Rocks
The remains of ancient, eroded volcanic dyke the Nimbin Rocks are located on the Lismore Road 3 km south of the town. It has been estimated that they are 20 million years old. It is claimed that the rocks have special significance to the local Aborigines who regard them as a sacred burial site. They can be seen on the west side of the road.

 

Cullen Street
For most visitors Nimbin is a different world. A timewarp where bright psychedelic colours, people with their eyes firmly on the idealism of the 1960s, vegetarianism, alternative health therapies are all part of daily life. To wander along the main street of Nimbin is to experience this timewarp. The cafes are full of wholesome food. The shops are full of crafts. This is the heart of the Nimbin experience. Walk along the street and absorb the atmosphere. The Rainbow Cafe is probably the most famous of all the venues on the main street. The Nimbin Museum is a record of the town's hippie history.

 

 

The Community Centre

 

Bush Factory
This is the town's old Butter Factory. It has been converted into a cultural centre and is the home of a recording studio, a restaurant, a theatre and a studio for dance/video.

 

Nightcap National Park
The ridges, peaks and gullies of Nightcap National Park (4945 ha) consist of solidified and eroded lava from the extinct Mt Warning volcano which once covered 4000 square kilometres from Coraki in the south to Beenleigh in the north, from Kyogle in the west to the volcanic reefs in the ocean to the east.

The fertile soil which derived from the igneous rock, together with the state's highest rainfall, has created one of the state's finest sections of subtropical rainforest. Some of the park's enormous brush box are thought to be up to 1500 years old. The park is also of spiritual importance to the Bundjalung Aboriginal people and is now World Heritage listed.

There are two main locations for vehicle-based visitors in the park: Mount Nardi and Terania Creek. Mt Nardi is one of the park's highest peaks. To get there, take the right-hand fork at the Freemasons Hotel and head out of town across the valley. Follow the road for about 12 km, ignoring the turnoffs to Turntable Falls and The Channon. There are visitor facilities at the summit and a 1-km walking track to Mt Matheson. From Mt Matheson the 8-km Matheson Track leads east, eventually linking up with the Nightcap Track. The latter was originally a pack-horse trail constituting the first overland link between the Richmond and Tweed Valleys.

Pholi's Walk (there is a brochure available from National Parks and Wildlife) is a 2-km link track that leads from the Matheson Track to Pholi's Lookout (named after Athol Pholi who was killed by a falling tree). The lookout provides outstanding views of the Tweed and Doon Doon Valleys. It can also be reached via the Googarna Track (7 km one-way) which leaves the Mt Nardi Rd about 500 m before you reach the summit. It heads west through rainforest, past the lookout, to the remnants of the Kunghur Flying Fox (used by timbergetters to transport logs).

To get to the Terania Creek Picnic Area take the aforementioned turnoff to The Channon. If you turn right at The Channon onto Terania Creek Rd (unsealed, narrow and rough for large vehicles) it leads, after 9.5 km, to the picnic area. There are two causeways en route so be careful in wet weather.

At the picnic area there is a turning circle set within a glade of the rainforest. It is a 1.4-km return walk to Protestors Falls which is set amidst beautiful rainforest featuring dense thickets of bangalow palms. The falls were named after the protestors who carried on an anti-logging campaign here in the late 1970s and early 1980s which led to the declaration of the national park in 1983. Another walk follows an old logging track adjacent Terania Creek.

For further information ring (02) 6627 0200 on weekdays.

 

The Channon
The Channon is a pretty village perched on a hilltop which is noted for its artistic alternative community. The premier markets in the area are held at Coronation Park on the second Sunday of each month. They are an ideal place to check out the rich arts and crafts of the area. Opera at The Channon is a black-tie event held on the first of August. The village is named after a local palm, the sight of which, it is believed, helped Aborigines navigate their way from the coast. It has a tavern and camping grounds.

To get there, take the right-hand fork at the Freemasons Hotel and head out of town across the valley. Follow the road for about 5 or 6 km then take the right-hand turn to The Channon which is another 13 km away.

 

 

 

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Nimbin